I’ll wager Saigon Sally will be in trouble with her mum when she finds out the little minx is cavorting naked around a restaurant in Melbourne. And this one is supposed to be the sophisticated sister! Sally is the sibling venue to Hanoi Hannah, the Prahran “hawker bar”, but the younger sister hangs out on Duke Street, Windsor. Michelle Pham is responsible for the seductive wall mural that really sets the tone on entry, and there’s another more risqué wall of vintage style pictures tucked discreetly away to one side.
The bar makes an attractive statement in the centre of the dining room, with a pressed metal base and a super-chunky wooden top – perch here for a cocktail, or take a table and tuck in to chef Adrian Li’s version of Vietnamese cuisine. From the small plates menu, the pulled pork banh mi nearly made me eat my monitor, bigger appetites might want to attack a whole chicken cooked in Vietnamese beer. Two birds, one stone…
