Many owners of Vietnamese restaurants in London are now waiting for the “harvest”, or the large number of tourists that will flock to London on the occasion of the Olympic Games.

Goi cuon, or roll shrimp, is a typical Vietnamese dish. Each roll has different kinds of vegetable, shrimp, sea food, some meat that are wrapped up by a rice paper, Photo: Tuoi Tre

In an interview with Tuoi Tre Ms Le Thi My Le—the owner of “Mien Tay” restaurant located in Battersea (south London), said, “Every day, there are about 400 customers who come to our restaurant. Thanks to the Olympic Games, this number will be doubled. At the moment we are making preparations for recruitements as well as food supplies in order to serve the tourists coming to London for the Olympic Games 2012.”

She added, “The Olympic Games gives us a chance to serve Vietnamese dishes to international tourists. Therefore, in a bid to enrich our menu, we are also bringing in new special dishes with the characteristic flavour of South Western Vietnam. We hope that after their trip to London ends, the tourists will remember both London and the Vietnamese dishes.”

Mr Tran Van Su—another owner of a Vietnamese restaurant located in Kingsland, said that he wouldn’t take advantage of the Olympics to raise prices. “In my opinion, raising the price to ‘rip off’ the tourists is not a good thing to do. The price is maintained definitely, only the quality of the dishes will be absolutely raised. I expect that the other restaurants will do the same thing.”

He told us that, in celebration of the Olympic Games 2012, the government of London city has decided to organise an Asian Cuisine Fair which is expected to have the participation of Thailand, India, Malaysia,etc. Mr Su has already registered a food stand. He hopes that this will be the occasion for him and his friends to offer “the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine” to customers.

Source: Tuoi Tre