Why the name?
"Cash Only Diner?"
I remember arguing with my mum 8 months before we were due to open. We were talking about what the restaurant were planning to have on the menu.
We argued about being "too specific". "People don't care about food from Hue". COD wanted to add very authentic sauces and flavours to the offering. "People won't get Mam Nem and Mam Ruoc, these super funky and smelly fermented products aren't what people will understand."
My mum believed for many years, these nostalgic dishes had no place for the palate of her Australian born daughter and her friends. She remembered the tears and tantrums when the kids ran home after feeling 'different' from the other kids and what they had in their lunch boxes compared to their own.
Cash Only Diner is finally open. We're excited to bring to curious palates, flavours and combinations from regional Vietnam. Humble staples in Vietnamese cuisine and modern plating of authentic Hue fare.
The name Cash Only is a nod to all the hole in the wall places, banging out incredible food. The places that look dodgy, have hand written signs at the cash register on payment options (or lack there of), but are heaving with locals making authentic as hell food.
It's about celebrating the most illegitimate looking places, dishing out the most legitimate food.
We cannot wait to have you in.
(**so yes... we take card, bitcoin, gold bricks ... goats... whatchu got?)
So what are you waiting for?