Combining a cafe jaffles, loaded fries, poutine with a barbershop, and with a retail outlet and podcast studio to come. All of it located right above the venerable Foostcray institution that is Nhu Lan, king of banh mi.
My resistance begins to crumble when proprietor Josh provides exactly the right answer to my question β¦. Josh comes from a background of radio work with the likes of Fox, MMM and 3AW β hardly known as prime hipster breeding grounds! He tells me, BTW, that the Nhu Lan folks are actually their landlords here and that the first-floor premises were once a yum cha place.
A: Josh tells me being in the hands of Johnny The Barber is a whole trip all on its own and worth every cent. The Creators Lounge is a big, open space with live US sport on the telly, a pool table and very many comfy, lived-in leather sofas.
The coming retail outlet will sell β among other things β shaving gear and beer gear. The corner site of the former HM Quan appears to have found a new tenant, with a fit-out seemingly underway.
On Leeds Street, the premises that formerly housed Korean joint Snow Tree has become a massage business. A little further along Leeds, what was for many years Vietnamese stalwart Tan Truc Giang is now Huong Viet and offering vegetarian and vegan fare. Bennie and I checked out the menu, finding many interesting items, with tofu and mock meat in much evidence. On the corner of Droop and Nicholson streets, the former convenience store that for several years housed highly regarded Sen has come full circle β and is once more Ha Long!
