Vietnamese Restaurant Under Fire For Mysterious Bikini-Clad Waitresses

May 12, 2016

A restaurant in the Cau Giay District of Hanoi is raising a few eyebrows after photos of bikini-clad waitresses at the eatery went viral.

Authorities in Hanoi may fine the restaurant for having women in bikinis serve their predominantly male diners food and drinks. The incident goes “against Vietnam’s traditional culture and fine customs,” according to To Van Dong, director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism agency.

Thanhnien News reported that the photos were taken on Sunday, May 8. The images show women serving beer and sitting next to male customers. The restaurant manager, Lam, confirmed the pictures had been snapped at his establishment on Tran Thai Tong Street.

He also claimed that the women were hired by Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage JSC (Sabeco) for promotional purposes of their beer brand. Lam said that the “promotion girls” were dressed in formal attire except for a few. The restaurant manager said:

“The ones in bikinis were here for only one or two minutes. We asked them to cancel the promotional campaign after seeing how they were dressed.”

However, Truong Van Tuan, director of Sabeco’s northern branch, denied that his company ran the campaign.

On May 6, just two days before the controversial restaurant incident, Hanoi cultural inspectors penalized an electronics store with a $1,795 fine for hiring women in bikinis to promote their business.

The women greeted customers and introduced air-conditioning products at the store. The manager of Tran Anh electronics defended their actions saying the women were there to film “sex education videos.”

h/t: English Vietnamnet

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