Vietnamese Restaurant Under Fire For Mysterious Bikini-Clad Waitresses

A restaurant in Cau Giay District of Hanoi, Vietnam 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, the Director of Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism agency.

Thanhnien News reported that the photos were allegedly taken on Sunday, May 8. The images show women serving beer and sitting next to the gawking 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 the allegations claiming his company has never run that kind of campaign at the eatery. Seems like neither party reportedly involved are willing to step up to take responsibility.

On May 6, just two days before the controversial restaurant incident, Hanoi cultural inspectors penalized an electronics store with a $1,795 fine for using 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.”

Written by NextShark || H/T English Vietnamnet