Review: Cafe Hanoi, Auckland

Cafe Hanoi: good food, good mood.

Address: Cnr Galway and Commerce Streets, Britomart
Phone: (09) 302 3478
Rating out of 10: Food: 8, Service: 8, Value: 7, Ambience: 7

Cucumbers are, let's face it, dull vegetables. Or at least they are as usually served in the New Zealand, British-based style.They have very little taste, are composed of about 96 per cent water and lurk neglected around the edges of the more boring salads.

If, however, they are lightly pickled and matched with thinly sliced fennel and herbs with a strong representation of mint they become something else entirely.

This is how they are served at Cafe Hanoi, Jason Van Dorsten's Vietnamese-influenced eating house in Britomart, and thank goodness for the Vietnamese, we say. This is the the time of year when the heavy meal becomes something of an ordeal even if our weather still falls short of the truly tropical. What we are after are fresh flavours, a bit of bite handled with a light touch, something to tickle the taste buds without blowing them away.

Cafe Hanoi delivered, living up to the reputation it quickly earned as one of Auckland's more fashionable spots when it was launched about four years ago. Being flavour of the month can be a mixed blessing but this establishment has clearly sustained its appeal with every table occupied on our very early evening midweek visit. Perhaps because of the time of year the crowd was more mixed than might be the case when there are fewer CBD business types around but the food here obviously has an appeal for a very wide range of customers.

We could see why. The style is the sharing approach with its usual sowing of doubt about "have we ordered enough or too much?" But the waitress, one of several who served us during the evening, all with efficiency and charm, considered carefully what we had chosen and judged it sufficient.

So along with the pickled cucumber, we started with summer rolls from what are listed as Old Quarter favourites. These were exactly what we had hoped, a fresh and fragrant concoction of pork, shrimps, herbs and peanuts in a light soft wrapper. From the Modern Vietnamese selection we chose the prawns, advertised as wild caught Queensland specimens. Perhaps it's the power of suggestion but they did seem particularly tender and full of flavour and were perfectly done, piping hot and accompanied but not smothered by a piquant sauce of coconut, chilli, sweet garlic and shallots. There was also a burst of dill which I usually associate with dishes from the other end of the planet, in Scandinavia, and the juices made a perfect broth for our rice.

If the dominant flavours so far had been light and fresh the contrast came with the excellent confit eggplant, rich with smoked overtones and soy, lifted with coriander. Our meat dish was again rich, grilled minced beef wrapped in perilla leaf and served with a chilli ginger sauce and crushed peanuts. It is a tribute to this dish that I enjoyed it so much I flirted with the idea of trying another of the tempting-sounding meat options of cured pork skewers with green banana or the seared beef skirt with pickled mustard greens.

But the waitress had given us the right steer and we had had enough so it was only in the interests of research that we strayed into dessert territory, an area where my tastes and those of Southeast Asians do not share common ground. I confess I veered away from what were probably the more authentically regional sago pudding and sesame dumpling options into the lemon curd with soft meringue and meringue ice cream, where the sharpness of the lemon and a crisp little cinnamon tuille offset the sweetness. The Gia Lai chocolate mousse with Grand Marnier sponge sounded a bit like a Vietnamese trifle but the leaden nature of the sponge didn't do much to lighten the dish and I rather wished I had directed my greediness elsewhere.

But we had really enjoyed our meal. The decor and furnishing are simple and comfortable, the atmosphere relaxed and lively and the service unobtrusive but friendly. Our reaction might be summed up by the fact that I have drawn up what I want to order the next time we go.

Our meal: $148.50 for five dishes and rice, two desserts, two beers and two glasses of wine.

Wine list: A wine list carefully chosen to go with the food, although I settled for ice cold Tiger beers to go with the mood. The Black Estate 2013 Waipara pinot noir chardonnay rose made an excellent start to the evening.

Verdict: A venue with wide appeal and good service, but it's the fresh lively food that lifts this place into the highly recommended category.