John Key outclassed in spring roll contest

John Key roped in political editor Barry Soper for his team but they were both handicapped by lack of spectacles. Photo / Audrey Young

John Key fancies himself as dab hand in the kitchen but last night in Hanoi he was outclassed in a Vietnamese roll-making contest by cabinet minister Steven Joyce and New Zealand's ambassador to Vietnam, Haike Manning.

Kiwi chef Brendon Partidge, the executive chef at JW Marriot Hotel in Hanoi, declared Joyce's product the superior one on presentation.

But then Joyce has always been exemplary at optics.

Joyce approached the challenge in a relaxed manner, suggesting an one stage that the exercise was part of Murray McCully's reforms for Mfat - making diplomats cater for themselves.

Key roped in Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper for his team but being gentlemen of a certain age, they were both handicapped by lack of spectacles.

That meant the carrot julienne, bean sprouts and stir fried New Zealand beef were not laid as neatly on the fresh stickly rice paper sheets as they might have been.

The roll-making challenge took place at the Koto training restaurants established by an Australian-Vietnamese Jimmy Pham for at-risk and disadvantaged youth who began taking in youth in 1999 to train on his sandwich stall.

There are two Koto training restaurants, in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh City.

- By Audrey Young in Hanoi