Vietnam Kitchen opens doors on Whanganui's Victoria Ave

Ky Vu is keen to keep prices down at Vietnam Kitchen. Photo / Bevan Conley

Vietnam Kitchen opened its doors for the first time last Friday, but the man behind it is no stranger to feeding hungry Whanganui people.

Ky Vu has been operating the Food Mill on Ingestre St for the past four years, and previously worked in and set up bakeries at New World, Pak'nSave, Four Square St Johns Hill, and SuperValue Whanganui.

The past four months have been spent single-handedly transforming the premises on Victoria Ave into his first restaurant.

Vu said he opened it to serve people food from his home country and locals have a lot to try, with two menus - cafe and restaurant - already up and running.

The restaurant will be open every day of the week. Photo / Bevan Conley

Prior to arriving in Whanganui in 2008, Vu worked in hospitality at the five star Melia Hanoi hotel.

He is in the process of bringing over a former colleague to join the staff at Vietnam Kitchen.

"Things have already been pretty busy," Vu said.

"The first day was crazy, wow. We did over 300 meals and around 200 bowls of soup."

To add to his workload, Vu said everything at Vietnam Kitchen was made fresh daily.

"Leftovers usually go to delivery drivers or someone like that. I never keep things for the next day.

The Food Mill and Vietnam Kitchen keep him busy from 4.30am to 9pm most days.

His morning deliveries take him to all parts of Whanganui, including a daily morning tea drop for the 200-strong team at Tasman Tanning in Castlecliff.

"The last two weeks, I've been very tired. Everything gets done though," Vu said.

"The next plan is to do an all-you-can-eat buffet one evening a week."

• The restaurant will be open from 7am to 9pm, 7 days.