Vietnamese has to be one of my favourite cuisines. Fresh, healthy and incredibly tasty… well it should be anyway.  This wee spot has opened up on the Maunganui Road (i.e. right down town) and all I knew about it was that even the chairs had been imported in from Vietnam. They were pink and plastic (and probably just as easily sourced from Kmart!) but were an integral part of the cheap and cheerful vibe the restaurant was so obviously trying to achieve.

We went on Tuesday night (my birthday!) so cocktails were 2 for 1. Considering the cocktails were cheaper than your standard cocktail in the first place it made for great value! The menu was diverse with all the usual classics: duck salad, spring rolls (fried and fresh), curries and the classic pho. We ordered a mixture of dishes to share – the squid and chicken noodle salad were both yummy dishes, but my stand out was the chicken curry. I could just spoon that sauce (with rice) all day long. We agreed that the pho could have been more exciting: it was hot and salty in all the right quantities, but a wee spice kick probably wouldn’t have gone astray.

The restaurant was busy for a Tuesday night and by the time we left there was a wait for a table. The staff were pleasant and friendly and the overall price was nothing short of a bargain. It is somewhere that I will happily return!