When Commune Group – also behind Tokyo Tina and Firebird – opened Hanoi Hannah New Quarter almost exactly three years ago, it was slightly more refined than its siblings in Windsor and Elsternwick, but operated on a similarly fast-paced, in-and-out rhythm.
“It was a busy restaurant – it was in the right spot at the right time,” group creative director Simon Blacher tells Broadsheet. “But it was busy when Richmond was busy, rather than being a destination restaurant. Now we want people from all over the city travelling to try it.”
It’s a model that’s working for Firebird in Windsor, so Blacher and team are confident they can make it work at the new New Quarter in Richmond.
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SUBSCRIBE NOWThey’ve enlisted a new head chef in Scott Lord, though he’s not entirely new to the Commune Group – he once held the same role at Tokyo Tina, between stints as chef de partie at Cumulus Inc and sous chef at Sunda.
The rice-paper rolls and pho are gone. Instead, find banh mi “fingers”: flattened baguette topped with whipped chicken liver pate, crisp chicken skin and pickled cucumber. There’s also beef tartare tossed through nuoc mam (fish sauce) then topped with egg yolk, dried-anchovy tapioca crisps and “pho jelly” (gelatinised pho broth).
Plus, nuoc mam “caviar” (not the real stuff, but nuoc mam that’s been turned into little spheres that will pop in your mouth) with crumbed chicken terrine and Laughing Cow cheese; cha ca-style barramundi fillet with burnt butter nuoc mam; and half a roasted free-range chook with green nam jim (Thai dipping sauce) and nutty annatto oil.
Wines are all-Australian and so are most of the beers, with the exception of 333 rice lager from Vietnam. The cocktail list includes a Lowball with a Vietnamese-coffee ice cube floating in Bacardi spiced rum, Amaro Averna and orange bitters; as well as a spring roll-topped Bloody Mary, spiked with soy and sriracha; and a Kaffir Lime Margarita.
Architect Ewert Leaf and design agency Space Between are behind the refurb, and the corner spot looks nothing like its former self. It’s bigger, with the adjoining takeaway space turned into another dining area, but more intimate too. There are fewer seats now, and banquettes invite diners to settle in for the long haul, while the cork-topped tables, textured walls and warm lighting bring a more muted, modern feel.
New Quarter
79 Swan Street, Richmond
(03) 8391 1388
Hours:
Tue to Thu 5pm–10.30pm
Fri & Sat 12pm–11.30pm
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