Bun Cha and Other North Vietnamese Dishes Get Their Due at Hanoia

While Melbourne’s Vietnamese restaurants have historically been concentrated in suburbs like Richmond, Footscray and Springvale, the CBD has recently seen its own wave of Vietnamese openings. Imports Pho Le and Pho Bat Dan, plus local banh mi shops Bammi and Luke’s, have led the charge, but there’s far more to Vietnamese food than what are arguably Australia’s two most popular Vietnamese dishes. 

Hanoia is one of the latest to ride the wave, but it’s doing something different by focusing instead on Northern Vietnamese food, which is less commonly found in the city centre. Ngon Banh Cuon is an exception, paying homage to the region’s steamed rice rolls. Hanoia takes that further with a broad menu of Northern specialities inspired by the owners’ home towns.

“[Other restaurants] do South Vietnamese or Middle Vietnamese or Chinese Vietnamese, but North Vietnamese is rare,” says Cathie Dinh, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Hung Dao.

They already have three other venues – Gac Bep in Springvale, Bun Cha in Highett and Hanoia Kiosk in Glen Waverley – that specialise in Northern-style dishes. But that wasn’t always the plan.

At Hanoia, the offering is extensive, but bun cha – rice vermicelli and grilled pork served in a light broth – has emerged as a standout. The dish is one of the more common Northern Vietnamese dishes found in Australia, but cooking the pork over charcoal gives Hanoia’s version a smoky edge.

Other regional specialities include house-made blood sausage; chicken, pork and herb sausage; and a compressed rice noodle cake called banh hoi, which can be mixed and matched in platters with a pungent shrimp sauce for dipping. Dinh compares the sauce to Vegemite and durian – a taste that might be offputting to unfamiliar diners, but is addictive once acquired.

“You love it or hate it,” Dinh says. But so far, plenty of customers have fallen into the former camp. “After they try it, they never ask for other sauce.”

There’s also a sizzling dish of ca lang, a freshwater river catfish, cooked with aromatics including turmeric, galangal and dill – a North Vietnamese staple. The pho, meanwhile, is a

a lighter style than the sweeter Southern pho many Australians are used to, as well as other noodle soups made with paddy crab, beef, fish or snail.

Coffee is served throughout the day, including with salted cream, coconut cream or coconut water. There’s also 333 beer – another Vietnamese import that Dinh says is difficult to find elsewhere in Melbourne.

Hanoia
1/217 Russell Street, Melbourne

0406 459 999

Hours
Daily midday–11pm

@hanoia.melb