Hanoi Hannah New Quarter
Features
Hanoi Hannah New Quarter is a Vietnamese diner by Commune Group, which is also behind locations in Windsor and Elsternwick.
The restaurant has a more contemporary menu than its sisters. During a research trip the team discovered chả cá, a Hanoi sizzling pot specialty of fish, turmeric and dill. At New Quarter it uses rockling and diners cook it at their tables.
Another Hanoi transplant includes phở cuốn: rolls made of flat rice noodle filled with lemongrass beef and topped with crispy shallots.
The cocktail menu gives an affectionate nod to the picture-filled drinks menus found throughout Vietnam; there are photos of a chilli and coconut Negroni; an iced tea with peach liqueur; and a blueberry and star anise sour with plum bitters.
New Quarter is the most ambitious of the Hanoi Hannah venues; it has a 110-seat dining room and an adjoining takeaway space designed by Melbourne’s Ewert Leaf, the studio that did the fit-out for the group’s wine bar Neptune.
New Quarter's interiors are inviting, warm and laid-back; there are timber tables, a long bar and lots of exposed brick. Illuminated natural cane boxes run along the ceiling. An intricate black and white mural by Melbourne-born street artist Conrad Bizjak covers the back wall. Those who have visited Hanoi you may recognise the scene: scooters and bicycles at bustling intersections in the city’s historic Old Quarter.
