Hanoi Hannah

Hanoi Hannah 180 High Street Windsor, VIC 3181 (03) 9939 5181 There’s something about the early onset of summer – the almost-balmy evenings where it would be just plain wrong to sit at home and not enjoy what our gorgeous city has to offer – great food, that atmosphere and amazing company. Last Tuesday was one of those evenings, where the northerly wind kept the temperature around 23 degrees well into the night… and the whole of Melbourne was abuzz, strung high with that lust we feel for summer in this city, after what felt like an eternal winter. Let’s face it, your options for Asian are more confined in the inner South-East suburbs than in Richmond or Footscray – enter Hanoi Hannah – a taste of Victoria Street’s Vietnamese that’s landed itself a quaint little, nondescript spot on High Street, Prahran (without the Prahran price tag, picture menus or bland decor, including that damn waving gold cat). The menu is hawker-style Vietnamese… two things I love – Asian and Tapas (this was never going to go wrong, no matter what we ordered)… Oh, and they’ve got pork belly sliders! I had been saving myself all afternoon for this – I was ravenous. We ordered the home made prawn spring rolls (with lettuce and Viet mint), crispy soft-shell crab, rare beef salad, glass noodle salad, the pork belly sliders and whole baby snapper. I thought I’d keep with the whole Vietnamese thing going and ordered a “Bia Ha Noi” (followed by a few more – it was light, crisp and went down a treat with our assortment of yumminess).        

While it may be hard to spot from the street, inside is anything but ordinary – the exposed brick wall behind the bar, the draped material elegantly softening the ceiling, the low-lying dim lights that harmonize with the warm colours and casual vibe. The stereo playing old school funk and classic hip-hop doesn’t leave you fighting to be heard over dinner conversation. It all goes hand-in-hand with the quality of the food. While we’re on the subject of memorable, the wait staff… not bad on the eyes and super friendly. Dinner was however a quick turn-around… but for $80 there are no complaints here. (image via The Age)