Chi-Chi Kitchen — Restaurant in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki

We ordered pho and lemongrass skewers. Chicken pho was too sweet and a pretty small portion for price and bits of hard stale chicken. Beef pho was also sweet and oily with bits of hard beef. Pho was tolerable but the skewers were definitely unacceptable. The skewer itself is a lemongrass stalk which had been fried with the meat so I got burnt. Bit into one of them and a strong pungent smell was overwhelming so I immediately spat it out. It was coming from the prawn. When we approached staff the lady started frowning and blaming us? She showed us the packet the prawn came from, said it was only made last night and that next time we shouldn’t order what we ordered if we don’t like it? We tried to explain that it wasn’t that, it was the fact that the food was off. But, she wasn’t having any of it. She gave us $11 back for $13 skewers that were inedible. Unfortunately, we left the place politely saying that we were not...

Recently a lot of small boutique Vietnamese cafes/kitchens pop up around Auckland. It changes the behavior of where to go when I have a craving for Vietnamese cuisine, it used to be Otahuhu, but now we are spoiled for choices. Chi chi kitchen is nice little Vietnamese kitchen in the neighborhood, their food tasted really nice. Full of flavours as Vietnamese cuisine should be. Their pho and vermicelli are a little bit too overcooked, but the taste does make up of the lacking in texture. The nem lui (grilled mince pork on lemongrass stalk) tasted really good, but I think a bit more fatty pork or breadcrumbs might give it a more delicate texture. It is a fairly small shop, only a few tables inside. And the extraction system is not too efficient, the smell of oil and greasiness could become overwhelming. A nice alternative Vietnamese cafe instead of those older establishments in Otahuhu or...

I came here for an early dinner so I was the only one there. The menu is straight forward and I ordered a beef pho and the duck summer roll. Beef pho broth was light enough to not be overpowering but strong enough to have a good herby beefy flavour. Good balance as opposed to some pho in other places that taste like brown water. I put on the spicy chili sauce on the noodles and ate with a slice of their pickled garlic to get the spicy, sweet, garlicky flavour. So nice.

The duck summer roll was a big serving for me (I was alone) so I ended up taking some home to enjoy at a later time.

Will go again for their other dishes when I come back...