Hanoi boy Vietnamese Street Food — Restaurant in North Island

The white female waitress we encountered today, January 14, 2025, was incredibly rude and possibly racist. We arrived about ten minutes before the official opening time and were waiting quietly outside. The waitress was inside, and when she stepped out at 11:26 while wiping the glass door, she immediately frowned and displayed a look of utter disgust on her face. There was no greeting or acknowledgment; instead, she completely ignored us.

At first, I wasn’t upset, as I assumed she might still be busy with preparations. However, when she opened the door, rather than welcoming us or politely addressing us, she told us to finish my coffee outside before coming in. She pointed dismissively toward some vague direction far away, as if to suggest we go finish the coffee on the next street. Her tone lacked any courtesy—there was no “please”—and her expression remained disgusted and unwelcoming. After delivering her instructions, she promptly shut the door in our faces.

To clarify, I was almost done with my coffee before she spoke, and I wouldn’t have minded a reasonable request. But expecting us to leave and finish a coffee somewhere else only to return was absurd and unnecessarily hostile. Her behavior made it unmistakably clear that we were not welcome.

Given such a cold, unprofessional, and unfriendly attitude, we had no choice but to leave. It is unwise to dine in such an unfriendly place and subject ourselves to the emotional harm caused by...

We visited Hanoi Boy with friends who have recently moved to Cambridge. We arrived on a Friday night, without a booking and Rachel was more than happy to see if we could be accommodated which she did.

My husband has quite specific dietery requirements and Rachel went above and beyond (through personal experiences of her own) to ensure that he could have an enjoyable dinner and avoiding making him feel uncomfortable in front of our friends. The food was amazing, exceptional, fresh and full of flavour - it is the first time that we have been able to experience Vietnamese food in a restaurant environment as in the past, we have been turned away from anyone being able to help us. So we really appreciate Rachel for her understanding and empathy. She is a real asset to the business and highly commended on her professionalism.

We will definately be back next time we are in NZ and highly recommend for anyone wanting a great local...

place was busy when I went with my group the other evening. Very crowded in such a small cramped setting, we were put in a corner and the waiter left us there for a good 30 minutes before she/he decided to come take our drinks order. Drinks took forever to come out around 15-20 minutes for 3 basic drinks… we quickly put our order through and then waited atleast 35-40 minutes for our dinner. I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with what I got as I have had it before but the rest of the groups food was very average, the bun cha isn’t as big as it seems on the menu and the calamari is very basic, nothing special. Only has 1 vegeterian option on their menu and not wheelchair accessible at all! After 7:30pm they started to dim all the lights and it became very dark and dull in the reastraunt, we quickly left after this. Overall I enjoyed my meal but not very big portion sizes and feels very...