Cafe Hanoi — Restaurant in Waitematā

Last night my partner and I went to Cafe Hanoi for our anniversary. It was a little bit hard to find as I don’t head into town often and they don’t really have signage. We did find it though as I knew from googling reviews of Cafe Hanoi that they have bright red doors! We arrived at about 7.15pm so definitely at the dinner rush time. They don’t take reservations, so we ended up needing to wait for 45 minutes, which was actually faster than the hour that she had quoted us. It was hassle free as she took our number and we just popped next door to get a pre dinner beer/cider.

Once we got a table we were seated at a table in the corner which was perfect as it was slightly away from the noise, however it was still quite loud. We mentioned to the waitress that we are vegan and she was incredibly helpful with advising what is vegan and what people normally do in terms of how many things to order for sharing.

For drinks: Kale got a Hawkes Bay Pilsner beer which he said was nice and similar to Heineken I got a Lychee, Passionfruit, Grapefruit and Cranberry virgin cocktail (I was driving) and this was a little bit sweet for my liking but offset the meal nicely. Came with an adorable fruit heart in the glass which was a nice touch.

For food we ordered to share: One portion of rice. One fried lemongrass tofu, x cinnamon smoked mushroom, chilli, wilted spinach & pickled mung beans. One Confit eggplant w soy, garlic & coriander. Two portions of Sweet soy & black pepper tofu w steamed bok choy & ginger. Dessert of Bánh trôi Tàu – a traditional warm Vietnamese dessert w sesame dumplings, peanuts & coconut

The rice was well, rice. Cooked well but nothing special, however you don’t expect it to be. The lemongrass tofu was good, it had a crispy outside like it had been coated in flour before cooking however it wasn’t spectacular. The confit eggplant was really good! Kale and I are both not huge fans of eggplant as we haven’t really had good eggplant. Most meals that we’ve had have either been mushy or flavourless. This one was tasty though. It had a vague hint of the taste of mushrooms though? I’m not sure if it’s cooked with mushrooms or what, but it was nice! The skin was a bit harder than I was expecting in comparison to the flesh of the eggplant but easy to chew. The Sweet soy and black pepper tofu was AMAZING. This dish was the clear winner of the night! It was so spectacular that we actually ordered a second portion when we had only ordered one initially! We will be going back for another date soon just to get this dish. We’ll probably get one of these each with a portion of rice each and be incredibly satisfied. To make you understand how much we enjoyed it, we both said that it was the nicest dish we’d EVER eaten including when we weren’t vegan. The dessert that we got of the sesame dumplings was the only vegan option. This was well… Meh. I disliked the consistancy. I’m sure it was a very traditional vietnamese dessert but I wouldn’t get it again.

We gave Cafe Hanoi = Service = 5/5 Our water glasses were never empty and the waitress was very helpful to our vegan needs. Environment = 4/5 The paper lanterns are a nice touch but I did find it a little bit too dark and cramped. Food = 4.5/5 This is only because the dessert was not a winner in my books, would be better to have more than one vegan option considering they have so many vegan patrons.

Overall we would give Cafe Hanoi a 4.5/5

All up for 4 dishes, a side dish of rice, two desserts, a beer and a mocktail our bill came to $96 which is excellent value, we...

Good food for Auckland and NZ standards. A real mixed bag. We've been to Cafe Hanoi many times over many years at different locations. A few really good dishes here but generally all are small servings, dishes have minimal veges and hardly any herbs/spices and small. amounts of sauce. Prices are expensive, there are very small drink servings, and a mixed quality of service from the staff.

The Tiger Prawn Cutlets with Green Rice (see picture) are the best dish and are a good size and juicy and crunchy with a nice spicy creamy chilli dipping sauce. The Tiger Prawns are a real favourite of ours and we order them every time - I highly recommend. The Market Fish is absolutely loaded with onion which is weird as onion isn't even listed as part of the dish - it dominates the flavour, so if you don't like onion avoid it - it would be so much better with courgette, capsicum and beans. The Glass Noodles dish has hardly any veges or herbs in there at all, pretty much just a bowl of noodles and not worth it - I don't think I've ever seen sugar snap peas in there or many mushrooms. Turmeric Pancakes with Tofu has tiny bits of tofu - almost undetectable, not what you'd expect as tofu is cheap you'd think you'd get many larger pieces. Crumbed Prawn Balls - you get an odd number and you don't get enough lettuce, herbs or pickled veges to put in the wrap of lettuce.They taste very nice though. Also very messy to eat. Would rather have prawn cakes with a salad. Cafe Hanoi do the lame restaurant upsell trick of an odd number in entrees and then ask if you want an extra item added.

Really mixed service - some waiters have been terrible and not brought cutlery or water when we've asked for it, or have tried to make really weird conversation asking us if we're going to concerts (of bands we'd never go to in a million years and we find it insulting that they think that's our taste) or events in the city like rugby (also of no interest) - we're out to have a nice dinner at Cafe Hanoi nothing else thanks and it I was going to an event I'd have to dine there a lot earlier. Or waiters just disappear and forget about you. Some waiters are good.

The major disappointment with Cafe Hanoi are the drinks -especially wine. Really tiny ripoff servings! My glass of white wine was about 2-3 cms of wine in the bottom of an oversized stemless red wine glass no exaggeration. I've never ordered wine there again. Unbelievable! There is no way that it was a standard drink serving of white wine! After a few mouthfuls it was gone. Total ripoff!! My husband had glasses of tap beer and those were served in small narrow glasses - not a standard pint glass or even a midi size glass. Sort out your drinks Cafe Hanoi, seriously! You are best ordering spirits with soda, or a cocktail or cider etc.

Cafe Hanoi really need to have a changing seasonal specials menu. The menu is always the same and never changes for regular diners. We'd go more often if the menu changed.

It's an expensive meal at Cafe Hanoi that comes to $150 for 2 people and it does not feel like you've consumed that value. I can get a similar meal in Sydney for around $100 with much bigger servings...

**Edited Response to Café Hanoi:

Hi there, thank you for your reply. I wanted to clarify a few things as I wasn’t able to respond directly to your initial message.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that the food and overall atmosphere were great — we genuinely enjoyed that part of the experience. However, the rating of 1 was not based on the menu misunderstanding alone, but rather on the overall service we received during our visit.

Prior to arriving, I had two phone conversations with a staff member where we agreed on a menu arrangement. I used the example, “So if we were to buy a plate for $38.50, we can split the cost in half?” and she confirmed this was possible. I remember this detail clearly, though I accept that there may have been a miscommunication.

When we arrived, we were not greeted warmly. The waitress seemed visibly annoyed when I asked about the menu we had discussed. She insisted I was mistaken, and while I chose not to argue, I did ask for a solution. Instead of helping to resolve the issue calmly, she made me feel uncomfortable and dismissed. Her tone was sharp, and she appeared frustrated. Thankfully, the manager was receptive and approved the request without hesitation.

Throughout the lunch, the waitress continued to act impatient and disengaged. Her demeanor made several people in our group feel unwelcome — some even hesitated to order or eat properly because of how tense the interaction felt. To correct your response, there were actually 14 of us present (photo evidence available), and multiple people commented on how uncomfortable the service was. I personally felt so uneasy that I gave a tip at the end, not because the service warranted it, but because I felt guilty — as though we had inconvenienced her.

I understand that things can get busy and miscommunications happen, but the way we were treated left a lasting impression. I may have been wrong about the menu, but the service that followed was not reflective of the welcoming environment Café Hanoi is known for.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope this feedback helps improve future experiences for...