Ghost Street (Restaurant) — Restaurant in Waitematā

I love Cafe Hanoi so you can imagine I had some high hopes and dreams for this little hidden gem of a vibe. First off took a bit for this gal to get her bearings of how and where to find the entrance in some dark and dim lit place but this lead me to more excitement and anticipation once we found it. First look into the restaurant was this is a total romantic vibe and I was all for it. But once being seated I soon thought am I at a "Pitch Black" dining event? (Hence I didn't take photo's of the dishes as I didn't want to be the creep with my flash going every dish) Then the people to my left & right soon complained about the obscenely bright overhead lights blinding them or the lamp at eye level obstructing their view of their human. As you could tell this was no longer a romantic Saturday date night out.

How to order: We were instructed to tick the menu and clip to the string peg next to us. Awesome idea and by far the coolest and easiest way to get a waiter/waitress attention when you are ready (But not the most sustainable option when it comes to paper waste, sorry earth). Got some unneeded comment asking if we were "really hungry" and side-eye after they read our order, for two small/medium females that's just social norms we live with.

First Dish Chinese pickles, fried wonton skins, chilli salt $9 I had high hopes cause loves a good pickled dish and some wonton skins. The Wontons skins came as 4 sheets and were crisp and tasted like the oil they'd been cooked in and the pickles whereas you can imagine carrot and other assorted veg pickled. We were told to eat this through the evening to break up the dishes flavours but tbh it didn't do what it was said to do.

Second Scallop wontons, Sichuan oil, ginger red vinegar $23.50 (4 pieces) Ohhh how I wish these had less Sichuan or at least an option to leave that on the side and you choose how much to add. There was too much to the point I had got excited by the dish then to be quickly dropped back down in an underground 1885 3am session, which if you know leaves you feeling sorry and sad for yourself later that day. This dish had everything going for it the look, the texture but the taste was lost for me and ruined by the over loaded Sichuan "pins & needles" numbness.

Third Red braised brisket, yellow noodles, bean paste, dried chillies, Sichuan pepper $28 Well well well what can I say things started to look up from here and gosh this dish was delicious!! That brisket was so yum paired with those thick juicy noodles!! This was the dream I was hoping for! If you are in the "Pitch Black" seating area watch out for those dried chilies' unless you are feeling adventurous. I was super happy to only find the Sichuan at the bottom of the bowl after we demolished this dish so I survived round three.

Fourth Whole steamed Aussie king prawns, glass noodles, fried garlic, sweet soy $37 I was feeling a bit prawny for seafood and so of course I couldn't leave these little (big) puppies off the list and boy was I glad we didn't cause those wen down a treat! You get about 4 or 5 big whole prawns (Sorry didn't count as I was eating them too quickly to even bother). I love a well flavoursome cooked prawn and that hit the spot. I was a little confused by the rice noodles below them but they had something yummy and light going on while drenched in a sauce so they can stay!

Fifth and final Sichuan eggplant, chilli bean paste, ginger, soy $12.50 This dish was a favourite of my dinner date and went off without a hitch, I only had a few servings of this but what I did eat I enjoyed. The texture and flavours of the eggplant were spot on and an appreciated addition to the table of snacks.

All and all for a resty that has just opened up it's getting there. I went in there expecting it to have its training wheels on and I can't wait to try it again in 6 months to see those training wheels off!

P.S Please get more non-alcoholic options as 3 types of water and 3 soft drinks isn't the most welcoming thing for a teetotaler.

Total = $120 something and 2 hours free...

Such a cool venue - really cool vibe and atmosphere! Staff are also super friendly and on it. Definitely a fun place to visit. Food was unfortunately a bit hit and miss. We were a group of 4 - had a couple of friends visiting from Aus and thought it would be a great place for them to visit We ordered: Duck lettuce bowls - probably a 2/5. Flavours weren’t great, did mix well and was generally very underwhelming Scallop dumplings - 5/5 - really delicious. Would highly recommend eating with a spoon and scooping up some of the vinger oil dressing as it was superb and complimented the dish well Beef biang biang noodles - 3/5 - beef was quite tough and the flavour didn’t permeate the meat. Noodles were excellent but had no flavour. It was kind of a weird dish. Felt like it had been cooked separately and then tossed with sauce so wasn’t the sauce wasn’t through all the ingredients Char siu pork - 2/5 - pork was really overcooked and tasted quite floury. Not ideal Prawns with glass noodles - 4/5 - this was yummy, really enjoyed Special fried rice - 4/5 - was really yummy Fried bread with taro - 4/5 - this was good! Not as sweet as our waitress described as you can control how much condensed milk you put on. I really enjoyed Mango verrine - 3/5 - wasn’t a fun - the flavours didn’t really mix. But I didn’t find that sweet All in all we really enjoyed our overall experience as the vibe and atmosphere is very cool but yeah food was a bit...

Dinner at Ghost Street for six with 4 of us having birthdays. While for some reason our booking could not be located our needs were accommodated.

The menu has some amazing dishes, and of course, I wanted to try all of them. Unfortunately they didn't offer a banquet or degustation menu which I am sure would be very successful here. Also, due to limited understanding of the size of meals when you have six people sharing, it was overall confusing and stressful, wondering if someone was going to miss out on a portion from a shared dish which is exactly what happened. However, it sort of all worked out but could be a lot smoother experience with more thought for group offers. However, as a couple, I would also have the same challenges but in the opposite way. You could have too much or not enough variety between the two of you.

Anyhow, that aside, the food was beautiful. Elegant, full of flavors and colour, and super yummy with exciting execution and style. It was amazing watching the dedication and precision in the open kitchen. The flambe and noodle making is always fun to watch.

Thank you for a fun night out.

Notes for special needs. There is no ability for special needs access for chairs. The restaurant is below ground level downstairs. There are no lifting facilities. However, if you are ok on stairs it will be ok. There are well spaced tables available. Ask...