This is the 1st time I’ve been compelled to write a review having read some of the previous negative comments. I’m assuming that all the rude staff have been sacked and the chef has changed.. Who knows!
Cafe Hanoi surpassed my expectations this afternoon. We were given exceptional service by a very friendly and knowledgeable waiter, ate the freshest, most delicious Vietnamese food in a very comfortable and rather trendy surroundings. Service was quick, efficient and my friend and I had a fab time.
Can’t wait to go back and check it out in the evening. As for not taking bookings, I’m more than happy to sup on a glass of wine in Smith Bar opposite should a table not be available straight away!

I’d heard heaps about this Vietnamese restaurant, and was extremely excited to try it out. As a vegetarian, ethnic restaurants are often my best option, and I knew they had an extensive vege list, so thought I’d be sorted.

I arrived late, and my group were already seated. It was the day before the Easter break, and the entire Britomart area was stretched to capacity, but thwe were lucky enough to secure a table for six, so we were well pleased.

The interiors of this place are simply wonderful. Huge paper lamps bob and sway from the ceiling, there’s great ambient lighting, and pared back, authentic Vietnamese style decor. All very Graham Greene.

But sadly, the interiors are the best thing about this place. I had to wait about 20 minutes to get my drink ordered. It took about another 20 minutes to arrive. The wait staff were harried and short tempered; but you couldn’t blame them – the place was so understaffed they were literally running from table to table.

We ordered food (eventually) and it arrived quite quickly, but this too was disappointing. The vege options were bland – in fact I barely touched them. When we had finished we were asked to leave the table immediately by a rude waiter wanting to fill the table. We were asked to go downstairs to a bar which we couldn’t actually find; luckily a nice woman (maybe the owner) eventually showed us the way.

So, to sum up, as a vegetarian, I wouldn’t bother going here again. The staff are unpleasant, the food is bland. The interiors are gorgeous, but that’s about it. IMO totally over rated.

put some effort into the beer list, get rid of the cheap predictable beers any average place has. good food, strange service tho. Was a nice place

Great food for a fairly reasonable price. Good dining experience, however the service was below par due to some major inattentiveness on the part of the wait staff.

I had an amazing dining experience here last weekend. As we knew it didn’t reservations my friend and I arrived at 7pm, popped our names on the wait list for tables and then popped down the road for a wine in one of the Britomart bars, the perfect warmup. In 30 minutes exactly as promised we were called and told our table was ready.

We were seated at a cosy table, the places was very fully but the atmosphere was bustling and fun. The waiters were exceptional, friendly, helpful and extremely efficient and knew the menu in and out. We ordered the John Dory, the Squid and a range of sides and just shared everything. The eggplant and tofu sides were a highlight, both of the mains were delicious and I was particularly impressed with the succulent, fragrant john dory.

Overall we had a wonderful time and a very reasonable bill at the end. I am already thinking of who I can “take’ there, so I can go again

great locations and nice on the inside, a really busy spot as well. this place will do well but its not my favourite place for vietnamese maybe my favourite place to be seen eating vietnamese if u are into keeping up with the jones’s but the service is spot on here

2nd visit very slick operation, great service, good food and reasonably priced for the quality, what more could you want.

I love the food at this place and the wine list is great, so is the atmosphere. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it’s somewhere I love to take people, in fact I’m going tonight. Try the Vietnamese meatballs and the summer rolls; amazing!

Reviewed on a wet Thurs night. Table for 1 at the bar. Had open wontons, pho bo, cellophane noodle salad, pork skewers. Open wontons were ok, pho bo was disappointingly small and not particularly fragrant even with adjustments of fish sauce/etc. Neither pork skewers or cellophane noodle salad were memorable. Surprised that chopped capsicums were provided in place of chilli in the condiments (along with fishsauce and lime). Service was good but needs to be sharpened – napkins weren’t provided, cutlery was left on the table without plate or anything to store it on between courses. Overall atmosphere was pretty nice, drinks were good but for a food venue, very disappointing. Lasting impression was that the kitchen had substituted high volumes of salt instead of natural flavours in all dishes and I was left drinking large volumes of water.

People are very quick to judge without doing their research. This place is an eating house, and it says so.
Something relatively new to kiwis, the concept of not planning or making a reservation 1 week in advance for a ‘steak dinner’. If I hadn’t learnt about this place before and hadnt prepared myself for a 45min wait then the experience would have been different. Great service. Clean simple tidy meals. Very fresh, modern Asian. Don’t go expecting a big cheap dirty eat. Eating houses are higher end and prices to match. The point is you get in and out. Lounge around all night in a lounge. That’s what they are for, and Auckland has plenty. I was surprised that there were 0 tables available at 8pm on a monday, but Britomart has so many fabulous bars to enjoy now, what a great way to spend the night with friends!

So so difficult to get seating here. The Vietnamese staff, on the phone, indicated that there are no reservations. We arrived at 645 pm aon a Saturday and it was true. The wait was for ca 45 minutes, we were told by a Kiwi.

No go, no customers.

I have tried to eat at this restaurant on two separate occasions. First time was a group of 10 people arriving 8.00pm and the second time two of us trying earlier at 6.30pm, both on Monday nights. Walk in only, no reservations, oh my goodness, what a hassle, Will not be returning, by the time you find head into the city and find a car park and walk to the restaurant just to find no tables available. The restaurant is fairly small, on both nights we arrived no area even to sit and have a drink if you want to wait for a table. Told by the stressed out front staff that you would be best to go have a drink at the local cow boy bar over the road and we will call you when there is a table available. I don’t think so, let’s move on I suggested and dine somewhere more welcoming, of course there is lots to choose from in the city, and the atmosphere and service can only be better than what I have experienced at Cafe Hanoi. Menu is simple, short & sweet, so I was interested to see for myself what all the hype was about. Won’t be trying to dine at Cafe Hanoi again

Wow – this place lived up to all the hopes I had in my head! Fresh, delicious, packed with flavour and modern. Stylishly decorated and presented, the whole place screams ‘modern upmarket dining’

We had the hotpot of pork belly, summer rolls, red cabbage salad, confit eggplant and the crispy fried tofu. They also recommended a side of rice (which we agreed to) but it was pretty pointless as the rest of the meal filled us up. Not one complaint about the meal from either of us. The other interesting part is rather than having salt and pepper on the tables, the idea is you try the food first, and if you need extra salt you are provided with a mini jug of fish sauce to season with, a lime wedge and some fresh chilli. Not much of it really needed extra seasoning (other than the egg plant) but the fish sauce did the perfect job without having to saturate food in salt

Service was great, although because they are incredibly popular you feel a little like you are being rushed through the meal (they’re VERY efficient with bringing out the food – and are pretty quick to clear your plates) We were also told prior to arriving that we most definitely needed to be on time otherwise we would lose our table (I don’t think they take bookings anyway so that’s probably why they made that clear)

Reasonably priced, I think our bill came to $100 or just over, for two people to leave completely stuffed, washed down with a Tiger on tap each.

The whole experience was great though and will definitely go again

Amazing!!
We had a ladies lunch here yesterday,a beautiful example of a grown up’s restaurant, professional & upbeat service & stunning food! They do what they do and they do it well! Compliments Hanoi!

Had a great waiter, and that was it. Was really looking forward to a good Vietnamese meal, and could not have been more disappointed. Could not find anything in the food that reminded me of Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine, or any Asian flavors at all! Vietnamese food is typically very “clean”, simple and subtle flavors, really straight and uncluttered. Our dishes tasted like they had been thrown together by someone who had a spastic fit in the spice cupboard.

Walk on by folks.

This restaurant has got to be a joke. Two of my friends and I dined there last month. Although the head waiter was attentive (taking our coat, seating us at the bar), the service was curt and somewhat unfriendly. The waitress started clearing our table without even asking us! As such, we didn’t feel welcomed and didn’t stay on for drinks.

Food was exorbitantly priced, portions were abysmal. I now understand the phrase ‘food morsels’ served at michelin restaurant-star prices. Truly disappointing. It was not as tasty as I would have expected – in fact, it was hard to see the Vietnamese connection. Perhaps it was trying hard to be a French-Vietnamese fusion or something, I don’t know.

Regardless, it will never get my recommendation or vote.

Update: The restaurant manager has recently contacted me offering an explanation. I highly value his initiative, and we subsequently shared a very interesting discussion on improving the dining experience of his restaurant. Good luck, and kudos for taking such an active interest in my review. Cheers.

Just had dinner with friends at Cafe Hanoi. Amazing food and great service. Beautiful restaurant with a great atmosphere. Will definitely be going back!! Highly recommend the Shaking Beef dish

Been here twice and really enjoyed myself. Found the food great – the only thing I didnt think was fantastic was the papaya and chicken salad which I found tastless and bland. Loved the hotpot of pork belly and stir fried squid.
Service was friendly and I like that you put your name down if its busy and can go have a drink elsewhere, they’ll call you when a table is free

Great thing that the food was amazing as one particular staff member definitely was not.
I have never been treated so rudely within a restaurant as we were treated here by the duty manager. You made a lot of money out of us and to argue and yell at customers is just plain rude and uncalled for. You made a mountain out of a mole hill and certainly reduce the class of the place.

Had the worst experience at this restaurant, would not recommend, food was expensive for what you get, service was terrible, was overcrowded as people were waiting for tables.

The main waiter was extremely rude.
after ordering the fresh spring rolls and trying them we found out there were peanuts in them but there was no mention of this on the menu. one of the guests I was with was allergic to peanuts so we had to leave.

Would never go back nor recommend this place!

I’ve eaten at Cafe Hanoi four times and it’s always been rather tasty (the first time was definitely the best). I believe its good value for central city dining. We got papaya salad, cockles steamed in beer, pumpkin curry and something else plus a glass of wine and a soft drink for around $50 so that’s good.
Always busy but yummo!

I was looking forward to having a great meal at this place, the reviews were great BUT…….Very average food, some dishes were to bland. It is designed for Kiwi taste buds and does not bring out the true Vietnam flavor it should.Service was the only thing it had and cocktails to make your meal. What a hype about nothing.

What fantastic Vietnamese in a trendy and clean restaurant. The shaken beef is delicious as was the chicken salad. Even the desserts were delicious and I don’t normally like Asian desserts!! Cant wait to go back. Only downside is that you cant book, however they took my mobile number and called us when our table was ready! Now that’s thinking

Too expensive for what it is. The Shaking Pepper Beef was great but the rest of the food was boring and the staff were rude.