This time, cats to the vet for their annual jabs so takeaways it is.  Many years ago we were regulars to My Hanh, a Vietnamese restaurant in Upper Riccarton.  If you know the area, it’s just opposite the standalone Countdown in one of the alleys.  It’s actually just along from last weeks choice Spice’n’Life.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, it was just me and Mum dining tonight.  Being greedy piglets, we decided to order two dishes and a fried rice.  I looked up a menu online (on a random website) and gave them a call.

The woman who took my order immediately upon asking for the Bok Choy with Chinese Mushrooms said I must have been referring to an old menu and informed me that firstly that wasn’t on the menu anymore, but she’d ask the chef, and secondly that the prices likely were incorrect.

I was cool with both these issues and just said a substitute dish would be fine as long as it was vegetarian.  I also ordered Tofu with Lemon grass and Chili and a Vegetarian fried rice.

Time to collect 15 minutes, cost $42 ($15 for each dish and $12 for the fried rice).

Mum wasn’t completely convinced she’d like the tofu but was game to try.

So about 10-15 minutes later I arrived to My Hanh.  The back car park was packed!  This bustling little shopping area with its ethnic shops and restaurants was full of people including bus loads of Asian tourists.  IMO the biggest issue is the street appeal, all the shops and alleys look run down and there is no consistency so it looks very untidy.

There were a handful of diners already in the restaurant and my takeaways were ready and waiting.  The same woman who took my phone order was welcoming and made sure I left with a paper menu for future orders.  She also said not to be concerned about ordering “off menu”, as the chefs are happy to accommodate request.  This is excellent to know for anyone with any dietary requests or specific likes and dislikes.

Back home to serve up.  First thing I noticed was what large servings these were.   The containers were considerably larger than many other takeaway dishes.

They were also piping hot and filled to the brim.  We already knew there should be enough for lunch but in actuality, even with two very decent sized servings, there was still enough left for another two slightly smaller lunches.

I tucked in to this with great expectations and I wasn’t disappointed.  This was delicious!  A generous amount of Chinese Mushrooms in the Bok Choy dish.  This had a lot of sauce also so would have been better IMO with steamed rice but I’m not complaining.

The fried rice was tasty and plentiful.

But the standout dish by far was the Tofu with Lemon grass and Chili.  Mum and I both agreed this was the highlight.  Spicy, lip tingling, but also flavourful.

Would we come back here again? A resounding YES

Would we order the same dishes again?  Definitely the Tofu with Lemon grass and Chili!

Would we try something else? On the new menu they have a much wider number of vegetarian options which sounded interesting including Eggplant options and additional Tofu and Vegetable based dishes.

Would we recommend My Hanh? Yes, without hesitation. There are a couple of other Vietnamese Restaurants I go to occasionally near work and this is much better, particularly for vegetarians.

Is it better than Welcome Vegetarian Cafe (our baseline restaurant)?  I’m torn, this tofu dish was so outstanding but on the one dish alone… not sure, so maybe I’ll say they are equal 🙂