A freezing cold winter night, storms-a-comin’ … takeaways for dinner on the way back from a friend’s place.  We decided to try the fairly recently opened Hello Vietnam Restaurant in Riccarton.  If you know the area, its in the new group of shops on Riccarton Road near the corner of the Clyde Road intersection.

A trap for the unwary is the sign is out the front but the restaurant itself is actually at the back of the shops so head around the back of the building and there is a car park.

We’d ordered ahead via phone, their website doesn’t have their menu but their Facebook page does.  We ordered the Vegetarian Fried Egg Noodle, Stir-Fried Green beans with Garlic and Lemongrass and Chilli Tofu.  Total $38(ish) including a small serve of steam rice.  It was ready when we arrived about 15 minutes later.

The diners in this place were all Asian, a great sign and on a freezing, horrible Sunday night at 6pm it was looking pretty busy.

Home we went and gave it a quick nuke as it had already gone a little cool due to it being such a cold night.  Standout dish was the Stir-Fried Green beans with Garlic these had whole red chillis scattered through which we put to one side but they gave it a nice flavour.  The green beans were perfectly cooked, not to crispy and not too soft.  A generous amount of garlic in the dish.  We also very much enjoyed the Lemongrass and Chilli Tofu.  The tofu was firm, well cooked and a dry-ish dish.  While the Vegetarian Fried Egg Noodle was nice, it wasn’t a standout dish compared to the other two.

There were a handful of other vegetarian items on the menu and I think many dishes could be made vegetarian or vegan upon request.

Would we come back here again? Yes, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.  It’s a little further from home so likely we would go to My Hanh instead but if we were going past, it’s a good option.

Would we order the same dishes again?  Definitely the Lemongrass and Chilli Tofu and the Stir-Fried Green beans with Garlic. Probably not the Vegetarian Fried Egg Noodle.

Would we try something else? While there weren’t a huge amount of vegetarian options, there were a few more to try.  Vegetarian Sate (Satay) sounded appealing and we nearly ordered that one.

Would we recommend Hello Vietnam Restaurant? Yes, certainly if you are in the area its a good choice with plenty on the menu to please both vegetarians and meat eaters alike.  Its also looks nice for a dine in location.

Is it better than Welcome Vegetarian Cafe (our baseline restaurant)?  No, I think I prefer Welcome Cafe but it make a nice change.  I think I prefer My Hanh at a pinch too but I would need to try a few other items from both menus to make a final decision.

For more about food and dining reviews, click here.

Follow @paula_from_nz