Chao Vietnamese Canteen
And we begin our next ‘Crawl’, to Ponsonby Central we go! First up was Chao Vietnamese Canteen, we were off to a great start. This place is visually vibrant, casual, with a laid back vibe (just how us Huskies like it!) They are located in the back area of this busy hub of eateries, shops and bars, where there is a busy and energetic feel to the surrounding areas adding to the cool feel of the place. While we waited for our food orders we nipped over to Eighthirty to choose from their coffee selection, damn these guys make a fine brew!
The food at Chao’s is traditional Vietnamese flavours fused with other Asian flavours, from Korean barbecue to Sichuan Chinese (the owner Huh used this formula already at The Kimchi Project which was hugely popular). Moresh is a great way to describe the food we ate, with the banh mi being a top favourite. The flavours were epic, portions were super generous and the company was spot on – thanks for joining us Oli GIles, you just gave our table cool ‘teen’ street creed 😉 Come again!
Louise had half a banh mi and half a BBQ pork bun cha. She said, “I always enjoy the fresh, crisp flavours of Vietnamese. Banh Mi Chicken was bang on and the baguette was the perfect blend of crunchy and soft – just how it’s meant to be. Very likely since we’re now doing a Ponsonby Central crawl ha!”
Mel had a BBQ pork banh mi, shared some crunchy eggplant and had a coffee from Eighthirty. She said, “This place inspired us for our next lunch ‘crawl’ location, happy days to be sampling all the delish spots at Ponsonby Central. My banh mi was a perfect balance of meaty flavours, crunchy vegetables and fresh bread … this gal swoons over great bread! As far as coffee goes, Eighthirty are hard to beat, really hit the spot.”
Sam had BBQ beef on rice and a coffee from Eighthirty. He said, “Great little spot in Ponsonby. Super yum and good sized meals.”
