Hanoi Hannah in Prahran: Melbourne's south side gets some Vietnamese

Hanoi Hannah
180 High Street, Prahran/Windsor (map)
9939 5181
website
Open 7 days, 11am-11pm (breakfast coming soon)
No bookings


Located in Prahran/Windsor on High Street just off Chapel Street, new casual Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi Hannah cheerfully plugs a gap in Melbourne's dining scene by giving south side residents in need of a phở fix a cheap and bustling option on their side of the river.

It opened a fortnight ago, and when I tried to pop in for lunch with Jackie a few days after opening, one of the owners had to ruefully tell me that they were unexpectedly closed for lunch that day because they'd run out of food (!). I made plans with Tom to try again and we went for dinner on Wednesday night: it was already buzzing with young trendies.


Tom ordered a fresh coconut juice ($5) which came served in a branded coconut, in the manner of some of the cocktails the bartender was making. I was happy to see Halida beer from Hanoi on the menu (which I haven't had since I was in Hanoi six years ago), but our friendly waitress explained that their Halida supply was still in a boat on its way to Australia. I settled for a bottle of Ba Ba Ba Premium ($7) instead.

The bò lá lốt cigars ($8), served on skewers, were excellent: the vine leaves were crispy but the beef was succulent.


Seeing "pork belly sliders" on the menu nearly made me drop my monocle in surprise. Yes, very On-Trend Dude Food Melbourne ca 2012 (wouldn't they be more at home on the menu at The Smith across the road?), but not very Viet Nam, I'd've thought. But my curiosity was piqued, so I ordered them for us ($8 for two). And yes, they were very good - obligatory brioche bun, Sriracha Kewpie mayo and all.


Tom reported back favourably on the vermicelli salad with grilled chicken ($10).


I had a bowl of the beef phở ($9). While it wasn't the best phở I've had in Melbourne (that would probably be a tie between Hùng Vương and Phở Tam, both in Footscray), it was a damn sight better than some of the phở I've had on Victoria Street. Good price, good noodles, good beef, reasonably rich broth - though a few different garnish herbs to play with would've been great.


It's easy to see why Hanoi Hannah is packed already. The booze list is short but savvy, with an eye for what the kids are drinking in Melbourne at the moment. Most dishes hover around the $8-$10 mark: a glass noodle salad with shredded duck is the most expensive option at $13. Bánh mì are available at lunchtime and as noted at the top of this post, they'll soon be open for breakfast. I'll be back!


If you can't get in, I've heard good things about bistro Franco Choo's across the road, plus cheapish Thai food (that I loved) at Colonel Tan's is only a short walk away. The [aforementioned] Smith if you're prepared to splash some cash.

Pssst, Hanoi Hannah: upload a higher res version of the image on your website, so that we can read all the writing!

Colonel Tan's: Revolver does Thai

Colonel Tan's
Upstairs at Revolver
229 Chapel Street, Prahran (map)
9521 5985
Open 5pm-11pm Tuesday-Saturday and lunch Fridays only
website

Well there's a first time for everything. Walking up the steep stairs at Revolver (taking care to not touch the sticky handrail, of course) while sober was a surreal, novel experience. It was worth the effort though, given the grungy-but-great diner hidden at the back of the iconic nightclub/live music venue. Children are welcome in the restaurant during opening hours: a family-friendly Revs, imagine!


Colonel Tan's is chef Karen Batson's Prahran offshoot of her Thai city hotspots Cookie and Choo Choo's (the late-night diner at Toff in Town), both in Curtain House on Swanston Street. At Colonel Tan's, the floral tablecloths are plastic and the drinks menu is extensive. And the food? It's cheap and very, very good.

The menu is mostly authentic Thai, plus a few random curve balls (eg rendang with roti, club steak sandwich with fries, tofu 'whopper' burger with peanut sauce). When I visited with some girlfriends the other week, we started with chilli peanuts ($3.50), snapper, peanuts, ginger, chilli and lime wrapped in betel leaves ($10.50), and grilled Thai sausage and cucumber with cabbage and ginger ($11.50). I particularly liked the Thai sausage, which was slightly crumbly without being dry.


Next was a bloody nice larb: a salad of minced pork, peanuts, tomato, cucumber, kaffir lime and chilli ($14.50). The other porky dish we ordered was the dubiously-titled-but-delicious 'Bangkok bolognaise' ($15.50), served with rice noodles, Thai basil and plenty of jungle heat from both chilli and green peppercorns. It's something of a signature dish, and I'm very glad Jack insisted that we order it.


Also enjoyed: potato, pumpkin and peas in red curry ($14.50) and the fat duck noodles ($16.50), a smoky and - relatively - mild antidote to the Bangkok bolognese noodles.


Oh, and to finish? A basket of the Colonel's five spice fried chicken served with sweet chilli ($16.50). Colonel Tan, not Sanders, and a damned sight better than anything you'd get down at KFC.


I know I often whinge on the blog about how average most Thai food in Melbourne is compared to what you can get in Sydney, but if Colonel Tan's was just around the corner from where I lived you wouldn't hear any complaints from me. For those that DO live or work in Prahran, every Thursday night at Colonel Tan's is Locals Night: if you can prove that you live or work in the 3181, you get 50% off your food bill.

Yellow, tangy and perfect on a 37 degree day

Fritz Gelato
Stall 120, Prahran Market (map)
0414 682661

The Fritz passionfruit, limoncello and Sicilian mandarin gelato flavours...


...are sensational.