Restaurant Review: Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant, Newmarket

In Newmarket, being a middle-high end shopping district you’d think there aren’t that many eateries around that serve quality food at the mid-low range of prices - I’m talking about the $10 - $15 mains price range here. That’s where nuffield street comes in - it’s basically a street filled with cafes and small restaurants, right on the other side of the street opposite the two double-seven shopping centre. Apart from olive cafe , there are quite a few other places which I’m planning to visit; however there’s already one place that I look to frequently when I need a cheap asian meal in the vicinity - Hansan Vietnamese restaurant.

[black pepper sauce beef on rice] ~ $14

I ordered this beef on rice dish the other night while out with my friends, and I was a little surprised about how well they cooked the beef. It was very tender and remained that way until the end of my meal (some eateries do go a little overboard with the stir-frying), and the black pepper sauce coupled with the beef well, too. The sauce itself was a bit more soy-saucy than black pepper, but still had enough of a pepper aroma and chili kick to it to remind me what sauce I’m gobbling my rice down with. The few pickled vegetables on the side was very sweet and tangy, which helped to reset my palette from being saturated with the heavy taste of the black pepper sauce.

There was a small bowl of soup that came with the dish, but from the unnatural sweetness to the slightly parched throat that I get after a meal at Hansan suggests a presence of MSG - hence I don’t usually drink too much of the soup. For the price I paid though and the fact I’m eating out, it’s a given that MSG is sometimes used to enhance the flavor, which is another reason that when I eat at home, the flavors and the way food is prepared is simple and to the point. I’ll blog about this aspect of eating out at some point, but it’s a hazard of eating out that people are often unaware and we do need to take care of our bodies through a balanced diet :) Public service announcement!

Back on track. Apart from the black pepper sauce beef on rice dish above, most of their main dishes go from $9 - $15 (for the ones I usually order anyway) with the drinks and desserts coming in around $5-$6 for a rather tall glass of goodies like shaved ice and red beans (depending on what you ordered!). The best thing about their menu is that they have a photo for EVERY dish - although they weren’t taken in the best of conditions- makes decision making that much simpler, as opposed to trying to decipher what they really mean when the menu reads “hainan chicken on rice” if it’s your first time seeing the label! They do the hainan chicken pretty well at this particular establishment by the way.

Apart from the Newmarket branch, I’m told (via google and friends)they also have many other branches throughout Auckland, all of varying quality. My friend who dined with me on this night confirmed that the Newmarket branch is one of the better ones she’s tasted, so please feel safe to try it out if you’re in the area for a cheap meal :) I’ve eaten here quite a few times already and will definitely be back to review the Hainan chicken rice dish!

 Contact details:

45-55 Nuffield Street

Newmarket

(09) 523 3988

Hours:

(unconfirmed) 7 days, lunch and dinner