Noi Vietnamese Eatery – an intriguing addition to Adelaide’s rich repertoire of ethnic restaurants
A modern Vietnamese restaurant opened by the siblings from two families has made an impressive entrance, writes Simon Wilkinson
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My younger son has a suggestion at the end of dinner at Noi Vietnamese Eatery. He insists that, as well as food, wine and service, this week’s score should include a component for doors.
If that were the case, the front door of this beautifully imagined Asian restaurant would be claiming maximum points. What a statement piece it is. Coming from the relentless traffic and higgledy-piggledy shopfronts of Glen Osmond Rd, entry is via a timber panel not much smaller than the average garage door. Push the handle on the right and it spins on a central pivot, opening with a smooth “swoosh” like something from a Bond movie or the Thunderbirds.
It’s not the only time you will be convinced that Noi must be a big-budget production from one of Adelaide’s serious players, rather than the result of the ingenuity and hard yakka of a young couple and their wider family networks.
Not that Thy and Quang Nguyen are novices at this caper. They already have the CBD dessert bar Shibui, which built on Quang’s reputation as the Willy Wonka responsible for Redskin ice cream, and the suburban cafe Devour.
For Noi, the pair have transformed an old Chopstix outlet into a room of calm beauty. A glass terrarium filled with greenery and a water feature runs along the front of the building, acting as a barrier to the road. It leads to a second garden filled with vegetables and herbs tended by Thy’s father.
Inside, the room is split by a central banquette capped by a planter box. Pale timber, brass fittings and grape-like clusters of spherical lights apply the finishing touches.
It’s a contemporary look to match a contemporary dining experience. In his previous work, Quang has shown he is gifted at absorbing and adapting all he tastes and experiences. For Noi, the Vietnamese food of his and Thy’s families is seen anew through the eyes of a young man who has grown up in Australia and eaten at the restaurants of many of his peers.
So, as well as his version of cold rolls and pork rib hot pot, you will find the ubiquitous wood grilled cauliflower, with a vegan fish sauce. “Banh trang nuong” is the kind of snack you’d expect to be dreamt up by ravenous uni students at the end of a late night on the turps. A crisp rice paper with various toppings, it is Vietnam’s answer to pizza and a recent addition to the country’s array of street foods. Quang’s version, spread with hoisin glaze, peanuts, spring onion and slabs of pork belly, is ridiculously, addictively munchable.
Far more sensible is a quartet of SA king prawns, head and tail attached but midriff exposed, basted in a mixture including fish sauce and striped with char lines from what must have been a stinking hot grill. A salad of green mango and other raw, crunchy bits in a zippy dressing sits to the side.
Fresh betel leaves are topped by chunky clumps of beef mince fried with coconut cream and shavings of toasted coconut in a mellower alternative to the fireworks of a Thai miang.
A superb do-it-yourself cold roll platter includes two meat components deserving of particular attention. “Skewers” of sugar cane encased in pork mince and little cigars of still-pink beef mince in betel leaf wraps both have the smoky aroma of the wood grill and are almost too good to bundle up with pickled veg, small woven mats of vermicelli and plenty of house-grown herbs.
A standard chilli/lemongrass/garlic marinade proves a happy match with lamb, a meat rarely eaten in Vietnam, but a favourite at Quang’s big family celebrations. Here he slowly grills lamb ribs that have sizzled fat and flesh in roughly equal proportions and are best shared between a group.
The vegie selection is particularly strong and options such as deep-fried brussels sprouts with fermented chilli or eggplant with a sticky sesame caramel could easily form a feast themselves.
Considering the chef’s track record, the two desserts on offer are surprisingly understated. The doughnuts are golf-ball-sized dumplings of glutinous rice topped with a scoop of condensed milk ice cream, while a coconut sago pudding and mango sorbet are happy in each other’s company. Riskier stuff, such as a fish sauce ice cream, is on the way.
Respectful of the past, but determined to tell their own story, the Noi team has created an intriguing addition to Adelaide’s rich repertoire of ethnic restaurants. Even if you don’t get past the door.
NOI VIETNAMESE EATERY
306 Glen Osmond Rd, Fullarton
8379 3898; noivietnameseeatery.com.au
OWNERS Nguyen families
CHEF Quang Nguyen
FOOD Modern Vietnamese
SMALL $5-$18
MAIN $24-$34
DESSERT $14-$16
DRINKS Solid list of a dozen each of red and white, sorted by weight rather than variety. BYO $15.
OPEN DINNER Wed-Sun
SCORE: 15/20