Inside new Vietnamese restaurant Ngon at Marcoola

A Sunshine Coast couple’s second Vietnamese restaurant has opened with a bang and they are encouraging anyone wanting to try their street food to book in advance. See inside:

In just under one year, a Sunshine Coast couple has opened their second Vietnamese restaurant, this time in Marcoola, and it’s been fully booked since.

Melissa Nguyen and Max Bui opened Ngon Cafe on Wises Rd at the end of last year, and on Friday last week they opened Ngon at Marcoola.

The response from the community has been one of excitement and support as Ms Nguyen said they were “totally flat out” on opening weekend.

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“Customers are coming in to the kitchen and saying, ‘Who made this food? I want to speak to the chef’,” Ms Nguyen said.

“We are very grateful for the locals, people are stopping by and saying thanks for the food.”

With a focus on street food, including rice paper rolls, pho noodle soup, bao buns and banh mi, Ngon is filling a gap in the Sunshine Coast restaurant scene for traditional Vietnamese food.

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“At first I wanted to open a coffee shop but when I moved up here there were very little options for Vietnamese food,” Ms Nguyen said.

“My husband said, ‘Why not open a bigger shop?’, and this is really big, it’s triple the size of the Wises Rd store.”

After moving to the Sunshine Coast from “cold” Melbourne two years ago, the couple and their two-year-old son are enjoying the warmer weather, laid-back lifestyle and the friendly residents.

“We had a very warm welcome to the area,” Ms Nguyen said.

The shop is located at 10 Seaward Lane in Marcoola and has been leased out by the family, requiring little renovations before opening.

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Ngon can serve up to 70 patrons and Ms Nguyen said they were looking to expand their team of 10 staff members.

“I am looking for a chef at the moment but there is a shortage,” she said.

The current opening hours are limited to Wednesday to Saturday for dinner, with lunch available on both weekend days.

Ms Nguyen said once they hired more staff, Ngon would be able to open more frequently.