Dining review: Little Viet Kitchen opens in Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches

Tuck into trendy banh mi for lunch at Manly restaurant Little Viet Kitchen.

Little Viet Kitchen’s imperial pork banh mi.

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VIETNAM’S take on the humble filled roll has gone global. From London to San Francisco, bahn mi has become a trendy lunchtime phenomenon.

So it’s goodbye to boring ham rolls and hello to these French-Asian fusion of bread rolls packed with mouth-popping flavour.

Little Viet Kitchen rice paper rolls.

If you’re on a banh mi mission, Little Viet Kitchen, Manly’s newest restaurant does them at lunch. The hard decision is which one to have.

The baguettes are pre-baked, then finished off just before serving so they are still warm and crunchy when they come to the table. Who can resist street food when it comes in a warm and crunchy roll?

Fresh herbs, chilli slices, house pickled carrots, crushed peanuts and crispy shallots are mandatory.

So will it be the crackling pork belly, imperial charcoal pork, lemongrass beef, cha cha chicken or tofu?

Owner Hasan Erman says the five-spice crackling pork has been the most popular roll since turning the former Miss Chu’s into Little Viet Kitchen last month.

Manly legend Steve Menzies is a pork belly banh mi fan too — one of his photos has already been posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Staying with the piggy-theme, the $9 imperial pork baguette and its marinated lemongrass and garlic grilled meat gets our nod.

As well as banh mi, Little Viet Kitchen’s small lunch menu has a healthy-sounding selection of salads and build-your-own rice or noodle bowls.

Then there are the big, white bowls filled with soup.

Pho, a staple in Vietnam, is a fragrant broth that’s slow-cooked for 24 hours before it is finished with traditional ingredients like spring onion, chilli, aniseedy Vietnamese basil slices of rare beef and fresh rice noodles. The side of bean sprouts and a spritz of lime add zing and crunch to a soup that really does sing out loud with flavour.

Order one of these along with a couple of the fresh rice paper rolls, as we did, and there is more than enough for two to share.

The interior has touches of old Hanoi.

Lunch is always going to be a quick and casual affair, but there’s still time to admire the interior design talents of Erman’s wife.

Kirsty Siddle has taken a scene from Hanoi and turning it into living art. The interior of dark wood, concrete and brass contrasts with her striking painting of a young woman on the back wall.

Lunch done and there’s always time to return for dinner and linger over a vodka-spiked lychee slushie and a couple of shared plates, and maybe one of the curries.

Twitter: @beverley_hudec

Interior designer Kirsty Siddle’s striking graphic adorns the back wall.

Little Viet Kitchen

5/64-68 West Esp, Manly

Phone: [phone]

Open: Daily from 11am — 9pm

Go for: temple tofu and mushroom pho, $16; crackling pork belly banh mi in a French-style baguette, $9; choice of five rice paper rolls including crispy soft shell crab, two for $8

Coffee: Vietnamese-style made with condensed milk

Licensed: no BYO

Vibe: Pho far, pho good

Bottom line: $37