Overview
Since opening in late 2010 Britomart's Cafe Hanoi has been a go-to for fresh and exciting Vietnamese cuisine. Seven years on and the restaurant is about to enter a new phase with executive chef Nathan Houpapa behind the wheel and a brand new menu to mark his arrival.
With the new offerings Houpapa has honed in on his love for Vietnamese food and the country's philosophy around family-based eating. The new menu retains all the restaurant's classic dishes that you may have grown to love (shaking beef anyone?), but expands with a raw section that showcases oysters, Huế-style beef tartare, and raw fish with lemongrass, chilli and Thai basil oil. Houpapa says the raw section is a contemporary take rather than a traditional replication, "You don't typically see raw fish eaten in Vietnam, but it works beautifully with the cuisine's classic flavours."
Further new dishes have been constructed for the colder months, including an aromatic duck curry with kumara and coconut, and a caramelised pork belly hotpot. Then there's things like the Bánh trôi Tàu — a traditional warm Vietnamese dessert with sesame dumplings, peanuts and coconut, the rhubarb cardamom and custard crème brûlée, and the hot soy milk doughnut with cinnamon sugar and caramel sauce. Try everything for yourself by visiting Cafe Hanoi on the corner of Galway and Commerce Street, Britomart.