Le Vietnamese Kitchen

Decidedly average ! I love Vietnamese food and this was just average .
Service ok and fast, I feel there’s better out there. I would give my first born for a good Bahn mie and it looks like I get to keep the baby .
The roll was garlicky and house made and the filling had flavour but that’s where it stops .
I’m willing to give this place another chance, but wouldn’t whole heartedly recommend this place to some one who loves Vietnamese cuisine.

This is my favourite Vietnamese restaurant — love the setting and décor and the papaya salad is fantastic and spicy
Service is good and it’s a great spot for dinner and post dinner cocktail At Bedford soda or golden dawn
Cheaper than moo chow chow up the road but the food is just as good and location is great

We came here for a romantic dinner out — and it was perfect! We ordered the calamari and pork sliders — yum! So flavorful. For main we had the lemongrass lamb which was an explosion of flavor! Would definitely come again. And apparently they have a loyalty program!

Came here on a Sunday night with a friend for dinner. We wanted to grab a quick dinner before a night out.
Drinks:
I ordered the Lychee Martini and my friend ordered the Little Miss Saigon. I really enjoyed my drink, it definitely had the Lychee flavor. My friend said she also enjoyed her drink very much.
Food:
Saigon Rolls — From the description, I thought that it would be rice paper rolls with meat and vegetable filling, however, they are more like lightly fried egg rolls with rice paper instead of the normal wonton paper that a traditional egg roll comes in. It was still pretty tasty. They put the rolls onto this cute bamboo basket and plate.
Mekong Chicken Curry — The curry comes in a clay pot with a side of rice. The chicken meat was very tender and the curry was very flavorful. We both enjoyed this dish very much.
Hanoi Rice noodles and Grilled pork — AKA Bun Cha Hanoi. This dish comes with some rice noodles, veggies, and the meat. I thought the dish was just okay. I wasn’t too overly impressed, but it wasn’t bad either.
Overall:
One of the reasons why we choose to go here was because we thought it could be a place where we could get a fairly quick bite to eat. Unfortunately, the service was quite slow. We had to wait for a table when we first got there, which is fine, but then when we seated it took them a very long time to take our order. When they did take our order, I originally wanted to order the Five Spice Chicken Thigh, but the server told us that they had run out. At least 3 different times, our table was approached by waiters with food for other tables. When we wanted to order another drink because it was taking so long, it seemed like no one was really interested in helping us. I had asked one employee if we could order drinks while he was cleaning up a table and he said he would come back to help us but never did. We had to finally flag down another person to help us. I think if we had been given better service I would give them an additional star. The ambiance of the restaurant was nice, but the food was just mediocre (again, maybe take this with a grain of salt I am Vietnamese and my expectations can be quite high).

It feels like some of the décor had been recycled and revamped from the set of the Golden Girls — quote camp yet a rather cosy setting.
There are so many Asian fusion cafes and restaurants all over Auckland that they seem quite mainstream these days.
Le Vietnamese trumps the others with good service, variety of dishes and well priced wine list. The atmosphere is relaxed with an array of diners enjoying birthdays, dates and work gatherings.
Tasty, simple food worth going back for again.

Tasty rolls (fried and fresh), delicious chicken curry and fresh fish. Good service on a busy Friday night. Recommend.

My first visit to this popular Ponsonby newbie. Asian fusion food is really making its mark on Auckland at the moment and this is a great addition. Well priced sharing plates make this a perfect place to go as a group. There’s enough variation to keep most palates satisfied and stuff that you don’t normally see at other restaurants. My pork belly was cooked beautifully. For those who bleated that the food arrived at different times, this is spelled out clearly on the menu.

As a favourite of ours I don’t understand the poor reviews of this great addition to the Ponsonby dining offering.
From the Ponsonby Road entrance the place looks unremarkable but the best seating is out the back in an attractive covered courtyard. It’s best to book as out the back fills up.
My partner Ryan and I have eaten here three times and loved it every time. I’ve also separately taken friends including one, Kerry who is a Vietnamese food fan, locally and in the country itself.
Kerry tells me that good Vietnamese food is hard to do outside Vietnam. Something to do with the 50 odd varieties of mint they can grow there for starters, most of which you can’t grow here aparently.
The menu says the food is designed to share and it is. But some of the dishes less so than others. There are small plates and bigger plates, salads, two phở options and deserts on the menu.
We always start the the skewers, one each of the chicken and pork. The chicken is succulent thigh meat and the pork is from the belly. Both are grilled on skewers and the chicken comes with a delicious satay sauce. Generous amounts of greens and/​or slaw accompany on the plate. We’ve dabbled with the other small plates but keep coming back to the skewers.
All of the food is wonderfully and artfully presented. You know what they say about eating with your eyes — it’s true here.
We’ve tried a variety of bigger plates including Triple Layer Tofu, best described as a stew of sorts which goes well with a side of rice. The Mekong Chicken Curry is also great and got the thumbs up from Kerry.
We also enjoyed the Hanoi Rice Noodles & Grilled Pork — Bun Cha Hanoi. This is one you might not want to share as it has a variety of smaller things going on on the plate you will want to keep for yourself such as pork belly and spring rolls.
On my last visit i tried the Five Spice Chicken Thigh which is a generous amount of free range boneless meat and a couple of tasty chicken and prawn taros cakes.
The food is flavoursome over hot so don’t be scared.
So ignore the naysayers and give Le Vietnamese Kitchen a go.

Mostly deep fried, low value food at inflated prices. Staff were efficient and friendly but that’s the only good thing I have to say about this place. Would not recommend. Fish cakes were small whole pieces of fish coated in rice crispies then fried… very odd.

If I wanted a pile of deep fried squid rings I could have visited a local fish and chip shop. Where else I’d find a skewer of thin, fatty pork pieces I’m unsure. Ditto the tasteless, green papaya salad. And what’s with the curly carrot strings on top of everything? Vietnamese food, my favourite, is supposed to excite taste buds not deaden them. Maybe I, and most others at my table, just ordered the wrong things? I would suggest Le Vietnamese Kitchen pay attention to how the menu items are described. My squid bore little resemblance to its description and the fish cakes were battered bites of fish — not cakes at all.
They must be doing something right, however, because the place was jam packed. Perhaps the location has something to do with it.
Sweet as the wait staff were, they seemed to have no system whatsoever. Our meals all came at different times, one was a wrong order and it took me twenty minutes to get a glass of wine on arrival.
On a positive note — the spring rolls looked great and I enjoyed the buzz of the place.

Hmmmm… What a contrast this visit was to the last time. The menu had changed a little, the place was full, guess it was just a bad night. Not as authentic as my first two visits, I had two entrees (crispy pork and prawn rolls, chicken skewers) and the green papaya salad (good sharp dressing). Saw some food around the table I was glad I didn’t order, and that doesn’t happen very often — the stuffed squid and eggplant curry in particular. The two desserts on offer were underwhelming, and I’m a real dessert fanatic. Easily declined. Not sure I’ll revisit.

A lovely courtyard setting and friendly service but a bit hit and miss on the food front. Tasty chicken curry, spring rolls, chicken skewers and pandan pancakes. But slightly weird squid, minced duck (rather than what you expect which is a piece of duck) and an in fathomable combination of crispy coated fish cakes dusted with cinnamon and served with a passion fruit sauce. Choose carefully, but if you get it right, it will be good.

Le Vietnamese Kitchen is a fabulous new restaurant on Ponsonby Road. This eatery follows a very authentic menu and with plenty of options to choose from. The menu is designed for sharing which gives you the opportunity to try more things on the menu. (Sorry for the poor photos, the lighting was very dim)
The fatties the two of us were, we ordered 3 large dishes and 1 small dish. The cocktail menu looks amazing and it was so hard to not order anything since we are doing Dry July. However free green tea and water is offered on arrival. I must say, there is not a lot to fault about their food. The prawns, chicken and squid were all cooked perfectly. The chicken skewers come with an amazing side slaw that packs a great punch of flavour. From the pics you can see how flamboyant the prawns are presented. In the coconut were prawns and vermicelli noodles. The only dish which lacked the same flavour punch after trying each of the other dishes. The stuffed squid came in a curry sauce — super tasty.
Overall the food was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly. The décor is beautiful and it just has a really chic atmosphere. I would def recommend this new eatery for great flavour balance and pleasant service. MUST TRY!
Rating
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ⁸⁄₁₀
Value for Money: Good
107 Ponsonby road, Ponsonby
Opening Hours:
Mon-​Sun 1130am-​3pm, 5pm-​Late

Modern Asian seems to be a trend in AKL at the moment and I’m all for it. Traditional, punchy flavours created with high quality produce and modern décor — it’s a winning combo. Le Vietnamese falls into this category with a bold palm tree print covering the walls and waiters donning traditional garb in a bright green and pink.
The menu is long, with all the usual Vietnamese favourites (papaya salad, fresh paper rolls etc), and is designed to share. The not-​to-​be-​missed dish is the caramelized pork belly served in a clay pot. It’s sweet and sticky and incredibly moreish. NB. Don’t be put off by the thick layer of fat — it adds to the flavour and keeps the pork beautifully moist. Also great is the papaya salad, which strikes the balance of sweet, sour, salty just right.
Not surprisingly, Le Vietnamese has been a hit so I’d definitely make a booking. Also, take note that whilst it may look small from the street is there is a rather larger internal courtyard.