7 Reeves Road,
Pakuranga
Auckland,


(09) 576 9699

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Star Vietnam Restaurant’s menu is in four languages (Chinese, Vietnamese, English and Korean); a clue that its food has wide appeal.

Those in the know park in the scruffy semi-industrial estate near the Pakuranga shopping centre and head towards Star’s peeling sign.

Step inside, and it’s all hard surfaces in the unpretentious manner of so many eastern suburbs Asian eateries.

The cheery proprietor plonked a glass of iced tea down and grunted something about it being refreshing. (Refills kept arriving promptly.)

That multi-lingual menu features mostly noodle-based dishes.

I started my lunch with classic spring rolls (five for $6). They were piping hot, perfectly crispy and not too greasy. The pork-mushroom-vermicelli filling was under-seasoned, letting a good meaty flavour come through.

As my large bowl of Hue-style spicy beef soup arrived I noticed the sign above my Formica table: ‘Do not waste food please’. With these portion sizes, the pressure to eat up was on.

The soup ($7.50) was heaped full of round, slippery rice noodles in a dark, rich, spicy broth with a twang of lemongrass.

The beef had brought its friends: as well as slices of roast beef, there were roast pork and fish balls, and a fragrant dressing of spring onion and coriander.

Mung bean sprouts and a wedge of lemon from a side dish, I dunked into the soup at my leisure.