Took my cousin to Annam for lunch in town. The luxury of being on holiday is I now have time to go out for lunch as well. It is the new Vietnamese eatery in town and has taken over Arbitraguer. Vietnamese has become the new it food in Wellington and I am disappointed how the new Vietnamese Restaurants are taking Wellingtonians for a ride when it comes to prices. I do not think you can really charge $19 for a Pho. Yes, I understand food prices have gone up but $19 for a bowl of soup and rice noodles and I wouldn’t even say it is entirely genuine in flavour and presentation. You eat Pho in Australia as it has a lot of vietnamese people living there and you have a bowl for less than $10 in the CBD and even cheaper in the suburbs. Also don’t get my started about the prices of Banh mi in Wellington.
Pho Bo
The Pho came in a very nice large bowl with a slice of lime and a spoon with of hoisin sauce. Surprisingly there was no fresh chilli, bean sprouts or fresh mint on a side plant. Instead the bean sprouts were already in the soup and there was a basil leaf on top of the beef. There were three different kinds of beef, with house made beef balls, which were very nice, and two different slices of beef. The soup was sweeter than I have ever had it, but still had a very nice flavour. The noodles were nice and had a good texture and were more white than the usual translucent rice noodle. Also I feel they were quite mean on the quantity of the noodles (how expensive are rice noodles, not a lot).
Goi Cuon Tom
So at any other place you will get three and here you get two. However, these are most probably the best Prawn Paper Rolls I have had in Wellington. It has a very nice flavour and very fresh and the dipping sauce was well made with good quantities of the different elements.
Overall this place is nice. The decor is very modern with a Vietnamese twist to it, with indoor and some outdoor seating. My only real problem is the price. I honestly feel that it is taking naive people for a ride. If you want better quality and most suitably price head to Fisherman’s Plate on Bond Street.
Website; Annam
Trencherman's Travels 