District 5

The two bahn mi s we had were both delicious. I would love to go back. Maybe I should have given then 5 stars but I haven’t had a bahn mi for a long time so I can’t really compare. I think there should be a 4.5 star option!

The owners of Café Viet are behind this little eatery and I love the space they’ve created here between two container-​like serving areas, one for coffee and sweet things and another for the hot food. The seating is under the cover of a large marquee, complete with fairy lights, potted plants, rustic tables and chairs. Nice work designing something just a little bit different right in the middle of the city. It’ll be here for a couple of years, until they build on the spot. There’s a blackboard menu offering a range of Vietnamese dishes. I tried the spicy pulled pork bahn mi, very tasty and filled with pickled vegetables. It was pouring with rain, so I settled in with a coffee as well. Late in the afternoon, you’ll almost have the place to yourself, they close at 5pm. Very friendly staff and quaint setting.

I was really surprised by how cool the coffee was. The service was great as the staff were really friendly. My lemon grass salad was also quite delish. I would recommend this for any time of day :)

FINALLLY the Vietnamese trend has hit Auckland! It’s easily my favourite South-​East Asian cuisine (followed closely by Malaysian, in case you were wondering) because it’s fresh, flavoursome and 9 times out of 10 relatively cheap.
District 5 is the newest kid on the block and has opened in that strange space next to the Vero building. It was coffee shop for a while and then was unoccupied for ages, which was strange cos it’s prize real estate.
Anyway, they’ve done a great job of making the small street-​side space somewhat private, with a large blue concrete wall blocking out passers-​by. Inside the kitchen is in a box that resembles a building site container and there’s a small courtyard with seating for those who want to eat in. Menu-​wise, they’ve kept things simple — choose between rice paper rolls, phở or a rice noodle salad (each with different protein options).
I ordered a rice noodle salad with their lemongrass chicken. The place was packed but my food was ready to go within 10 minutes. I’ll admit, I had a few errands to run before I sat down and ate but the salad was still delicious. The dressing was fresh and zingy — just the right amount of chilli — and they didn’t skimp on the chicken. I could’ve done with more fresh herbs and the carrot and lettuce was shredded rather recklessly. Still, for an on-​the-​go lunch options, AWESOME!
Welcome to the block District 5!

All I can say is… delicious food right in the heart of the city!
District 5 is fairly new restaurant serving Vietnamese inspired street food. It is also run by the same people who own Café Viet in Grey Lynn. While I have not yet tried Café Viet, I have heard raving reviews about their food! So, I was pretty excited to try this new place out!
A friend and I came to District 5 for lunch earlier this week. We ordered the Pork and Prawn Rice Paper Rolls (three for $ 10) and two Beef Phở’s ($ 12 each). Both were absolutely delicious — the rolls were fresh and full of flavour and the phở was perfect on the cold wintery day we were having. They also serve bahn mi (golden baguette filled with your choice of meat/​seafood, plus vegetables, pâté, lemongrass and chilli), lemongrass chicken salads with vermicelli and peanuts and rice paper rolls.
To accompany their delicious food, they have a cute little café at the back where you can purchase coffees, cold drinks, Vietnamese style coffee, Freshpress raw juices and French treats.
The only negative about District 5 would be that it is not completely closed in at the sides, making it quite cold, plus it started raining halfway through our lunch and because of the small space, we all got rained on! Ideally next time I would do takeaway and have it at my desk… or just wait until the weather is a bit warmer.

(3.5 stars if i could but i’ll be nice instead) this is more of a spot for hipster city dwellers out for a quick fusion Vietnamese lunch or snack. Everything is served in takeaway containers for those that need to run back to classes, appointments or work.
Two shipping containers have been transformed, one is for your orders and drinks and the other is the kitchen where they call out your names when food is ready. The coffee machine has a clear shell so you see the inside of a coffee machine which is really creative. Low height walls partitioning diners from the city life have been painted in a rustic brick that is falling apart. Staff are friendly and scream your names like they know you personally which i found playfully hilarious. «HEYY AIMEE! AIMEEEEEE! AIMEEEeeeEEEeeEEEeeeeEEE !!! «
The four of us ordered a banh mi, mix rice noodle, fresh rice paper springrolls and 2 beef phở. The noodles in my beef phở were under cooked and hard… which was disappointing but the other beef phở was fine… the soup was nice and tasty but still doesn’t beat the phở in Otahuhu. I then thought adding all the sauce they gave me was a smart idea… boy was i wrong… made my soup too salty to drink… however! springroll were yummy and made up for it! im assuming they were pre-​made as my order was ready STRAIGHT after i ordered them but they still tasted fresh and were full of flavour. Banh mi or viet sandwich was really nice but definitely more towards fusion rather than viet as it didn’t have the usual fragrant kick, don’t get me wrong its still very nice and JUICY/​saucy though. Mix noodles were refreshing but i didn’t get to try much because my friend was too hungry to share hahah.
Generally its a pretty good concept but parking is so hectic on a monday lunchtime… (15mins minimum to find parking that was a bit far.) that i dont think i will get to go again… thats ok. the viet food in south-​east is tots legit!