Standing in front of new Fortitude Valley eatery Ho Chi Mama, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d been trawling the backstreets of Hanoi. A distressed weatherboard exterior provides the backdrop for a merry melange of knick-knacks and lampshades, while patrons slurp up steaming bowls of vermicelli noodles and generous lashings of peanut and lime sauce. Joining the likes of JAMROC Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Tuckeria in the Central Brunswick complex, Ho Chi Mama dishes up the kind of fast, fresh street food you’d find anywhere across Southeast Asia – only here the trundle trolley has been replaced by a contemporary-cool fit-out.

Innovative Asian food boasts a Vietnamese bent, with vegan and gluten-free options available. The menu navigates share plates and main meals like spring rolls, salads and dumplings sourced from Steamed, but the regulars keep coming back for the daily specials scribbled on the chalkboard. Co-owner Graham Robinson picks the produce each morning himself, meaning diners could be treated to anything from slow-braised pork belly to salt-and-pepper calamari (which has proven itself so popular it was recently upgraded to permanent menu status).

Having run a string of restaurants from dumpling houses in Sydney to a curry house in Byron Bay, the four owners have received such a positive response to their new venture that they’ll also be opening Mondays from next week. Ho Chi Mama is BYO with no corkage fee, but punters are advised to bring their own cooler bag.

Ho Chi Mama
6C/421 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
Ph: 07 3252 3213
Open: Monday to Sunday 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm