Lemongrass and Chilli Chicken at Where's Charlie Thorndon Quay - Vietnamese? Yes Please!

Lemongrass and Chilli Chicken was the first Vietnamese dish I had ever tried in New Zealand (I have dim recollections of a Vietnamese meal in Hong Kong, but that was literally a decade ago). Where's Charlie began as a humble stall in the Capital Markets and has grown to five locations at a rapid pace. I have never been to the Thorndon Quay branch but my mother offered to shout me lunch, and this is the nearest one to her work. I'm impressed. It's fancy, with wooden floors, high ceilings and verdant indoor plants everywhere. The kitchen is an open kitchen, and the staff don't seem to hate being there, contrary to some other establishments that shall remain nameless. And it's licensed!

I wait for my perpetually late mother to arrive, and savour the aromas emanating from the kitchen, Oh, and they do breakfast too. Not my favourite meal of the day, but some of their offerings do look tempting. Maybe for a hungover Sunday brunch. My stomach is growling in anticipation. The background music is easy listening and at an acceptable volume. Not to my taste, but inoffensive enough I suppose. The downside to being seated by the bar is that the blender (for their extensive range of juices and smoothies) goes off at frequent, irregular intervals, drowning out the music and our attempt to make conversation. You have to go up the front to order (there is no table service), which is a bit incongruous given the salubrious atmosphere. Thorndon Quay draws a very different crowd to the Capital Market location. Real Housewives of Thorndon vs. starving culinary school students.

My mother orders jasmine tea for two and it arrives promptly in a gorgeous iron teapot. It's the perfect amount for two, poured eagerly into cute leaf green cups. Soon, the summer rolls arrive. There are three and they are generously sized. Pleasantly tender and chewy, they contain vermicelli, cucumber, shredded lettuce and carrot, peppered with coriander. The vegetables are fresh and crunchy. The dipping sauce is slightly sweet and gently tangy. Time for the main attraction: Lemongrass Chilli Chicken. The chicken is marinated to the nines and alights my tastebuds with its lashings of lemongrass. The "extra spicy" component is just a swirl of sriracha atop a bed of crunchy coleslaw. Super fresh! Unlike the Lambton Quay and Capital Market locations which offer a dipping sauce for the noodles, it is noticeably absent. In lieu, I pour over the remainder of my summer roll sauce. The sauce drenches the noodles. They are perfectly cooked, which is an art form in itself. The portion is generous but not so much that you arestuffed.

I pile a melange of everything on my fork. It is a melee of taste and textural explosion of contrasts between the crunchy coleslaw, the soft noodles: a marriage of sriracha spice and the all-pervading lemongrass. I finish my meal in record time and am pleasantly sated but not gorged or lethagic. Where's Charlie offers online ordering for those in a hurry, and food delivery via Ubereats and local competitor FoodNinja if you can't face leaving the house but feel like something fresh, healthy and tasty. 

Where's Charlie, you've come a long way baby!

Food: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Cost: $11.50

186 Thorndon Quay, Pipitea