Approach Mount Eden Village from its northern edge and you’ll find RAD cafe: an oasis of exposed brick and plywood furniture with a view of Maungawhau from its sidewalk tables. The usual cafe suspects – granola, french toast, mushrooms, various versions of eggs, coffee, a cabinet of pastries and cakes – are all done really well here, and often with distinctive flourish to boot. What sets this cafe apart though, is that its menu is also brimming with dishes which trace their lineage to Vietnam. 

On this varied menu, the vermicelli noodles are a good place to start. Here, a tangle of rice noodles mingles with pickled daikon and carrots, julienned cucumber, slivers of chilli, peanuts, coriander, lemongrass wagyu beef (or mushrooms, if you’d prefer) and a zingy nước chấm dressing. Like all the best lunches, it’s a bowl that’s all at once tasty and virtuous. Then, of course, there are pillars of the cuisine – bánh mì and phở – each hitting the symmetrical notes of aromatic, heat, sweet, sourness, and fish-sauciness that Vietnamese kai is so famous for. Open seven days a week, from the early hours till mid afternoon, Rad is as perfect a spot for a coffee and cafe-fare as it is for a sparky bánh mì or bowl of noodles.