House of Hoi An , Windsor, Melbourne
Address:1/40 Green St, Windsor, Melbourne VICtoriaPhone: (03) 9078 7448 houseofhoian.com Open:Tues.-Sat, dinner from 6pm Style: Vietnamese Score: * * * 1/2
The Pitch: Authentic, regional Vietnamese food from a third-generation chef, Trinh Diem Vy, owner of a string of restaurants in her home town of Hoi An. Lured to Melbourne by "destiny", Miss Vy - as she is known - writes a rather endearing pitch, or mission statement, on the front page of the menu at her latest venture. As a child, she tells us, she dreamt of "creating dishes that would make other -people happy". So after forming a joint venture with two locals â€¦ 
The reality: â€¦ The dream is fulfilled. Miss Vy, just please don't go home now. Melbourne has been waiting a long time for real Vietnamese, a place that lived up to the promise of taking us well beyond all those tired old Viet-Chinese hybrids. First there was Geoff Lindsay's Dandelion, in Elwood, and now â€¦ Well, here you are, cooking your heart out in a back street of Windsor, the absence of pre-publicity for your just-opened restaurant no protection against the swelling crowds.
By 7pm, the 55-seater is full. It's a pretty space, decked out in an unlikely palette of pink, green and white. There are bare-brick walls, high pressed-metal ceilings, a jumble of light shades and a view across the lane to a graffiti-art wall that helps offset all the cuteness. Lighting levels are set to "family", not "hipster", so you can actually see what you're eating. And you want to, because Miss Vy's food is just so new. New to anyone not just back from Hoi An, that is.
The cuisine: Fresh, vibrant, clean are the common descriptors for quality Vietnamese. House of Hoi An is all this, with an extra level of excitement from the regional veracity of the menu, the complexity of flavours, the spanking freshness of the ingredients and the sheer skill of the cooking. A few menu highlights: from "Street Foods", fried wontons with crab and tomato; like a crunchy open sandwich, zingy and bright. From "Daily Food from my Family Home", a Vietnamese classic of squid stuffed with pork is served here in its own little cast-iron pan, the minced pork stuffing spilling from the partially sliced squid into the sauce. Here you'll find flavours of lemongrass, mushroom, the jammy taste of slow-cooked onion, smokiness, a sneaky heat from heaven-knows-what and that's just one mouthful. Stunning. A prawn curry, redolent with the flavour of fresh, not tinned, coconut milk, comes in a hollowed-out coconut; Cao Lau warm noodles with marinated pork - a Hoi An signature dish - has bonus croutons of pork crackling and a puddle of slurp-able broth at the bottom of the bowl; the fish of the day - funny-looking "snapper", it turns out to be yellow bream - is fresh, firm of flesh and perfectly cooked; in other words, superior to most high street eateries' whole-fish offerings. It comes with "chips" of green mango.
Drinks: In two words: very few. Swimming against the big-city tide of epic drinks lists, House of Hoi An can barely muster a dozen bottles of wine, a couple of spirits and a few beers. Better, perhaps, to BYO, which you can, for reasonable corkage ($10 a bottle).
Highlights: Pretty much everything about Hoi An is a highlight except for the bits in the next category. At the risk of sounding sentimental, it's a happy place. Take a bow, Miss Vy.
Lowlights: Overcooked scallops. Shame, 'cos the sauce was nice. An unwelcome sweetness to a couple of the salads; please, dial up the acidity next time. And while staff are plentiful and well-meaning, they need someone who can direct traffic better and manage the flow of dishes in an orderly fashion. At times you feel like you're in an Asian food market, chaos breaking out on all sides.
Will I need a food dictionary: No, because all dishes are listed with their English translations and Vietnamese names.
The damage:At $32, the crispy whole fish is the most expensive dish on the menu; most other mains are in the low to mid-$20s, and servings are generous. In your eagerness to try as much as possible you will, of course, over-order, but I guess we can't blame Miss Vy for that.