Auckland: Peasant

Modern Vietnamese-inspired cuisine on Dominion Road in Auckland doesn’t sound very likely, so when we saw reviews online, we decided to venture out and see what Peasant is all about. We visited on a sunny Saturday and was surprised that apart from one other table, it was mostly empty – not something you would expect for lunch. Good amount of options on the menu with plates designed to share. Both my dining companion and myself have a love affair with beef pho, we each decide to order one each and share a fried calamari.

The pho – made up of rare beef, oxtail broth, fennel seeds, rice noodles and a generous bunch of fresh herbs – was a decent noodle soup but it lacked the deep richness which you would expect with a pho soup base that has been cooking for hours and sometimes even days. I had to squeeze two large segment of lemon in order to enhance the light flavours. However, the rice noodles had a chewy texture and the slices of beef were well marinated.

The squid on the other hand, exceeded our expectations. Coated and fried, these squid tentacles were served on a generous pool of siracha mayonnaise and topped with micro greens. I’ve prepared squid before and know how hard it is to cook it just right so that it’s not tough or chewy and the ones at Peasant were splendid.

Auckland has many offerings when it comes to Vietnamess and South East Asian cuisine and despite having a modern take with minimistic clean decor, Peasant was good but not amazing. Having eaten at places like Try It Out and Vietnam Gourmet in Papatoetoe which has authetic flavours minus the price tag, we were hard to please. However, despite not meeting our high expectations, we enjoyed our meal.

Peasant | 191 Dominion Road, Mt Eden