Little NNQ is a new Vietnamese restaurant that has opened up on the busy Gouger Street cafe precinct. “NNQ” stands for “Nghi Ngan Quan” which is the name of the successful parent restaurant in Ferryden Park. With separate lunch time and dinner menus, this place offers all your classic Vietnamese dishes.

The decor at this place has a warehouse feel about it, particularly with the exposed brick walls. Seating is available at the front, rear and upstairs with a maximum capacity of 130. The rear section has an atrium which allows plenty of natural light, although this place can get a bit gloomy on a cloudy day.

This restaurant has done a deal with a winery in the McLaren Vale to have their name on specific wine not available to the public.

For lunch, I ordered the Broken Rice Combination. The meal was ready after a 15 minute wait and was nicely presented. The first thing that I noticed was that broken rice was not used. Having said that, the rice was lukewarm as though it may have been warming up in the rice cooker for some time.

The pork chop was of a low quality and about 25% of it was fat. The meat was marinated with lemongrass and it was cooked reasonably well. The pork chop was tender and succulent, however, it tasted bland. The shredded pork skin should contain a reasonable portion of shredded pork. This dish did not and it was purely pork skin.

The Vietnamese meat loaf slice was very well refined and you visibly see the vermicelli noodles. While meat loaf recipes vary, I noticed an absence of tree ear fungus. More luxurious versions of the meat loaf will include crab meat, but that’s something you’d see at fine dining.

The egg was cooked sunny side up and I enjoyed mixing the yolk with the other ingredients. The cucumber was fresh and it added a nice crunchy texture to the meal. The dish also came with classic Vietnamese dipping sauce. I was surprised to see pickled carrot mixed in with the sauce rather than on the side of my plate. The sauce was also a bit too sweet and could have done with more salt.

The staff were friendly and the service was average. I asked for table water and it never came. The atmosphere was relaxed, but I was the only customer there at the time. The pricing was fairly reasonable with the lunch time menu costing between $11-$13. My meal in particular cost $12.

Verdict:  People who don’t eat a lot of Vietnamese food will think this place is great.

WHERE: 125 Gouger St, Adelaide