Opening in March last year, Hawker Boys dug its roots into Hardware Lane, serving Vietnamese street food with glimpses of Chinese in the mix. It’s been started by partners Peter and Monica, who work in the kitchen alongside Peter’s mother, together imparting a homemade touch into their dishes.

They’re particularly proud of their BBQ Pork char siu, which is marinated for 48 hours. We try the char siu in a rice paper roll, and it is indeed moist and delicious, especially with the peanut and hoisin dipping sauce.

The Grilled Lemongrass Pork Belly Vermicelli Salad is a huge serve of rice noodles, pickled carrots, shredded lettuce, cucumber, fried shallots, spring onion, coriander, fresh herbs, and a tangy and refreshing sweet and salty fish sauce. We warm ourselves up again with a bowl of Beef Pho and its slippery, flat rice noodles and herbal broth.

The Soft Shell Crab Banh Mi comes with coleslaw, lettuce, cucumber, spring onion, coriander, fried shallots and spicy mayo. The mayo is mildly spicy, and has a tasty garlic flavour too. The crab has been lightly coated in tapioca flour, so it’s not saturated with oil and is also gluten free. It’s not quite traditional, but the Tiger Bun adds a splash of colour and extra texture.

New on the menu is fried ice cream. There are four flavours to choose from: classic, vanilla, oreo and matcha. We go for the matcha, of course. The icy matcha ice cream has a coating that includes desiccated coconut and is crowned with pashmak, green tea Pocky sticks and a matcha Kit Kat.

The ingredients are fresh, and dishes are reasonably priced and are prepared with love. Hawker Boys is worth checking out.

Hawker Boys
85 Hardware Ln
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
(03) 8590 4955
hawkerboys.com.au