Christchurch guide
The best Vietnamese food & banh mi in Christchurch
Christchurch's Vietnamese food has two lanes. There are the banh mi shops, a few of them baking their own rolls so the crust shatters the way it should, and there are the rooms where you sit down to a bowl of pho, noodle salads and plates to share.
14 of them across the city. Banh Mi EM and Rollicious in the central city, the run of banh mi and pho along the Riccarton strip, You Hanoi Me on Victoria Street for dinner, Hoi An House's garden bar in Halswell, and Le Xom down by the beach in Sumner.
Most of the banh mi spots are lunch-focused and some only open on weekdays, so check the hours before you go. A Vietnamese iced coffee alongside rarely goes wrong.
Venue data checked weekly · Updated October 2026
The picks
- 01Banh Mi EM · Restaurant · Central City
A small Vietnamese sandwich shop on Lichfield Street baking its own rolls — crackly outside, soft in the middle — and filling them with pork belly, five-spice…
- 02Banh Mi and Beyond · Restaurant · Riccarton
Vietnamese banh mi and more in Riccarton — fresh rolls loaded up, plus rice and noodle plates.
- 03Chim Don Don · Restaurant · Beckenham
A Vietnamese spot in the Beckenham/Opawa area — pho, banh mi and the fresh, herby plates done well.
- 04Rollicious Vietnamese Streetfood & Catering · Restaurant · Central City
Northern Vietnamese banh mi on St Asaph Street, bread baked fresh at 5am so the rolls shatter the way they should.
- 05Bruce’s Banh mi · Takeaway · Riccarton
A Riccarton banh mi spot — proper baguettes packed with the works, made fresh and fast.
- 06Banh Mi Kitchen · Restaurant · Central City
Vietnamese banh mi in the central city — crackly baguettes with the works, plus a few rice and noodle plates.
- 07Hoi An House · Restaurant · Halswell
Noodle bowls and sharing plates are the heart of this Halswell Vietnamese, with a garden bar mixing cocktails alongside the wine and beer.
- 08Le Xom · Restaurant · Sumner
Vietnamese and Southeast Asian street food in Sumner — summer rolls, coconut prawns and popcorn chicken alongside salmon green curry and caramelised short rib.
- 09Little Vietnam Colombo · Takeaway · Sydenham
A small Vietnamese takeaway inside The Colombo — banh mi and fresh rice-paper rolls done well, over the counter and out.
- 10Ngon Ngon Banh Mi Cafe · Cafe · Riccarton
A Vietnamese cafe in Riccarton doing banh mi and Vietnamese coffee — fresh rolls, iced coffee, casual seats.
+ 4 more on the map below ↓
Keep exploring
Common questions
- Where's the best Vietnamese food in Christchurch?
- A few to start with: Banh Mi EM, Banh Mi and Beyond, Chim Don Don, Rollicious Vietnamese Streetfood & Catering, Bruce’s Banh mi. It splits two ways — banh mi shops doing crackly rolls for lunch, and sit-down rooms for pho, noodle bowls and sharing plates. The Riccarton strip has the most of both, with good ones in the central city, Beckenham, Halswell and Sumner too.
- Where can I get a good banh mi?
- Banh Mi EM on Lichfield Street bakes its own rolls, and Rollicious on St Asaph Street does northern-style banh mi on bread baked fresh each morning — weekday lunch only, so time it. In Riccarton, Bruce's, Banh Mi and Beyond and Ngon Ngon are the go-tos, and Little Vietnam does a quick one inside The Colombo in Sydenham.
- Where should I go for pho or a sit-down Vietnamese dinner?
- You Hanoi Me on Victoria Street is dinner-only, seven nights, with a proper pho and the fried 'disco eggs'. Hoi An House in Halswell does noodle bowls and sharing plates with a garden bar, and Le Xom in Sumner leans street food with a bit of flair. For a quick, cheap bowl, Hello Vietnam and Saigon Sister in Riccarton and Chim Don Don in Beckenham all do pho.
- Is it cheap?
- Mostly, yes — a banh mi is one of the city's better-value lunches, and the pho spots are casual and well priced. The sit-down rooms like You Hanoi Me, Hoi An House and Le Xom cost a bit more but stay fairly priced for what lands on the table.