Pho Nem Hanoi Home Cooking is a Vietnamese restaurant at 68 The Square in Cheltenham, Manawatu, holding a 4.7 rating on Google. The test of a good Vietnamese restaurant is the broth: proper pho is built on beef bones, star anise and charred ginger simmered for hours until the liquid runs clear but deeply savoury, and regulars judge a kitchen on that first. Hanoi-style cooking is typically lighter and less sweet than the southern kind — a simpler bowl, a plate of fresh herbs alongside, condiments used sparingly rather than slathered. Nem, the crisp northern-style fried spring rolls, are a classic partner to that bowl. Ask what is made in house; in honest Vietnamese kitchens the answer tends to shape the whole visit. For a village the size of Cheltenham, a proper northern Vietnamese kitchen on The Square is an unexpected find, and the local rating suggests word has travelled.