Ming Ming’s Kitchen Is Featured on the Australian Good Food Guide!

Ming Ming's Kitchen
Aug 15
6 min read

We have some very exciting news to share with our Ming Ming’s Kitchen family!

Ming Ming’s Kitchen has been featured as a Featured Recommendation on the Australian Good Food Guide (AGFG). 🎉

We’re excited to be featured as a Featured Recommendation on the Australian Good Food Guide.

It’s a milestone that we’re incredibly proud of, and one that feels especially meaningful because of how far our little kitchen has come.

When we first opened our doors in Wilston, our dream was quite simple: to share the food we grew up loving, introduce more people to the flavours of Northern Vietnam, and create a place where people could come together over good food.

We never imagined how many wonderful people would become part of that journey.

Today, seeing Ming Ming’s Kitchen recognised by the Australian Good Food Guide is a beautiful reminder of that journey — from family recipes and childhood memories in Hanoi to a little restaurant in Brisbane that we are lucky enough to call home.

What Is the Australian Good Food Guide?

For anyone who may not be familiar with AGFG, the Australian Good Food Guide has been a part of Australia’s culinary scene for more than 40 years.

It is a trusted guide for diners looking to discover restaurants, cafés and food experiences across Australia, and its platform reaches millions of food lovers every month. AGFG’s mission is to inspire people to dine out, discover new places and connect with the food and hospitality communities around Australia.

Being included as a Featured Recommendation means that Ming Ming’s Kitchen will be introduced to an even wider audience of diners looking for somewhere special to eat.

For our team, that is incredibly exciting.

But more importantly, it gives us another opportunity to share our story.

From Hanoi to Brisbane

At the heart of Ming Ming’s Kitchen is Ming.

Growing up in Hanoi, food was always an important part of family life. The recipes, techniques and flavours that inspired our menu today came from the women in Ming’s family — her grandmother, mother and aunties.

These aren't simply recipes written down on a piece of paper.

They are flavours connected to memories.

They are the kind of dishes that remind you of sitting around a family table, watching someone cook, smelling herbs and spices in the kitchen, and knowing that something delicious was about to be served.

When Ming came to Australia as an international student, she never expected that the food she grew up with would eventually become the foundation of her own restaurant.

But in 2020, at just 23 years old, Ming and Tony opened the doors to Ming Ming’s Kitchen.

What started as a young couple's dream became something much bigger.

It became a place where we could share a little piece of Hanoi with Brisbane.

Bringing Northern Vietnamese Cuisine to Brisbane

Vietnamese food is loved all over Australia, but Northern Vietnamese cuisine has its own distinctive character, and this is the food that we are especially passionate about sharing.

Our menu takes inspiration from Hanoi and the flavours of Northern Vietnam, while allowing us to bring our own personality and contemporary ideas into the kitchen.

You’ll find familiar Vietnamese favourites alongside dishes that may be less familiar to diners who have not yet explored Northern Vietnamese cuisine.

Our Hanoi-style phở is an important part of the menu, along with dishes such as Bún Chả Hanoi and Bánh Cuốn.

We also love putting our own spin on Vietnamese flavours, creating dishes that reflect both where we come from and where we are now.

For us, cooking Vietnamese food in Brisbane isn't about trying to recreate one particular moment in Hanoi.

It is about carrying those flavours forward.

It is about respecting the recipes and traditions that inspired us while also allowing them to evolve.

And, most importantly, it is about making food that we genuinely love to eat and share with other people.

Bringing Northern Vietnamese Cuisine to Brisbane

Food Is Better When It Is Shared

One of the things we love most about Vietnamese dining is the way food brings people together.

A table filled with different dishes.

A bowl passed from one person to another.

Someone reaching across the table to try something new.

Friends ordering “just one more dish”.

Families sitting together for a long lunch.

That is the kind of dining experience we want to create at Ming Ming’s Kitchen.

Our menu is designed with sharing in mind, so we encourage guests to explore different flavours rather than ordering just one dish each.

Perhaps you start with Bánh Cuốn.

Then someone orders Bún Chả Hanoi.

Another person insists on trying the phở.

Before long, the table is full — and everyone is reaching across to try a little bit of everything.

To us, that is what dining out should feel like.

Relaxed.
Generous.
Social.
And full of flavour.

A Place for the Whole Family

Food is only part of the experience.

We want Ming Ming’s Kitchen to be a place where people feel comfortable coming together, whether that means a casual dinner after work, a family meal, a birthday celebration, a catch-up with friends or a long weekend lunch.

We’re proud to be a family- and kid-friendly restaurant, and our lovely outdoor space is also pet-friendly.

That means you can enjoy a relaxed meal with the people you love — including your four-legged family members.

We know that finding somewhere the whole family can enjoy isn't always easy, so creating a welcoming environment for families has always been important to us.

We want our guests to feel comfortable staying a little longer, ordering another dish, having another drink and simply enjoying time together.

More Than a Restaurant

The journey to this point hasn't always been easy.

Opening a restaurant is a huge challenge under normal circumstances. Opening one in 2020 brought challenges that nobody could have predicted.

Since then, we've experienced the ups and downs that come with running a small hospitality business — from COVID-19 and Brisbane's floods to the everyday challenges of building a team, looking after our guests and continuing to grow.

There have been long days, early mornings, late nights and plenty of moments when we've had to remind ourselves why we started.

And then there are the moments that make it all worthwhile.

A customer telling us that our food reminded them of home.

A family returning again and again.

A first-time guest discovering a Northern Vietnamese dish they have never tried before.

A full restaurant filled with conversation and laughter.

Those are the moments we treasure.

Recognition Like This Means a Lot

That is why being recognised by the Australian Good Food Guide means so much to us.

The AGFG Featured Recommendation provides restaurants with editorial exposure and a professionally supported listing designed to help diners discover them.

For Ming Ming’s Kitchen, it isn't just about visibility.

It is about having the opportunity to tell people who we are.

Behind every dish is a story.

Behind every recipe are people.

Behind every service is a team of people working hard to make sure our guests have a great experience.

And behind Ming Ming’s Kitchen is a young couple who started with a dream of sharing the food they love.

We are incredibly proud of that story.

A Big Thank You to Our Ming Ming’s Kitchen Family

Most of all, we want to say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who has visited us since the beginning.

Thank you to the families who have made us part of their weekends.

Thank you to the regulars who know their favourite dishes by heart.

Thank you to the customers who bring their friends and introduce new people to our food.

Thank you to everyone who has celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, milestones and special moments with us.

Thank you to everyone who has left a review, shared a photo, tagged us on social media or simply told someone about Ming Ming’s Kitchen.

And thank you to our amazing team, suppliers, friends and family who continue to support us behind the scenes.

A restaurant is never built by one person.

Ming Ming’s Kitchen belongs to everyone who has been part of our journey.

A Big Thank You to Our Ming Ming’s Kitchen Family

Come and Discover Ming Ming’s Kitchen

If you've already visited us, we hope this feature brings back some delicious memories.

And if you haven't been yet, we hope you'll come and discover what we're all about.

Come for the Northern Vietnamese flavours.

Stay for the atmosphere.

Share a few dishes.

Try something you've never had before.

Bring your family, your friends — and, if you're sitting outside, your four-legged family members too.

Whether you're craving a comforting bowl of Hanoi-style phở, want to explore Bún Chả Hanoi and Bánh Cuốn, or simply want to sit around a table with people you love, we'd be delighted to welcome you.

From our family to yours, thank you for being part of the Ming Ming’s Kitchen story.

And a very big thank you to the Australian Good Food Guide for featuring our little kitchen and helping us share our love of Northern Vietnamese food with even more people across Australia.

We’ll see you around the table. ❤️