Viet Shack

Been to Viet Shack a few times. Nice place to get lunch whenever I am around the Arndale market area.
Last time I went I had the chicken burger which was really tasty. They recently updated their menu (and also the stall) — and they had some nice photos of what was on offer — photos taken by fellow Unilocaler Lucas S.
Every time I have been here the food is really good and don’t have to wait long. Perfect combo!

During a recent sale shopping trip, we were looking for something fresh and filling to keep us fuelled for the remainder of the afternoon. With the Arndale Market emptier than usual due to it being a weekend, and resisting the temptation of Pancho’s Burritos next door, we headed over to Viet Shack.
They have expanded the menu since my last visit (be sure to get a leaflet to see the full range) and it now includes wraps and some rather delicious fries. Between us we ordered the lemongrass chicken with sticky rice; viet dogs; viet fries; and avocado summer rolls with peanut sauce, plus two soft drinks. The total cost came to around £15 — and believe me when I say we were stuffed for the afternoon!
The lemongrass chicken was very tasty, especially when combined with the sticky rice and almost fluorescent hot sauce added on request. My post-​Christmas body also thanked them for the serving of salad! The summer rolls were good, if a bit bland, so perhaps more avo or the addition of something else would improve them for me. The peanut sauce, however, was very moreish and had me dipping the fries throughout our meal. And trust me when I say these fries are worth ordering! Delicious.
An affordable, casual dining experience which is sure to get you through the January sales and beyond.

Ohhhh yes, Viet Shack you stole my heart.
I’d actually tried to find Viet Shack last time I was in Manchester — now I know that it’s actually inside the Arndale Food Court and as soon as we headed there for lunch, I was determined to get food from Viet Shack. Their signage actually makes it look like there’s only a few options but grab a leaflet and be wowed by the full menu — many Vietnamese delights. I ordered prawn rice paper rolls as well as a chicken burger with chips (I was hungry, ok?!).
I actually had to pop around the corner to Waterstone’s while I was waiting for my food but it was ready by the time I was back, so it was perhaps a 3 – 5 minute wait. Everything is packaged up for easy transport (there is seating in the food court but it was totally full, so we went back to the office) and I got a tub of peanut sauce for my rolls.
The rolls were excellent. Lots of prawn, delicious flavour, perfect noodles. I just loved them. They also have an option of pork or avocado filling and are all made fresh — just delicious.
The burger was great, not quite as good as the rolls but just because I didn’t love the bun it was served in. The chicken is lemongrass flavour and grilled and topped with pickled veg, sriracha and mayo. It’s a really good burger but I found the bun tasted a bit like corn and was a bit squishy for me.
Prices are cheap, food is quick and fresh and it’s in a handy location for a lot of Manchester. I’ll definitely go back here now I know where it is!

Yum.
Quick vietnamese spot in a food court, but no less tasty or well made. I got a ban mi with beef which was hearty and cheap and some summer rolls which were packed full. I saw all of this made in front of me, so you know it’s home made.
They give you little tiny containers of sauces but if you want more, ask for it and they will give it to you.
Overall, a solid lunch spot in a hall full of good lunch spots.

Banh-​Mi please! And not in a weird way. This place is awesome just like all the wonderful fast-​food places at the Arndale Market Place.
Their food is fresh, hot, and authentic. It does get quite packed during lunch time and often if you’re looking to grab something towards closing time, they’ve run out of the popular dishes, but definitely a must-​go for Vietnamese food.
Try their sandwiches or wraps. And there’s great vegetarian options available as well. Big plus: cheap prices (£3−5).
Only downside — none of the classic Phở that is known for Vietnamese food, but then again, this place is meant to get you your food fast and allow you to eat on-​the-​go.

Gone are the days where the only fast food to choose from in Manchester centre comprises of McDonald’s, KFC and burger king (thankfully). Vietshack offer a mix of fairly traditional vietnamese Street food as well as more contemporary westernised choices with a vietnamese twist. Their salads are fantastic and fresh and I’m a particular fan of the seasoning they use in their fries. The prices are just right at around £5 for a meal although you can get cheaper menu choices luke the bahn mi for £3.50. Whatever you choose it’s going to be good

If I’m near to Manchester Arndale and in need of something tasty and healthy for lunch, I’d always steer myself towards Viet Shack. Despite there being plenty of choice in the Arndale’s food market, there’s something about their Vietnamese street food that keeps me coming back.
Definitely recommended are their Summer Rolls. Filled with king prawns, salad, herbs and noodles wrapped in wafer thin rice paper. Together with a dipping sauce they make for a hunger satisfying and delicious snack.
If the Lemongrass Chicken Burger is available, also order that immediately.
Friendly staff, efficient service and terrifically fresh food — if only they’d open a larger place (it’s only a takeaway counter at the moment). One can dream…

Good street food fare that feels a little to cramped in its current space with no seats dedicated for it and the food type really doesn’t lend itself to standing and eating.
All In all the food quality is good and full of flavour that works well.
The pricing however is very uneven so be careful when they offer extras to clarify the prices. They offered 2 mini spring rolls for what me and my friend thought was 0.50p, we both said yes and then when we where asked for cash it was actually £2.50, so we spent a £5 note on what basically amounted to four mouthfuls of mediocre spring roll.

I´m really sad to give this one three stars after having heard so many good things about it.
I only work a stones throw away form the Arndale so I popped over on my lunch to try the Chicken Banh Mi. The bread is such a let down, i felt really sorry for these excellent flavours to be trapped inside it. Even just with rice it would have been a much better dish.
Also claiming to be 100% homemade and serving the pre baked industrial white bread bomb is not my thing.
Don´t get me wrong, it is probably one of the better lunch on the go options when you want to get something fresh but it´s just quite where it could be!
I do really wanna like this stall and will certainly be back to try the spring rolls or a rice based dish in a second attempt.

This was the first time I had been hear and it was great. I had chicken and rice with salad my partner had beef and rice with salad and we shared a chicken and avocado salad it was delicious a little spicy but everything was cooked and seasoned really well. The only down side is there isn’t many tables and chairs as there is so many other stalls this is not viet shack faults it’s as it’s in the Manchester food market, but it’s definitely worth a visit. I love this type of food it’s so tasty, I will be going again it’s great for a quick lunch.

Of all the establishments in the Manchester Arndale Market, Viet Shack definitely deserves to have a special mention. The staff are very friendly and willing to answer any questions about the menu. The food is always very tasty. I’ve worked my way through about half of the menu up to now and my favourite is the beef on rice with salad. You can have the beef cooked how you like and it is always cooked well — medium rare for myself. The spices are just about right in my opinion with just the right amount of heat. I’ve been to some places where the heat just over powers… Not here! I would definitely recommend a visit here even of you have to wait for a table. It’s worth it, trust me.

How much do I love Viet Shack? Enough to use 15mins of my lunch break to walk there? Hell yes.
The first time I visited I ordered the Pork Bahn Mi, when I told them how far I’d walked to come and try their food (I looked rather flustered from a blustery day) I was offered a free avocado roll to enjoy whilst I waited for my food! The roll was luscious tasting, with a good drizzle of peanut and sriracha sauces, along with a few crisped shallots on top. Heaven.
The Bahn Mi was soooo good! The bread was lovely and fresh, toasting a little on the grill really made it for me. The meat was tender, juicy and full of flavour, the coriander and little slivers of lightly picked carrot added crunch and freshness, and of course I asked for a good squirt of sriracha on top!
The second time I got the lamb special, a little bit more pricey but worth every penny! I ended up taking some of it home for my dinner as I couldn’t finish it all at lunch. Unsurprisingly this place can get pretty busy at lunch times, but its so worth it in my opinion, just get yourself a lime or raspberry cooler whilst you wait.

Vietshack is a food stall in the food market at the Arndale shopping centre. I had some major cravings for phở and was looking up places to go in Manchester– I had seen something on twitter about them now having a phở special on the menu so I thought I’d give it a try.
As it was lunch time on a week day there was a long line of people waiting to be served and by the sounds of it, they had run out of a few things. The lady in front of me had to try and find something else to order. With 3 guys working behind the counter, it’s a lot of customers– this place is popular!
Having been to Vietnam I just love Vietnamese food and they have a lot of the classic things on the menu like prawn rice paper rolls and banh mi. It all looks delicious. My phở cost £6 and I got a big try of it– really delicious although I asked for medium spicy and could have had it a lot hotter than that. They ask you how you’d like your beef cooked which is nice.
Delicious, filling food and an affordable snack stop if you’re passing through the Arndale to do some shopping or you’re on a lunch break from work.

What can go wrong with Vietnamese making Vietnamese food. Nothing. The food was delish! You can tell it is fresh because they grill the meat right in front of your very eyes as you order. Although the price is not as cheap as I’d hope for a street food, but it was the taste makes up for it (meat in general is quite expensive, perhaps they had no choice but to accommodate to the costing of meat).
I would definitely return for a good Vietnamese food when in city centre. Even though its only a small little vendor, it is better than many other vietnamese restaurants in Manchester.

I first tried Viet Shack at Up in Your Grill — Manchester’s outdoor foodie, boozy block party that ran over the summer, and I was super impressed. Their Wooded Prawns were amazing — and the Bahn Mi was very tasty.
Since then I’ve been wanting to visit their food stall, situated in the very busy Arndale Food Market. Today, I got that chance whilst passing though, and they didn’t let me down.
I had the Bahn Mi — part of me was curious to find out if it would be as good as the first time I tried it, and it was better!
Pork meat with vegetables, cucumber and their spicy srirachi mayo in a fresh, warm white baguette. And once I took the coriander off (can’t stand the stuff) it was perfect!
The sooner I try everything they have on the menu, the better! And at £3 for lunch, I can’t fault it.
If they ever open a restaurant, Manchester is in for a real treat — but for now, get yourself down to the Arndale Food Market and see how great it is for yourself!

Pork bahn mi. Yum freaking yum. I’d had this once before but on that occasion I got my colleague to fetch it for me so felt that I couldn’t write a fair review based on that.
Eventually I got there myself, after just one failed attempt where they had sold out of everything but chatted to me about the food while I cried internally.
Service at Viet Shack is great — quick and friendly with no bells and whistles. The location is a bit awkward, as once you’ve ordered you are stood pretty much in the way of everyone milling into the market.
My bahn mi with pork was £3 and everything on the menu was under the £5 mark except the BBQ meats. I was asked if I wanted it spicy, which I did, which was just spicy enough to clear my unfortunate weekday hangover. The flavours are bright and incredibly moreish — this is the kind of sandwich you’ll be sad to finish. I agree with other reviewers that the bread itself could be improved, but I found that it didn’t really detract from the overall tastiness and served its purpose well as a carb-​y vehicle to shovel meat and pickled vegetables into my face.
I’m already itching to go back to try the burger. Oh and the wrap. And maybe the hot dogs… Maybe they could do me a tasting platter of everything?!

Viet Shack is disappointing, and a tiny bit expensive.
I’ve been twice, once discovering it through a quick trip to the Arndale, and not through Unilocal like most of my other Manchester restaurant ‘discoveries’. It’s hard to express how excited I was by the prospect of even vaguely authentic Vietnamese street food in the city — options are, at best, limited for Vietnamese food.
Predictably, on my first visit, they’d run out of nearly everything, so I settled for the fresh spring rolls with king prawn Delightful, light and full of flavour, I was only slightly concerned with the price — £1.40/ea is not cheap! But I vowed to return earlier for the chance to sample some of Viet Shack’s mains.
Which I did. Less than three days later (I was that excited). I asked for a recommendation from the admittedly very cheery staff — and was duly recommended the lamb with rice. At £5.99, I was expecting something special. And the lamb certainly delivered on that — a wonderful garlicky marinade was easily good enough to drink. In fact, I’ve rarely tasted something so refreshingly new and different in Manchester.
So surely this merits 5 stars? Nope. Not even close. Whilst the marinade was indeed spectacular, it merely masked the depressing fact that I was given three measly lamb chops, with so little meat on them I hesitate to even describe each chop as bite-​size. I’m exaggerating — I managed about one and a half decent bites from each chop — but for £6 I was expecting significantly more edible protein. What really hacked me off, though, was the rice. Boring. Dull. More than plentiful. And not really what I’d wanted given the amazing flavours of the marinade.
My suggestion to the owners: I’ll gladly suffer a lack of protein, but at least make the carbs interesting — perhaps (please please please) by smothering it in much more of that marinade.

The staff here are SO nice and excited to have you as a customer!
The food is excellent value — £3 for a banh mih and £2.80 for a king prawn summer roll (you get two).
The banh mih had the flavour I felt was missing from I Am Phở’s version, really beautiful blend of sweet and tangy. I do think Amir is right about the bread though, towards the end of the sandwich its «part baked» flavour started to overwhelm the deliciousness of the filling (also that end possibly needed a bit more filling in it).
Summer rolls were great, I tried the peanut sauce with chilli added as suggested, which was yum. Next time I’ll try their other chilli option.
Overall a great addition to Manchester’s lunchtime scene and I look forward to seeing them at street food events in the near future!

Viet Shack is a welcome addition to an already bustling Arndale Food Market. It was absolutely rammed on a Friday lunchtime — the variety of cuisines on offer & the prices are hard to beat in such a compact location.
I love Vietnamese food, especially Phở, but Viet Shack eschews big hearty noodle soups for straight-​up quick eats — it’s the right move as you’re usually pretty lucky to get a seat in the food hall.
The menu is relatively small, ranging from burgers & hot dogs with an asian twist, to the Bahn Mi sandwich, full of herbs, fresh salad & spicy Sriracha — I went for the pork sandwich, which was a good lunchtime filler for £3.
The baguette itself was OK, but I think it might be one of those part-​baked types, a freshly made vietnamese baguette would have elevated it to heavenly status.
Next time I visit (and it’s definitely worth a re-​visit) I’ll probably go for a summer roll, they look so enticing, washed down with a light ale from the Microbar at the other end of the market!

If you’re a real foodie in Manchester and especially like your street food, the Arndale food market is an often overlooked gem even though it’s got some amazing places on offer if you have a look around and get ‘face deep’ in some of it’s tasty treats!
Amazing Mexico city burritos at Panchos, Caribbean at Onje, Cypriot delights at Zorbas and then of course the Queen brie selling great cheeses and bread, with Boggart microbrewery perfect for a quick pint or to stock up on some craft beer bottles to take home.
So I’m really pleased to see a new addition to this list in the form of Viet Shack — a counter service which was quick and efficient, had friendly staff and most importantly had damn tasty looking food! Viet Shack is all about cool and funky takes on Vietnamese traditional food with the marketing to back it up.
Calling for lunch yesterday I made a very snap decision to go for their Viet dogs which were great value at £5 for 2 — basically a hotdog with Vietnamese chicken and salads, spicy sauce and delicious crispy onions. It was tasty, filling and a novel take on the ‘dog’ — and it’s now ticked off my list — as there’s another 5 items I want to try and I’ll be back to have more again soon (The Cow Burger next I think).