Back to the future? New flavors are coming to Christchurch from the neighborhood.

It’s on the walls! That glorious revolutionary time when young idealists marched with flags sweeping over their heads, hope and defiance in their eyes, little red books held high in their hands, and the People’s Food in their stomachs.

That’s the tongue in cheek — I think — theme here in “Commi,” a hip Asian eatery in New Zealand’s supposedly conservative South Island. It’s splashed with colorful scenes of Youth on the March in the streets of Asia’s cities, evoking the time of Mao Tse Tung and Ho Chi Minh. “FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE,” reads the menu here. “We look forward to welcoming you to our people’s palace of Asian flavors when you’re good and ready. We’ve been serving fresh and tasty food to the masses…since 2016.”

Winston’s assistant brings fish roti Mongolia style - a lot of fish in there.

And here’s the thing. The wall paintings are kinda trompe l’oeil, such that the people seem to be dining in the self-same eating area where the lovely Diane and I — and lots of other folks — are sitting. Right here in this resto. And the painting’s figures are exactly life-size. So it really feels as if we’re inside the painted scene. Except the scene is ripped from the back streets of, say, Hanoi, Bangkok, Shanghai, Singapore, or Hong Kong. Plus the fact that the paint people are cooking Asian street food. Suddenly, all us folks who love midnight snacking in, say, Hanoi, we Bangers, or Shangers, or Singers, or Honkers feel like we’re back there, without even paying an air fare. Oh man. Further, Winston the manager is making sure we’re thawed out. I notice a lot of pubs around here are serving mulled wine just so folks can warm up their hands as well as their bellies. (Yes, this is the southern hemisphere’s mid-winter. And evenings are c-c-c-cold this year.)

It might be something about the weather outside, but this early crowd seems pumped. Lots of energetic conversation. It calms only when Winston brings around some menus. I hear him talking up certain dishes. “The Mongolian fish roti…. Really good. From all that ocean around Mongolia.” Uh, takes a moment. He’s kidding. Mongolia’s landlocked. Still, the dishes are real enough, and loaded with “fusion” confusions. Menu seems mainly Vietnamese, Thai, and Malaysian. ’Course, I’m always suspicious whenever that “fusion” word comes up. In my experience, it usually means “watered down mix for timid gringo tastes.” But hey, maybe they know what they’re doing. New Zealand is on its own Asian trip right now. But there’s still a ways to go. The whole spicy thing is downplayed unless you ask firmly.

Shanghai dumplings with panang curry sauce.

Meantime, Winston is waiting, and I know Diane will start ordering unless I can get my votes in. So lessee: Shanghai dumpling sounds good: “steamed pork dumpling topped with thick panang curry, served with Thai dipping sauce.” Costs US$6.50. Hmm. Not a bad deal. A Chiang Mai pork belly, also marinated with a Thai dipping sauce, is about the same price, as is Mongolian Fish Roti (“Battered fish, wrapped with toasted roti, red onion and coriander [cilantro], served with delicious sauces.” Sounds like a fish taco by another name, but I’ll play along. Costs about $8. These are all part of a menu section called “Street Vendor Fare.”

Next section is “Glamorous,” the real McCoy main dishes, and they cost almost double. So we’re looking at “shaking beef hotplate” — “wok-tossed beef” with onion and cracked pepper ($17.50), or “spicy Thai beef salad,” mixed with lemongrass and a hot and sour dressing ($16), or Vietnamese pancake with pork and prawn for $14. Or Bun Ha Noi with vermicelli noodles and grilled pork ($16). Or, hey: lamb in massaman curry, slow-braised in curry sauce with smashed peanuts, potato, and rice, $19. Here in the Land of Lamb, that could be a good bet.

Meantime, Diane’s concentrating on choosing a white wine. She chooses a glass of Main Divide, a Canterbury Riesling named after the white-topped Southern Alps we see on the horizon. Costs $9. And for me, a discovery: Bia Hoi Commi Ale ($6.33). Turns out “Bia Hoi” means “fresh beer.” This is a kind of everyman’s beer, brewed on the street and sold on the street in North Vietnam. Way cheaper than the bottled beers. Also lower alcohol, just 3 percent. I get me one, take a guzzle. Not bad. OK, not great, but hey, the People’s Beer. WYSIWYG.

Kodama, in black shirt center-left.

In the end, we start off with a simple roti with peanut sauce, just to snack on with the Bia Hoi and wine, and then go for the Shanghai dumplings. These are three smallish pork dumplings smothered in panang curry sauce, which, have to say, are sweet and absolutely delicious. Then there’s the fish roti from Mongolia. It’s basically battered, but also disguised in panang sauce, and there’s a nice crunch to its batter. Surprisingly, there’s enough for the two of us. Specially as we talk more than eat, chating with a bunch of Kiwis about the place’s “Commi” name, which has always been slung out as a kind of put-down phrase, at least on our side of the puddle, right? This is the first time I have seen anyone with the cheek to use it cheerfully, as a piece of history. Just to see the word, “Commi,” up there in a good-natured way — it’s refreshing. Just as this pan-Asian fusion menu gives you a feeling of hope for a more shared future, as the east wind makes its presence felt. For sure, it’s helping make Kiwi meals more interesting, if more fusion-confusing. Whatever, it’s a kind of Asian confusion I think I like.

The Place: Commi Thai and Vietnamese Fusion, 145d Colombo Street, Somerfield, Christchurch, New Zealand, +64 3 366-8844

Hours: 12 noon - 8.15 pm daily (Saturday, Sunday, from 5pm only) 

Prices: Shanghai dumpling, (steamed pork dumplings topped with thick panang curry), $6.50 (prices in US dollars. Can fluctuate, depending on exchange rates); Chiang Mai pork belly marinated with Thai dipping sauce, $6.50; Mongolian Fish Roti (“battered fish”) $8.15; “shaking beef hotplate,” $17.00; wok-tossed beef, $16; “spicy Thai beef salad,” hot and sour dressing ($16), or Vietnamese pancake with pork and prawn for $14. Or Bun Ha Noi with vermicelli noodles and grilled pork, $16; lamb in massaman curry, potato and rice, $19; Bia Hoi Commi Ale (street beer), $6.33 

Buses: 1, 3, 8

Nearest Bus Stop: Colombo Street near Somerfield Street, Christchurch