To call it a restaurant or cafe seems wrong, as does branding it a food truck.

Instead, it’s a quirky and playful hybrid, with the kitchen housed in a shipping container, while the dining areas – a mix of modern high timber bar tables and stools and long wooden picnic tables and benches – occupy what was once probably a footpath and a carpark along South Brisbane’s thriving Fish Lane.

It’s completely open-air, which is perfect for Queensland’s balmy summer nights, but bloody freezing on a windy winter’s evening – even huddled under a blazing brazier – and somewhat impractical in the event of rain.

That said, it’s cool. Not in a try-hard hipster way, but in a relaxed, authentically Aussie manner, which blends the atmosphere of hanging out in a pub beer garden with chilling in your best mate’s back yard.

The service is just as relaxed, though speedy, with the friendly, personable staff eager to please, if perhaps a little inexperienced.

In keeping with the shipping container vibe, the cuisine is Vietnamese-style street food condensed into a clipped menu of just nine dishes at dinner and only five at lunch.

Beef dumplings ($14) are an easy starter – sharp, with a black vinegar dressing, before the heat of ginger kicks in. Refinement of the overly thick pastry would take them to the next level.

A punchy, soy-infused peanut dipping sauce works hard to provide much-needed moisture and flavour to the bland and dry tofu rice paper rolls ($9), but there’s simply not enough of it.

Perhaps the Peking duck or beef with wasabi mayo rolls would have been better choices.

There are no such complaints, however, about the chicken ribs ($12). Holding on to the bone and pulling with your teeth, the crispy-coated, juicy meat glides off the bone like a figure skater across ice – so succulent its pairing of mild, chilli-steeped soy sauce is somewhat unnecessary. It’s a dish worth returning for.

Less memorable, but still solid is the chicken pho ($14), that would pair well with the house-made lemongrass, lychee and orange-blossom soda, or perhaps a glass of wine from the succinct but smart list.

While the screeching sound of trains from the railway line overhead can sometimes break the mood, Hello Please is a fun, no-frills venue that is sure to have many locals dropping by to say a quick hi.

This review originally appeared on couriermail.com.au.