Chao Vietnam (Former Indochina) - Vietnamese ****

Address - Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Takadanobaba 1-17-17 Yamaguchi Bldg Opening hours - 11:30 to 14:00 and 17:30 to 23:00 Map Yes Telephone - 3209-6859 Menu - In Japanese CC - No

The problem with Vietnamese restaurants, at least as far as I am concerned, is that every time I am having Vietnamese food I wish I was eating Thai. The two cuisines are very similar, but the Thai is by far the best, in my book. Keeping this in mind, I will try to be as fair as possible to Chao Vietnam, because its staff deserves good words.

That pleasant room at the second floor and its view on Waseda Dori, as nice as they are, have brought no luck to the different managements that one after the other have tried to make the restaurant do well: originally called Dim Sum, it later became Kao Tai II, then Indochina, and now it's Chao Vietnam.

But the small restaurant chain that used to own it has given up, it seems, and a brand new management is now trying its luck in the kitchen. I am pessimistic about their chances, however, because the problem has never been either the food or the service, which have always been above average: I don't know what it is, but it's there. The place is just jinxed.

Well, this latest incarnation is little different from the past ones: same wooden tables and same decor. The four ladies that staff it now have just added a bar. You will recognize the atmosphere right away.

The menu includes about thirty items for prices going from 700 to 1200 yen. Drinks include wine (not a great variety of), Japanese draft and Viet canned beer, plus cocktails. There are of course specials for lunch, even though quality will almost certainly not be the same.
There being five of us, we ordered a lot: fried rice, fried springrolls, spicy seafood, raw springrolls, chicken and ginger, beef salad and pork with eggs. Everything was very good, and the presentation elegant. In contrast, the bill was just 2000 yen apiece, so that if you like this kind of food I can give you the go ahead: CV is good. Please try to understand that really there is nothing wrong with the place, and the fact that it's never crowded is actually a plus. It's a chance to relax in pleasant surroundings without having Waseda students yell in your ears.

We had no Vietnamese restaurant in Takadanobaba: now we do, and it's a good one.

May 24, 2001