Banh Xeo Saigon — Restaurant in Tokyo

So far I've been sitting in a half empty restaurant for 10 minutes and I haven't been given a menu, offered anything to drink or been asked to order. I looked at the staff several times and they just smiled. Off to a bad start.

All three of the upstairs staff seem to be focused on flirting with two attractive foreign customers at the expense of the other 10 or so customers.

I came here several years ago but don't remember the food being anything I wanted to eat again. I'll wait a few more minutes...

A male server finally brings me tea, says 'hi' then walks away. I have to sort through a pile of various menus on a seperate table to find the lunch menu.

The food arrived, took a bit of time. I ordered the holiday lunch set for ￥1750. It comes with pho, I chose chicken, one fried spring roll, one steamed spring roll, one omelet roll, a pudding and a drink.

The drink arrived well before the meal, in time for most of the ice to melt. It was standard orange juice. I asked for a glass of water so I wouldn't drink all the juice before my meal arrived.

The steamed spring roll had a nice flavor, the filling itself was a bit salty and a bit savory, a good combination. The wrapper was soft and chewy.

The fried spring roll was good but required the dipping sauce otherwise it was more texture than flavor. The dipping sauce was typical.

The omelet roll tasted like lettace and bean sprouts, though it had omelet, carrots, shrimp and a few other things. I had to use the spring roll sauce to give it additional flavor.

The chicken pho was nice. A good broth, subtly spiced. It was savory and sour. The chicken fat coated the inside of my mouth, blending all the flavors together. The slices of chicken tasted fresh but the noodles were a bit over cooked.

The pudding was coconut and yam? puree with tapioca. It was good.

While I was eating the pudding, the female server cleared away my dishes and glass; I had to grab the pudding off the tray. She also refilled my tea after she took everything away.

Overall, the food is better than the service, I'll upgrade from the original 1 star to 3...I'm still waiting on that...

I have never had pho served without basil, lime or bean sprouts before so it was quite odd. I have also never left a Vietnamese restaurant hungry before? Usually portions at Vietnamese restaurants are very generous. I understand that there is a language barrier but when I literally point to something on the menu and I'm brought something completely different it's a little disappointing. I have had pho in many places around the world and have never seen such a small portion with almost nothing in it. The broth resembled a clear chicken consomme which for beef pho was also pretty weird. There was maybe 5 tiny pieces of beef, some chives and about a handful of rice noodles. I ordered the rice paper/salad rolls but I never got them so I can't comment on those. Overall, I was looking for somewhere to get my pho fix in Japan and left disappointed to say the least. I came here specifically because of the comments regarding authenticity but the pho was definitely not...

I ordered the Bun Bo Hue, a dish I hold dear as my favorite, but sadly, it bore no resemblance to the authentic Bun Bo Hue I've savored around the globe, both in the US and Vietnam. Regrettably, I found it to be on par with an average American restaurant's rendition, lacking several essential ingredients, most notably the Mắm (the purple paste).

Curiously, I observed a Japanese couple seated nearby, relishing their Pho, and they enthusiastically exclaimed "Oishii desu" twice within just 15 minutes. Perhaps this establishment caters more to a Japanese palate, but I consider myself quite attuned to Japanese flavors, and the experience left me uncertain.

I paid a little over 1800 yen for my Bun Bo Hue and a coke, though the portion size resembled what one might consider a small serving in the...