L’Atelier de Stand Banh Mi — Restaurant in Tokyo

The concept, presentation, quality and freshness of the food is evident. The owner/chef has tried to infuse their passion into the food and having lived in Hanoi and having great memories of the vibrant culinary scene there I was super excited to find this restaurant. Perhaps the first red flag (and there are a few) is their tag line "Vietnamese but not Vietnamese". What?? Second, they provide email and message access but don't answer. Ever. When I did finally manage to book, I had to rely on Google Translate and if I didn't provide any information in Japanese/Katakana no reservation could be made/accepted. I won't go into the details but this wasn't the best way to start the dining experience. The restaurant is very quaint. Nicely decorated with little touches here and there that show that the owner has definitely spent time in Vietnam. The menu (Google Translate again, nothing even in Vietnamese - I guess the tag line is hard at work here) was mostly noodle based, two rice dishes and one banh mi option. All set lunches, no a la carte. Ordered a "tahitian lime soda". Okay, bit salted and the glass came with a lovely clear crack clear from the base to almost the top. I know that in Vietnam crockery comes always chipped....I guess this was their effort at authenticity? Opted for the seafood pho xao (fried noodles). Fresh, very good quality but....tasteless except for the rather strong hit of chili. 5 teaspoons of fish sauce couldn't help to resuscitate this dish. The restaurant purports to not use MSG, but the stock they use to flavor their dishes shouldn't be imaginary. Finally had their caphe sua da (hot one with milk) it was nothing more than 3 in 1 coffee....tasted like a premix although there was some very poetic write up about the coffee being adapted to local tastes rather than the bracing style enjoyed by the Vietnamese. Vietnamese but not Vietnamese. If you enjoy and can supplement your diet with views/ambience, this is the place for you. Otherwise there are better places with more authentic Vietnamese food for less of the fanfare and dollar demanded. Obviously aimed at those who like to whitewash cuisines to the local palate. Considering how the name of restaurant features a famous dish, the menu should feature more of the dish...it was all...

We stumbled upon L'Atelier de Stand Banh Mi during an afternoon stroll through Jiyugaoka, and while we were initially drawn in by the menu outside showing all the different variations of Pho, we ended up enjoying the special Banh Mi that they offer.

The inside of the restaurant is very small and seats maybe 10 people, but they also have 2 outdoor tables with both umbrellas and heaters for extra sunny or chilly days.

In addition to the Banh Mi, we ordered a Shrimp Papaya Salad, that was pretty good. The highlight though was definitely the sandwiches, which come on delicious toasted bread. Typically, I'm not a huge fan of Banh Mi, but I enjoyed this sandwich and wouldn't mind eating it again.

The price was a little higher than other Vietnamese restaurants that I have had in Japan -- the total came to 5,800 yen for 1 LaRue beer, 1 Papaya Salad and 2 Banh Mi sandwiches. They do accept...

The taste of the food is rather light, which can be appealing to some and bad for others. But for anyone I think the pho would taste like water. service is rather disappointing. If you take 45 minutes to serve some mid pho be prepared to leave your customers quite annoyed. They also burnt our banh xeo so we left half of it uneaten. Please improve these aspects of your restaurant and you’ll see it flourish as the location, atmosphere, and most dishes are very...