Co Chin Chin — Restaurant in Zurich

I was craving for a bowl of beef pho on a cold day. This place was okay, didn’t amaze me. And of course, I won’t compare the pho soup to the ones in Hanoi.

The restaurant tries to create the ambience of Vietnam, and I really appreciated it. For me, I value the authenticity of a place than the decor/environment. It was nice to have dined at a decent looking Viet restaurant.

The pho soup was good, beef was fresh, the texture of rice noodles was weird. Not those you would use to cook pho soup and more thin than usual. More importantly, portion was small. There were only 8 bites of noodles 😂 thank god I have a birdie stomach. Imagine a 6 ft 2 guy having to pay for 3 bowls just to be full!

And I was quite disappointed about being charged CHF 3 for 500ml of tap water. I asked the staff right away when he brought me the bill. He said I looked at the menu and I would have known that tap water is not free here and it’s called ‘Zurich Water’. Further, they would donate CHF 2 for kids in Africa. I would like to help out the kids in Africa too, but not like that. And I would love to hear about the whole mission/campaign the restaurant is doing for charity as well. But thank you! I didn’t know by contributing to the tap water mission, I can help a kid in Africa 🙏🏻👍🏻 He also asked if I am a local here in Zurich, because 90% of the restaurants do this.

This is my first time getting charged. And I do not like this idea. I would have ordered a lime soda at CHF 5.5 since water is CHF 3 anyways. He gave me back CHF 3 in cash when I was leaving the restaurant. I declined it since it’s not the point. It’s all about communication. And the CHF 3 doesn’t matter anymore after the meal is done. It’s the overall dining experience and how you make a customer feel.

Tell the customer next time before they placed an order. I guess everyone would be happier. And I would have tried the drinks as well, they look delicious.

I wonder if I should still try other restaurants in Zurich since you are paying a lot for what’s not worth. Sometimes there are surprises, sometimes it’s...

We have been regular customers for years, including ordering takeaway on a regular basis (even if last time they missed one of the bags and had to reorder an additional item to get the other half of the order). The food is still very nice and comforting, even if some dishes might be adapted to Western palate. However, on our visit today 6th of July, the service was condescending and overbearing. Starting with the papaya salad, whose crushed peanuts came with the Banh Cuon (served minutes later) and by then, we nearly had finished the papaya salad. One of the main dishes delivered at the table was mistaken for sthg we didn't order and added some waiting time for one of us. When trying several times to reach out for another round of drinks and some chili oil, we were told by the only waitress that was paying attention to the room that requesting this to another waitress rather than the one assigned to our table creates confusion and a greater mess? Never before been told by a waitress to please refrain from seeking their attention, even if always do so politely and trying to be considerate. Once the drinks were served, our "designated" waitress came with the menu to shove it in our face and make us understand what we had ordered, until she realized that we just wanted some chili oil and we weren't confused about the dish we ordered. Unfortunately, the service is way more experienced and talented at Lily's, managing several tables and customers without any fuzz. At least you're not treated like dumb. By the way, you seem to have forgotten to add bird eye chilis, garlic, tamarind and long Thai beans to the papaya salad too, but thanks for the tip about adding the crushed peanuts on top of it once...

We passed by this place, made a note to go back and go back we did. If you like Vietnamese food, you should definitely check out Co Chin Chin. We couldn’t find a reservation but landed there at 5:45pm on a Saturday evening. The service was quick. I tried the virgin cocktail (mojito) and the rest of the party had Amboss beer. Then came the starters. There was a Bánh Xèo (crispy Vietnamese pancake), steamed dumplings and a chicken and prawn spring roll. The steamed dumplings were the group favorite and we ended up ordering again. The Vegetarian Bánh Xèo was a little bland but with the sauces, it tasted good. As a vegetarian, I was spoilt for choice! I ended up ordering the Bo Bun(rice noodle salad with tofu and spring rolls). Yum!!! My only problem was the amount of rice noodles in the dish. I couldn’t finish it. And the. We had mini cupcakes for dessert- yummmmmmmm!! The rest of the party ordered Bo La Lot (Spiced beef, rolled into betel leaves, rice noodles, peanuts and spring onions ) and a summer...