HuaHua - Vietnamese restaurant, Hiyoshi

I went to this new restaurant this evening, to check it out.
It's on Mail road, about 200m from Hiyoshi station , Toyoko line.
It's on the 2nd floor, where the reasonably sized portions and priced Capricciosa used to be (alas).

First impression - nice.
They seemed to do a nice job with the interior.
Had a defenite 'ethnic' feel to it.
The main window was nicely designed with plants outside and soft lighting lending it that jungle feel.
Excuse me if my typing is wierd, the old guy next door is snoring. Hate snoring.

Well, here are some pics of the place. My battery was low (didn't use my LCD screen to check on picture quality) on my camera and I didn't want to be too rude to the other customers, so the pics may not be so great.

Okay, ready to order.

I ordered gou cuon (raw spring rolls), ran muog zao toi (vegetables cooked with garlic and perhaps oyster sauce), ga luang na chauh (chicken something - damn, I was doing fine until then), canh ga chien muoe man (fried chicken, more or less) and of course, a beer. The beer on tap is Carslberg.

First to arrive were the spring rolls. They were very quick to arrive, which leads me to wonder if they were in fact freshly made or made that morning and just pulled out of the fridge.

They looked nice.
Not very big. They came with 2 sauces. one sweet and one peanut sauce. Neither at all spicy. Quite bland, actually. Not much flavor.
I was worried that they were doing the 'Japanese version' on us. Quite a few places over here adjust the food so it is more suitable for 'Japanese tastes'. Indian food is less spicy, McDonalds hamburgers are different. Even CocaCola has a slightly different drink for this country!
The price was 600yen for 2. Not cheap. 3 mouthfuls and they were gone.
2.5-3/5
The beer tasted a little strange at first but got better on the second taste.

Next to arrive were the vegetables.

These were nice at first, with the garlic flavor enigorating to the senses. But then the saltiness prevailed. Too salty. Think maybe too much oyster sauce or soemthing. They were still ok to eat. Not bad, but just a little too salty. Pity. At 800yen, a lot to pay but the portion was not too bad. Enough for 2.

2.5-3/5

Next were the fried chicken wings.

I'm not a fan of these. Tricky to eat and not much meat. But they tasted okay, after letting them cool down (they were so hot!). Lemon taste. Nicely lightly fried. Not bad.
Little oily.

2.5/5

Then we got the rice dish thingy...well, just look at the picture.

This was not as big as I'd hoped, but it was quite good. THe pot is still hot, so the rice is burning slightly at the bottom (adds to the flavor). Mixed in with some mushrooms and perhaps some nuts or something. It was tasty. At 900yen, it should be! Would have expected more.

3/5.


Then we had the chicken breast.

This was perhaps the best course. Nice sized breast, cut into strips. Served on a bed of lettuce. Gentle taste to it. soft texture. Lemony taste to it. Not at all spicy. 800yen.

3/5.

By now my hands were very greasy. I couldn't help noticing my wet towel was gone. I thought perhaps the waitress took it with one of the plates. It was then that I noticed I'd stuffed the towel between my legs, whilst I was taking pictures.
Damn.

Now I looked like I just pissed myself.
And this was exactly whenI wanted to get up and pay the bill.
5 minutes later, I got up and paid the bill.

Overall, nice enough interior (though a little tacky in places).
Bad choice of music (they had some whacky jazz playing. something softer would have suited the place better).
Bland food - more spicy, please!
Not so reasonable prices, but then this is Japan.
Convenient location.
Reasonable beer (no place can beat the 500yen, 500ml Lowenbrau steiners I can get at the pizzeria place close by). At 400yen for a 300ml or so glass. Not too bad. And I like Carlsberg. Better than Asahi super shite or Kirin ichiban happoushu, in my book.

Overall: Almost 3/5.