Thang Cafe - Vietnamese Cuisine

Today for lunch, this Alpha went to one of her favorite restaurants: Thang Cafe. Opened for a couple of years now and immensely popular among the Japanese people, this restaurants serves authentic Vietnamese food - and it is de-li-ci-ous! Firstly, let's talk about Vietnamese cuisine in general. Just like other south east Asian nations, the Vietnamese love to use different assortment of spices and herbs that bring a colorful flavor to their dishes. The Vietnamese often use lemongrass, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander and Thai basil. Many people enjoy Vietnamese foods because of its freshness and its health benefits.

Thang Cafe

Just like many Japanese restaurants, the meals at Thang Cafe are all in different sets. Many of the dishes are noodle based or rice based with a selection of different meats to cook with. My favorite meal is the Vietnamese dish is Bún Chả Giò, a dish made of vermicelli noodles, lettuce, different herbs and springrolls. Luckily for the set, I also got to eat the delicious Gỏi cuốn, salad rolls (left). These rolls contain shrimp, vermicelli noodles, herbs, pork, and other ingredients and then are rolled in paper rice. The dipping sauce was a light, clear almost vinegar sauce. A perfect appetizer - light, easy to eat, subtle taste. Just enough to satisfy my hunger until the main meal. 

And then it arrive - ahhh - my noodles! As you can see from the picture on the right, it looks like a salad. However, the trick to making it so delicious is that you must thoroughly mix the contents. There is a special dressing that should be mixed into everything in the bowl or else it wont taste as good. It has a lemongrass taste with a hint of garlic - I can feel my mouth watering all over again. There is pork as well as deep friend spring rolls. Once it was in front of me I must have eaten it in ten minutes, it's now on my top 10 favorite things to eat for sure! It's such a light meal, and it does feel incredibly healthy - all the vegetables, thin noodles and the dressing - but even a couple hours later, I'm still incredibly full! 

Not only is the food extraordinary at Thang Cafe, the service is wonderful. Usually, even if it's crowded you are seated quickly, and the meals get to you in a matter of minutes. The employees at Thang Cafe are amazingly sweet and extremely friendly. The owner of the restaurant is almost always there and loves to talk to his customers. He is half American half Vietnamese so he enjoys talk to foreigners! (As well as Japanese people, he really just likes to talk to everyone!). Next time you're in Sannomiya and want something fresh to eat, check out Thang Cafe - you wont regret it!

Love, 

ALPHA