If you’re looking for an answer to whether Chào Bạn Restaurant, located at Villa 28, alley 11 Tô Ngọc Vân, Tây Hồ, has kept its food quality consistent after years in business, the answer is a clear yes. The restaurant still delivers the refined flavors of its signature dishes, while offering diners even more through the new creations of Chef-founder Vincent Cao Minh. From the perspective of a longtime regular returning after several years, it remains a destination that balances renewal with familiarity, well worth visiting again and again, whether for hosting guests or family gatherings.
This summer, I had the chance to return to Hanoi with a few younger colleagues who were setting foot in Vietnam for the first time. On our first day, while the group was still deciding where to go for a taste of local cuisine with comfortable seating, I answered almost immediately, without a moment’s hesitation, that I wanted to take everyone to a place I used to visit regularly during my years living in Vietnam’s capital: Chào Bạn restaurant.
The moment we stepped through the green gate into the shaded courtyard, I received a most unexpected welcome. Chef-founder Vincent Cao Minh came out with a familiar greeting: “Bonjour! Xin chào! It’s been a long time.” I was genuinely surprised and touched that even though two years had passed since we last met at the old location, he still recognized me.
What impressed and delighted me most was the space at Chào Bạn’s Villa 28 location. Past the green gate, a lush garden courtyard opened up before us, with a pool resting quietly at its center, and lanterns swaying gently in the breeze beneath the canopy of large trees overhead. The restaurant is thoughtfully laid out across the villa’s two floors to suit a range of diners’ needs: private, formal corners for business meetings, as well as cozy, enclosed rooms for families or larger groups. Out in the courtyard, tables of various sizes are arranged just as thoughtfully, for anyone who simply wants to enjoy their meal at a leisurely pace.
We visited Chào Bạn on a weekend evening. The restaurant was fairly busy at the time, so the atmosphere was livelier and more bustling than the quiet space I remembered. What I appreciated was that the pace of service still retained its familiar calm and professionalism. Dishes arrived steadily, roughly every 15 to 20 minutes, and although the staff were busy managing each section, they never made us feel rushed to finish and make room for the next group of guests.
Returning after several years, I decided to order the trio of dishes tied to my memories here: braised pork ribs, coconut-braised shrimp, and Bà Gigi’s banana cake, a small ritual of my own, to see whether the flavors I once cherished still held up. And happily, everything remained just as I remembered. The braised ribs were still perfectly tender, just a light touch of the fork and the meat slipped effortlessly off the bone. The sauce was rich and full-bodied, yet never heavy.
Meanwhile, the coconut-braised shrimp still earned its place as the “star” of the meal, drawing praise from my colleagues for the shrimp’s natural sweetness, blending seamlessly with a lightly rich broth carrying a subtle coconut fragrance. One friend in the group joked that if he had to pick a single flavor to remember Vietnamese cuisine by, this would be it. Chào Bạn’s renowned dessert, Bà Gigi’s banana cake, rounded out the meal perfectly, its soft, fragrant texture paired with a scoop of refreshingly cool ice cream, leaving us thoroughly satisfied.
Beyond revisiting the familiar dishes, I was also eager to try the new creations Vincent Cao Minh had added to the menu since the move to Villa 28. The sturgeon salad was the biggest surprise of the night. I had always assumed this type of fish only worked in hot dishes, but the combination with fresh herbs, a light dressing, and crisp julienned vegetables came together into something wonderfully refreshing, about as ideal a choice as you could ask for to kick off a summer dinner. The beef wrapped in mustard greens won us over with a subtlety hidden beneath its simple appearance, the tender, richly flavored beef balanced skillfully by the fresh, faintly peppery mustard greens and the accompanying signature dipping sauce.
The deepest impression, though, came from the dessert that closed out the meal: Pandan Crème Brûlée. As the thin caramel layer on top cracked gently under the spoon, the smooth custard beneath revealed itself, carrying a faint, delicate scent of pandan. It’s a masterful blend of classic French pastry technique and unmistakably Southeast Asian ingredients, no surprise at all that it ranks among the restaurant’s best-sellers.
As the meal drew to a close, Vincent Cao Minh came back to our table once more to check in on our experience. In the pleasant surroundings, we talked about how the city had changed and about Vincent’s new dishes. He even enthusiastically recommended a few tastefully done, newly opened cafés he thought I should check out on this trip. It was a brief exchange, but full of sincerity and warm hospitality.
Chào Bạn today clearly has a more elegant, spacious setting, along with a richer, more contemporary menu. Yet the most valuable thing, that warm feeling of being valued and welcomed like a close friend, remains exactly as it always was. To me, that consistency, in both service and feeling, is the real reason Chào Bạn is always the first name that comes to mind whenever I think of Hanoi.
Chào Bạn Vietnamese Restaurant
Địa chỉ: Villa 28, ngõ 11 Tô Ngọc Vân, Hà Nội.
Website: Chaobanhanoi.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chaobanofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaobanhanoiofficial
Hotline: +84 (024) 35528028
