I love Vietnamese cuisine as much as Thai food.

When I was living in the outskirts of L.A., I frequently ate out at Vietnamese restaurants. There were so many good ones because L.A. had a big Vietnamese community near by in the Orange county.

In Madison, Wisconsin, I enjoyed being a student in an international community that boasted a you-name-it variety of ethnic restaurants. I loved to eat fresh spring rolls (or summer rolls) from one of vender stalls just by the Memorial Library. (I also liked the orange juice of another vender, but that should be left for another time.)

There used be a multinational cafeteria sort of shop called Cafe Sua near my Nishijin Tea House. Cafe Sua served a good Vietnamese Coffee, and I went there quite often to have a sip of it. Now that both Cafe Sua and my Tea House are gone, I rarely visit the area any more.

There may be some more Vietnamese restaurants in Kyoto other than Com Ngon; however, I only know this place, but it’s good enough– way better than expected, so that I don’t dare to search for the others, anyway. If only Com Ngon were in the vicinity of my place in Haradani…

There are shops specializing Shichimi-Tougarashi（七味唐辛子）in Kyoto. I particularly like this shop, Chobunya (長文屋) of Kitano Hakubai-cho, where the shop owner, or sometimes his son, mixes various spices in a bowl in front of the customer, quickly using a pair of spoons that make a series of tinking sound. Embraced by the aroma of the spices, fascinated by the brisk motion and the sound, just standing in the shop to watch the mixing art gives me a mesmerizing time.

Chieriya is a cozy, very much handmade eatery. I love the atmosphere, which reminds me of Kailas Restaurant I frequented and spent hours with good cake and tea.

It was the second time I visited Chieriya, yesterday, and bought their specialty: Bahn mi, Vietnamese sandwich— mmmm yummy!!!

The lady who took our order asked me if we didn’t mind coriander leaves for the topping. I said “my son is dying for it”. The lady, handing the sandwich to us, added “I put on an extra amount of it so that I won’t be in trouble if he dies.” Naturally, the food tasted so good when me and my son ate it afterwards!

P.S. Their ginger ale is also good!

Le Petit Mec is my favorite boulangerie. It is close to 鳥岩楼 where my son and I had a lunch, and we dropped in on the way back– and made a major mistake. (You will know what was the mistake, when seeing the photo below.)

At Toriiwaro (鳥岩楼), a chicken food restaurant, in the Nishijin district, Kyoto, my son and I had a lunch– Oyako Domburi (親子丼), a bowl of chicken meat and egg over rice.

Their Oyako Domburi is so good, and it’s only in the lunch menu… uh… only thing they serve from noon to two o’clock. In evening, they serve variety of dishes and hotpots, but their dinner cuisine is rather expensive.

The Oyako Domburi is inexpensive and comes with a cup of chicken bone broth, which is as good. It’s nice to eat good food on tatami mats in a Japanese style room looking down a green courtyard. No wonder the place was so crowded.