I'm going to go to Vietnam for a while." You can enjoy the authentic taste and atmosphere of Vietnam! Specializing in Vietnamese cuisine

You're in Vietnam! A short trip in the heart of the city

Pho Eighteen Vietnamese Restaurant opened in Fuchi-cho, Oita City at the end of 2021. Run by a Vietnamese couple, it is a restaurant where you can experience "just like in Vietnam. When you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a colorful and festive scene. The restaurant attracts not only Japanese but also many foreign customers, especially Vietnamese. A corner with Vietnamese food ingredients lined up on the wall makes you feel like you are on a short trip.

Surprised by the variety of dishes on the menu, you can thoroughly enjoy the authentic taste of the restaurant.

I was surprised when I opened the menu list, which lists more than 60 authentic dishes and introduces them in detail in Japanese. All of them are colorful and exciting to choose from.

Among them, "pho" is the most popular menu item. It features soft, flat noodles made of rice flour and water, and a soup made of vegetables, herbs, spices, and beef broth. There are several types of pho with different soup flavors and ingredients, but I had a bowl of pho topped with boiled beef and green onions, which is recommended for first-timers.

The golden-brown broth is made of vegetable and beef broth. The soup is gentle and refreshing, yet has an indescribably appetizing flavor of spices and herbs. The soft noodles covered with the broth are smooth and smooth in the mouth...mmmm...delicious! The accompanying raw vegetables are added to the soup and served crispy. The vegetables make the soup more hearty, and since there is a lot of meat on top, you will be very satisfied with just one bowl. Although the spices and herbs are effective, the taste is not too strong, and indeed, even a beginner to Vietnamese cuisine can enjoy this dish.

Vietnamese seasonings have a "relative" flavor of Japanese seasonings

Vietnamese cuisine, like Japan's, has a dashi culture. Vietnamese cuisine has a dashi culture similar to that of Japan, and seasonings like soy sauce, miso, and koji are used in Japan. The flavors of herbs are unique to Vietnamese cuisine, but the underlying similarities may be the reason why Japanese people can easily accept the flavors. Ms. Ayako Watanabe, the only Japanese staff member at the restaurant, told us this. She originally started working here because of her love of Asian cuisine, but she became more and more fascinated with Vietnam and began to research the country and its cuisine on her own. She is now a public relations person who enjoys the complete trust of the owner, Mr. Vu Thanh Hai.

The menu is not at all Japanese. We don't try to make it easy for Japanese people to eat...or anything like that (laughs). But I think it's delicious enough to be familiar to Japanese people." As he carefully explained each dish on the menu, one could sense Mr. Hai's respect for the authentic taste of his cuisine. By the way, I had thought that pho was the most common Vietnamese food, but "most Vietnamese people order 'rice noodles'". He also told me such a surprising episode.

Warm owner: "Everyone is family.

One Vietnamese customer was talking to the owner in a very friendly way, so I asked him, 'Do you know each other? He said, 'No, I met him for the first time today. As Watanabe says, the atmosphere at the restaurant is very warm. According to Mr. Hai, "All customers are family and friends," and I felt that the liveliness and warmth of the atmosphere is one of the charms of Four Eighteen.

When you open the door, you are in Vietnam! Why don't you visit Pho Eighteen and feel like you are on a trip to Vietnam?