Restaurants in Kyiv looking for ways to win customers over might want to take a lesson from Vietnamese restaurant Long Phuong.
My companion and I arrived at about 11 p.m. on a Friday, our hearts set on a traditional Southeast Asian dish known as Lau. But when we entered the restaurant, the waiter at the door had some bad news waiting for us: They were closed. Or at least they were kind of closed. The restaurant matron, herself a Vietnam native, appeared out of nowhere and inquired what we had in mind. “Lau,” I blurted out, as if I ate it every day. The bond was formed. Without missing a beat, she responded, “Right this way.”
That, my friends, is how to treat a customer. Actually, for a short period of my life I did eat Lau just about every day. It was when I was traveling in Laos, Vietnam’s neighbor. I was hoping Luang Phong’s version of the traditional soup would bring back memories. The cook did not disappoint me – an impressive feat considering that he could not have been happy that two customers had strolled in just as he was taking his apron off.
Indeed, the whole restaurant did a good job in ensuring that we would have one of the most enjoyable and surprisingly good meals that we’ve had in a long time. To be sure, it didn’t hurt that we were alone and the owner essentially took it upon herself to be our personal hostess. The normal wait staff, we recalled from an earlier visit, wasn’t nearly so obsequious. Still, even earlier the service was head-and-shoulders above most places in Kyiv – which is not surprising with this woman setting the tone.
We noticed only one thing wrong when we sat down – the music playing was Russian pop icon Alsu, rather than trancy Southeast Asia. Without so much as a hint from us they turned off Alsu and started playing Vietnamese music halfway through our meal.
And what a meal it was. We ordered one thing: Fish Lau (Hr 94). It arrived in a conical, hollowed-out urn, a flame erupting through the hole at the top, not unlike a volcano. The idea is that the soup cooks on the table as you wait and watch. We did just that while sipping Heinekens (Hr 12.50), then dug in, pouring the soup over complimentary noodles. The soup was delicious. The presentation was not something I ever saw in Laos (although maybe they do it differently in Vietnam), but the rich flavor of the soup brought back memories. The quantity was as rich as the flavor: It was enough to feed four handily.
The prices of most dishes at Luang Phong, while they may put off parsimonious patrons, are misleading. Most dishes cost Hr 50 to Hr 75, but almost all feed two. And there’s a great selection of exotic dishes to choose from besides Lau – dishes like shrimps steamed in gung (Hr 79 – I’ll give anybody who can tell me what gung is a Hr 79 reward) and grilled eel (Hr 77.50). We’d previously tried the Fish Ngu Lieu with shrimps (Hr 87.50), and the sweet meat with pineapple (Hr 61), hitting with the former but having less success with the latter.
In short, Luang Phong is a more authentic Southeast Asian dining experience than Kyiv’s most upscale Asian restaurant, San Tori, and the food is comparable. To put it another way, San Tori is SoHo and Luang Phong Chinatown (Vietnamtown?). In Asian-food-starved Kyiv, you’d do pretty well at either.
Luang Phong 1a Naberezhno Khreshchatyka. Tel: 416-1487. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
