2.5 STARS
It's the second day after the end of the Wiesn, and I'm in a bad way. Everything is grey, and the last sparks of my life are escaping via cough, leaving scratchy trails of pain behind in my throat. I need to reconstitute. I need nutrition. I need hydration. I need food that doesn't taste like beer or frying oil. And I need this within the span of a lunch break. The prescription: Vietnamese food.
Both Co Be and Anh Thu were approximately a 10 minute walk from me, but not wanting to add finanical illiquidity to my litany of post-Wiesn woes, I opted for Co Be. It was a good decision. Indeed, the garish, yellow sign makes this place look from the outside like a Brazilian kiosk selling cigarettes and Joe Bu dolls. But the inside is rather nicely appointed. The service greeted me pleasantly, and I never felt myself waiting endlessly for anything I needed/wanted.
I ordered the bo ot ax from the midday menu (beef with vegetables with an allegedly spicy sauce), selected the salad from my choice of salad or spring rolls for side dish, and ordered a whole pot of ginger tea as well. Grand total was €10. Not bad for Schwabing. Not bad for a whole pot of tea.
The food itself is good here, but, like most all Asian food in Germany, doesn't wow me. It's just not as spicy and brightly flavoured as one finds elsewhere. But that is more the result of adapting to the German palate, which is notoriously finicky and incompatible with spice, and this is therefore to be expected. Only the ginger tea failed to meet expectations. They don't brew it in advance, so either you have to let it steep for the duration of your meal, or allow only the last cup or two to really be of full strength. That said, this meal met my expectations for this price range in Germany, and I will probably come here again during the midday for lunch again.
Thing is, the experience here just needs to be refined. All the bases have been covered well enough for me to come here by myself for lunch, but not well enough that I'd show this restaurant off.
Example #1: The service gave a friendly greeting (good!), but then pointed me over the shoulder to a table behind her (eh...could have been more professionally executed).
Example #2: Nice, sleek decor with white table cloths (good!), but sauce stains on the table cloth for my table (eh...couldn't that have been changed before this table was made available?)
Conclusion: I'll come here again, perhaps someday even with a colleague, but I'm not raving about this place or particularly recommending it. read more