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Located just 15 minutes from Camp Walker, in the Suseong Lake Area, Xin Chào is a family restaurant featuring Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai delights.
Xin Chào has a very large, bi-lingual menu. My two lunch mates and I had a difficult time deciding what to order. We shooed the food server away once, before deciding on sharing some appetizers and order our own main entrees.
There are two types of spring rolls; we went with the long skinny ones that were quite crunchy. They were hard for me to hold with my chopsticks, so I cheated and used my fingers when I thought no one was looking. The chicken winglets came out nice and hot, not too heavily breaded. There were about half a dozen other options, some which will be sampled on the next visit.
Two of us had versions of Pad Thai—one chicken and one seafood. They were huge portions. The crushed red chili peppers and peanuts were set on the edge of the bowl, so that we could season to our preferred tastes. The noodles kept their texture throughout the lunch, never getting gluey or mushy. I used all my peppers and was rewarded with a nice and spicy, but not too spicy, meal. Our other lunch mate chose Cambodian style Tom Yum Goong, a hot and spicy seafood soup. It was really spicy, to the point where the inactive Marine was coughing and sweating up a storm. After wiping tears from his eyes, he said it was really good soup.
I wish we could have sampled some of the desserts, but we all struggled to finish our meals—including those of us with beer bellies. Xin Chào also serves beer, which we should have used to cool off our tongues. The total bill came to about $13 per person.
Most of the food servers speak at least a little English. If you need help, just ask for the owner, Mr. Hun. Xin Chào calls itself a Family Restaurant. While the children’s menu is not extensive, there are several options for two-person servings (or more) that encourage a lot of sharing of food among friends.
This is a pretty big restaurant, with seating for 140 in several different rooms that can be section off for private parties. There is plenty of free parking, so you can bring all your friends and enjoy a great meal.
Closed : HolidaysMaximum Seating Capacity : 140Parking Facility : 20
Photo courtesy of Ed Kelin
