Cafe Hai, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (Modern Art Museum, Kiba Park)

An odd little sanitized slice of Vietnamese street life, transported to the second floor of the Tokyo Modern Art Museum in Kiyosumi Shirakawa (or Kiba, depending on your view). It’s mainly bright and pleasant and errr, authentic, with the wooden patio furniture and astroturf carpet only adding to the ambience created by the cute paintings on the windows. A very tolerable choice for lunch if you’re going to the museum, or just for a stroll in the adjacent Kiba Park.

This mixed rice was not expecially exciting, but it was fresh. I think more meat stock in the cooking would be a good touch, but I’m not workin’ the kitchen.

This sandwich is where the real slice-of-life aspect comes in – supposed to replicate a Vietnamese street sandwich, I guess. The bread is appealingly crusty (more than the genuine article, if I remember correctly) and a little whole-wheatey. The fillings are possibly more healthy than gin-u-wine, with limited quantities of meat paste and copious servings of pickled vegetables and herbs. It comes together well, especially with some hot sauce!

Here’s a little apres-lunch montage – iced flan, not bad but a bit dull (I maintain that Asian desserts always taste a little dull to coarse, unrefined Westerners), coffee in an appropriate drip filter with suitable condensed milk underneath, and beans ‘n’ milk in the approved style.

Cafe? Haaaaaaiiii!
03-5620-5962