Reviews for Indochine Cafe

11/10/2023 - MenuPix User

12/17/2020 - Amy
The food is ALWAYS amazing. And the owners are lovely. Family-run business. The BEST.

12/01/2015 - Bonnie Harriman
I only live 2 blocks from this cafe' and I just tried it last year. I've been hooked on their chicken soup ever since, just have to have it! Yum. Great service, fast, nice family owned business and affordable pricing. I like to know who I'm giving my business to and this family recognizes everyone and remembers what you like to order as well. So great!

02/28/2015 - JP
Fantastic food prepared and served by wonderful staff. Not quite Hanoi prices but a great value for dining out in Ohio!

10/04/2014 - Vicky
Wow jenny, why don't you write a book already

04/12/2014 - heath
I had a similar experience with the owner. He was very rude and I'm from Boston and came to Columbus via NYC. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I must say the woman seemed embarrassed with the way he treated me. His loss bc I never bring friends there. Considering there are NO other places anywhere nearby I still do business there. The food is good but the digs and male owner are not, so I generally send my husband in for take out.

01/12/2014 - jenny

Male owner was worst server I ever had. He was super rude, berated me & made me cry.

Go if you like but be aware this person does not treat ALL his costumers like gold-we have never been treated like this by anyone ever in the restaurant business.

I wrote 6 times this much for all that happened but this only will accept 1/6th of what I wrote

Owner if u are gonna use ur personalty to get repeat business, at least offer the same service to others & don't treat them as less than & like children nor chastise/ignore them when waiting on tables of those you cater to as this is a country with more than its share of prejudice/unfairness w/o it going on when we eat.

He may have been sweet & spicy to you but he was sour, salty & bitter to me & nothing about this encounter was savory. A sour and bitter experience all round. I am only thankful I never have to see this blank blank whatever again.

I was anxious to try my first Vietnamese food as for 15 years had lived next to sweetest Cambodian refugee family I helped a lot who often invited me to bridal events, meals and holidays & cooking was very good. These neighbors were so sweet, I wanted to come here a lot to experience the sweetest of the owners Id read about so I was hoping 4 & expecting a wonderful experience So we ordered a lot of different things to try to drink in the experience.

Little did I know I'd have one of the most horrible, terrible & upsetting dinning experience in my life.

The service was awful-- long wait for the food-he never attended the table,. We had to consistently be trying to flag him down but impossible as either he was gone to the back or talking for so long w/all his regulars while never taking his eyes off them..

Sandwich bread too tough so I needed a knife.so unable to eat the whole time (a good 1/2 hour) trying to get his attention as he chatted with the other 3 tables who he knew well. This was our 1st time here. He seemed irritated when I asked for some more napkins (they brought 1 each) & the knife.

But this was nothing compared to his rudely yelling at me, insulting me and reaming me out embarrassing in front of my brother. I later found out the mistreatment started from the get go unbeknown to me.

We were very excited to try this restaurant as I was just getting into Thai food & wanting to see how this was. We got there late the night before when we arrived at 7:35 (found out they closed at 8..they came out & told us they could not let us eat there unless it was to go as closing soon).
I'm handicapped so asked brother if he'd get a carry out menu to see if we wanted anything. Apparently, they only had regular menus, and my brother used the restroom when getting the menu.. He didn't see the sign on door saying don't use restroom if not ordering as too dark & they opened the door so sign couldn't read, so he didnt know their policy on bathroom.

Decided we'd have a better dining experience w/these allegedly delightful owners if we ate in so decided to come back next day instead of getting it to go. This may have made them mad but they were the ones closing the restaurant early as they had no business in there at the time. I bet they discussed how dare they use restroom, borrow the menu and not order after we left...the creeps.

The next day my brother was parking the car, so I seated myself due to my disability and pain in standing then he went straight to the restroom when we went the next day. He told me in car that on leaving the bathroom, he overheard people working there standing near the door from cooking area saying something to the effect he had better be eating since he used the bathroom. I noticed when I entered the next day in the dark a hard to read, sign on door that said only patrons could use bathroom which he did not see the previous night when he used facilities..when they opened the door for him it didn't let him know of their strange rule about bathrooms He said he was upset w/their comments when overheard them say loudly hes not entitled to use bathroom unless he orders as it is part of the meal apparently referring to night before so they must have already not liked us from get go for breaking rule we didn't know about so that was just rude. He had no idea of this rule since they opened the door & blocked sign.

Finally, some food came..it took so long as apparently he was doing the assembling/cooking? but instead was talkingto/flattering the people at next table while we waited till he was good & ready to go make our food.
I found the spring rolls ok but the rice paper wrapper tough/too chewy. Needed the knife for these too so could not eat any of the food 4 the next 30 minutes waiting for him to see us or come back. We had had to die for spring rolls I had w/my first Thai restaurant experiences a few weeks earlier at Erawan Thai on Refugee road was so yummy with its peanut sauce..this sauce tasted more soy based-definitely no where near as good.

I love headcheese so ordered that sandwich. Oddly, the owner rarely came to out table even though it could not have been more than 10-15 feet away..we were made to yell things we needed2 him as he was apparently too lazy2come2the table or 2busy pretending 2b nice 2 other costumers (the ones he knew) We were just some new customers not worth his time.

I had to yell please don't put jalapenos on our sandwich. This was the hard crusty bread I could not bite into & needed knife to cut that sat there for so long waiting for a knife Could not eat either dish till got knife. My companion who apparently has better teeth finished his 1/2 long b4 me as I could not eat for the half hour I waited for the knife so I was way behind him meaning he'd finish 1st be ready 2go.

Then came the Pho and the 2bowls we asked 4 but no serving spoon/ladle expecting us 2 divide the soup w/tiny glass soup spoons or eat out of the big bowl communally. Since we ordered extra noodles in soup, this was impossible 2do..again he chatted up everyone around us never asking if we needed anything or refilling water.

Finally we flagged him down after another 15 or 20 minutes unable to eat while he did nothing but talk to people in tables on 3 sides around us, so he was not busy cooking or something as the conversations were of great length. His over-attentiveness to them made him stiff other customers (4 people at 3 tables in there got little2no service while 3 tables he knew got continual service & chatting merrily)

Finally, they figured out we needed a ladle when he said we needed bigger spoons & then we could finally eat. By now soup was mostly cold...the Pho was ok but not nearly the phenomenal one we had at Erawan on Refugee Rd that prompted us2order it here...the other place had a fantastic broth like nothing I ever tasted-when we commented to Erawan how excellent it was they said they cook it 9 hours. This one at Indochine had very little broth...which was almost the best part at Erawan.

Meatballs tasted odd like something that had been sitting in the back of an Asian market freezer-the noodles were good though.

Ordered a vermicelli dish-it came w/no sauce & was basically a big salad w/pork. We saw a way too small for the size of the salad dish of sauce-tasted it and it was very hot/spicy-we both couldnt eat it so I was going to ask him if he could bring some ginger sauce as I had seen they had it on several dishes as the vermicelli tasted awful with just lettuce cukes etc & noodles with nothing at all on them...no sauce or dressing.

This was requested after the stunning rudeness Im getting2below His reply we dont have any ginger dressing..said as he was obviously seething w/anger I know he was lying as this was on many of the dishes..why would they not have ANY type sauce or dressing whatsoever forcing me2use the condiments on the table 2make this edible.

Here is what he did.

I ran out of water I have a destroyed saliva gland, I can't eat at all w/o something 2drink. I am continuously very very dry-also a diabetic so waters essential..since so many dishes contained either noodles/raw veggies, I could've choked on these as have some current dental problems making it hard2chew normally so I was afraid to eat w/o any fluids 2 drink w/it in the event I choked.

So waited over 20 minutes 4him to come back out of kitchen..I put my empty cup on table edge but he never looks our way as so focused on the regulars..same w/the female owner...spent huge amount of time w/those she knew-never looked our way even though we're right there. I was 2polite 2yell her over so just waited unable to eat when I was starving due to lack of water..

Finally he came out&when he was serving or talking with customers at a table, knowing how hard he was to get a hold of & seeing my male companion, almost done eating while I had so much left I was waiting to eat &could not till I had water, I put the cup in my hand& kind of lifted it 1 "off table while looking at him2indicate I needed water.

Thats all I did.

Because I did that, he did this..& lost us as customers &anyone we know.

He came to my table & said this "ur not the only customer in the restaurant u know..this is not all about YOU. I have other customers & you need to wait...wtf?

All in a very condescending, insulting, rude tone meant2hurt/anger/demean. Rarely do I meet anyone this rude.
Thats all I had been doing is waiting,,he not only NEVER refilled our glasses on his own in the hour and 1/2 we wound up being there for all the waiting, he NEVER ONCE came2 table or even looked our way once in over an hour. and now he is saying this to me cause I gesture I need water..I was shocked..stunned & POed

Later I asked my brother why didnt he say anything when this guy was reaming me out like he was my dad & being so rude to me & acting like I was some horrible two year old..he said I was so stunned at what an a**h*le he was he didnt know what 2say..the rest of the night he kept mentioning what an a**h*** he was & how he was never going back
When owner rudely said this to me as if I was the problem not him. I tried 2stand up 4 myself & said..we DID wait 4 u-- over 20 minutes while u were gone. The lady never came over either though she wasn't rude. This comment of truth apparently set him off more.

I told him also I asked for no jalapenos on my sub & showed him 3 large thick slices of it on my plate (plus the one I accidentally ate since I thought it was not 1 there like I asked which ruined my taste buds for 1/2 the meal as mouth on fire)..he replied "well so what --what do u want me to do u already ate it" ( had eaten 1/2 of it..I didnt want another like he assumed I only was upset about his rude comment decided2point out his error as he never came2 the table2find out about it so I could let him know his error so I finally ate some of it so cant just wait 4 20 more minutes till he stoppd doing his good old boy act 4 other customers.


I didnt want another sandwich-just 2let him know he gave me something I asked him not too..I had mentioned a allergy to basil & he could have harmed me as told not to eat by dr. He'd told me he was personally going 2make this sub & then he makes it wrong, so perhaps he had even put them on there deliberately due to how mad they were my brother used bathroom.

Rather than apologize 4 ruining my sandwich he then said I didnt tell him to not put them on sub which I 100% did tell him,,, he then claimed that I said to not put them on my brother's sub but do on mine which is completely untrue as I had to yell it from across the room since he wouldn't walk over to us & so I just said please don't put any jalapenos on our sandwich..

I never said anything about my brother or put some on one half-only said to not put headcheese on his half of the 12 inch sub but I guess he took so long chatting w/the favored ones. he forgot my order..I overheard him say to others he didnt keep track of eveyone's order so maybe he didnt write it down but should if he cant remember it for the 1/2 it takes him 2make the sandwich...so rather than admitting to any errors on his service/order taking, he chose 2yell at me &say lies, mean things & deny what I asked 4 as maybe he was cared I would ask for another one & he would lose money or something.

As far as water, I did not say give me water now or where's my frickin water I just held up my cup slightly (one inch off table) 2 indicate can u get me some water when u have time..who the hell has not done that before..

how else are u going tell the server if he 1) NEVER comes to the table (except to bring food) AND THEN NEVER RETURNS.

I did not need the knife till I found out bread was so hard I could not bite it
I did not need the ladle until I realized minutes after he left it was not in the big bowl

I did not need water till I ran out after 45 minutes of trying to make it stretch as I had observed he never came over or looked at us seemingly on purpose...

and 2) he never looks your way or maybe even actively ignores you on purpose to please his preferred customers he wants/chats w/so nicely.

How bout some equal treatment? My moneys just as good as theirs & we ordered a lot but then we were only 2people both owners spent 98% of their time with these 3 tables of customers they knew and 2% of the time for the 3 tables containing the 2 of is and 2 single diners --1 of them Asians (asians say they get bad service_..he never went once2 Asian women &only once 2another women yet stayed at 1 of 3 favored tables maybe 45 to 50% percent of the time they were there..they were barely ever alone-these diners...thats ok u have other servers 2get the requests 4napkins etc or fill water but when ur all thats there its not fair2other paying customers as no time left 4 the most minimal of requests during the time he was actively ignoring us ..while we had to patiently wait unable2eat till he finally looked our way after a long, long time. then he acts like we're wrong when the customers he says I am not the only customers have him there 50% of their time there...while we have not one visit he made on his own in over an hour. this owner is selfish not me.
I cant remember everything he did after he chastised me so harshly that I started to cry while he stayed angry/rude despite my obvious state of distress

I said I only came here as everyone said you were so nice & ur so rude 2 me (unprovoked I might add) & he loudly said "I AM nice" oh yes nice when ur insulting me & treating me like a bad little kid when Im a senior citizen.

Then he said what do you want-- what do you want --he practically screamed at me...probably said this2claim he offered 2get me something-- what could I say he had now brought the water, refused2give me any sauce & not apologized for putting very hot peppers on my salad, peppers I was told not 2at by my doctor. Then he left all pissed off. All I could think was get the heck out of here away from this guy w/o manners who has completely upset us both2the max.

I sat there stunned telling bro, I could not believe how he just treated me & expressing to him how upset I was. I saw the guy lingering nearby watching me & eavesdropping trying 2 hear what I was saying & then he came back & said "is there a problem here...is there a problem here..I think there's is a problem here in such a tone that indicated he was angry w/me for reacting to his horrible, uncalled for & stunning bad behavior like he was going throw us out or call the police even though we were talking in normal voices not loud or anything.

He apparently overheard me say he was horrible & I was leaving a bad review & that prompted him to come over there &really get mad as he knew we wont be coming back His offer of service came far2late. Ill never tell anyone 2go here lest they happen to be the ones on his bad side..that is new customers or outsiders who encroach upon his time giving top notch service to half the restaurant while berating and ignoring the other half. why even take other customers if you want to ignore then while giving not just the lion's hare to those you know but 98% of your time. I am not gonna pay for being insulted and disrespected like that...not ever again. I will stick with the two Asian restaurants we go to often nearby who treat me like they want me there and are friendly and nice in reality not just in fake acts to gain more business.

Let me state I was not raising my voice or saying this stuff loud just talking to the person with me to vent how I felt as I could not eat then. who wants to stay in a hostile, prejudiced environment like that.

I was not done eating but whispered to my relative, I was scared to even ask for a box now as he might start something again..he was obviously crazy when he did not like you..it is odd too as I have had several hundred people tell me how sweet and nice I am and generally, I treat others as I would like to be treated and am very kind but I am a reactor/..treat me like dirt and I will react.

then oddly the woman suddenly appeared with boxes AND check as if he told her to try to get us out of there...well happy to leave and for the first time in my life I did not tip this person. Not only was it horrible service very very slow and inattentive, but actually rude and hostile and scary and just a blankety blank you know what . I asked the male with me should we tip this guy after that and he said no way he was awful and I will never come back here.

We could not get out of there fast enough and I did not get to eat a lot of the food

Though the male owner personally escorted and said goodbye to everyone leaving, we were ignored. As the door shut I heard the lady said thank you or something. At least may have really been nice unlike this man who acted like an immature teenager.

This nice guy act is apparently a calculated act to get business as the place itself is in a shady area of town as others mentioned and has a bad ambiance and so little lighting that one could pass it as I had many times never realizing it was there, so few are going to just stop in..he gets his business from internet comments so being nice really pays off but no one who is really nice would be so rude to someone just for asking for a water refill..the man also made my cry he was so harsh, unapologetic and rude to me. It so unjust and I am a sensitive senior who is not used to people treating me like that in a restaurant..noone ever was so rude..they might be slow on the water or something but to say something like that to me unprovoked and all was just stunning especially when the reviews are so full of his so called sweetness or maybe it is selective sweetness as other races and first time customers have noted. I would not doubt a lot of these comments come from the owners and their relatives just to draw people into a place they most likely would never go to much.

I came exclusively for the owners kind and caring treatment of their customers and warmth I'd read about and the food secondarily and both disappointed a lot. this guy showed who he really is to me and I feel sorry for his wife when he goes on these tirades...

Over a normal request for water, he thinks he can read all these things about my intentions or personality..I had a medical need for water on top of it..if one of the kids he was fawning over asked for anything, he would fall over himself getting it but for us, it was like who the heck needs you...what kind of restaurant was this anyway..give me normal servers who at least act with some common sense over people who spend so much time on people they like and none on people they don't...neither of which probably earned either the good or the bad treatment. Just so prejudicial. If he wants a private club why does he not open one and not act like a restaurant.

I was upset about it for hours...he had ruined the day I thought would be so great. I love this kind of food and the building itself held very positive personal memories for me as me and my son ate Chinese food here every Sunday after church a few decades ago or took it to the park and warm are the memories of this time for me when it was under another management and the food then was so good way back then.

This made me say to my relative let's really enjoy this meal as we ordered a lot more than normal just cause we were anticipating a warm reception from the staff and excellent food..the food was ok but who can enjoy it when it is sitting there getting cold while you wait for many many long minutes for a knife, a ladle and water till you can eat...it was over an hour till we had the things we needed to eat everything which is ridiculous and were so upset we had to leave before I could eat it all so had to eat it cold and leaking out of the bag so this dining experience was one of the worst ever. And never in my life have I been treated so bad by someone who was not a relative :)

I am glad I try not to generalize as this experience could have soured me on Asian people in general. Most people do generalize but the Cambodians I knew so well for 15 years, were some of the sweetest people on earth..I would rather be with people genuinely sweet and nice than pretenders who do it for money any day like this guy does.
Yes he may be sweet to you but he also has a rude side that excuses his own missteps as an owner and waiter, which he projects on others..and as others point out he can treat some customers differently than others and new customer as less than his old ones.

I had every intention originally to come often as I like Asian food and live close by. I had even told several relatives who I know like Thai and other Asian food about the glowing reviews and they should try it and now I will email then and tell then to never ever go here as a personal favor to me and certainly I wont give him any of my money or business as he does not value gaining new customers nor word or mouth referrals unless it is from the customers he favors.

What a rude and prejudice guy...what kind of person cannot even admit they made a big error on your order. This might have harmed me if I had an allergy or something. I hate hot peppers...

What kind of restaurant has no sauce or dressing but extremely spicy ones and will not accommodate you at all when you cannot eat it and ignores you for an hour and only comes when you finally get his attention by motioning him over and then gets mad at you essentially implying strongly with his rude comments that you are a self centered person caring only for yourself where you have helped thousands of people in your life and have been told you have a heart of gold by hundreds of people..I don't go to restaurants to get insulted and heartburn. Let him call me selfish...I know I am very selfless for 60 plus years. How dare this pipsqueak.

I used to feel sad whenever I passed this building I had sentimental attachments for that it was closed now I will pass it and feel sorrow it is not closed and that such a person as this feels he is the sweetest guy alive when he gave the world's worst service to new customers ordering several things just for asking for water and pointing out he put jalapeno peppers on your sandwich which could have and did hurt you only to have him lie and said you said to put them on which is an utter untruth.

It is a shame that a man with the ability apparently to make others feel welcome and accepted blew that over a request for water cause we were not the ones he spent 50% of the time they were there with favored customers and no time on us even to just bring a few simple items. What a shame his huge ego made him lose customers. this man thinks he is infallible and the customer is always wrong...

They treated me much better at Erawan Thai which is not far from here..the Pho was way better there and the spring rolls, they have additional sauces if one is too hot and spicy, the decor/ambiance is much better. they alter the meal as you request, don't put things on there you ask them not to and open the door for you when you leave especially if handicapped and are into treating you like gold..who needs indochine when you have a better restaurant much closer..

the family garden at refugee and Hamilton treat us so kind no matter what we order each and every time and are genuinely happy to see you and kind when this guy says that to me...wth?

Why would I ever want to go here when I could get service a million times better and food so wonderful at a place closer to me than go here and be treated like something on his egomaniac shoes. and I thought Asians were polite and well mannered to seniors...I guess that is only when they are in their country. well at least this guy who may be an atypical Asian although I have seen a couple male Asian restaurant owners who were pretty rude.

Here at Indochine, they are kind to those they think will make them the most money or whatever standards they use for their selective niceness. a truly nice person will be nice to everyone. they will not treat Asians differently or new comers. I would rather go to fast food where we are all treated the same than to a place where the owners think some people are more deserving of good service than others. I suppose in their minds it was all payback for using their toilet the day before and not ordering carryout but choosing to come back and experience their hospitality in person.. I am so glad I did and saw what they were like before I went back again and spent more of my money here before I found out.
I could have seen it if we had been loud, obnoxious, rude or in some manner deserving of being talked to like that but I did nothing but patiently wait till I finally got his eye.

It wasn't till my relative said he overheard them say he (my dinermate) felt entitled to use the bathroom without ordering and now he gets to if he orders that they already had us sized up according to their bizarre standards and maybe did all this on purpose who knows...,maybe they cannot be so nice to others for money and have to vent their anger onto innocent people= trying to eat their dinner.

Had they brought standard silverware and more than one napkin like all the other hundreds of restaurants we have eaten at and looked over at least once every 30 minutes for water needs , none of this would have happened but their service was extremely negligent and their attitude worst than school yard bullies.

I never dreamed going to eat would lead to being yelled at/insulted by some guy I did not know for being thirsty...I tried to drink the water very slowly when I saw how bad the service was and how the guy ignored us in favor of people he spent so so much time with but eventually I ran out of water in large part due to the very hot food they brought that I did not request.

He has a lot of nerve to blame me for his errors in being a good businessman/waiter...if they are too busy to give even rudimentary service in order to spend huge amounts of time joking with their favored customers (and note there were 4 people who were ignored completely not just us) then why don't you hire servers to take care of ALL customers needs and then you can joke around with your favored people and the ones not favored can at least get silverware and water. Too cheap I guess.