“Hello, kamusta (how are you)? Long time, no see!” the old waiter at Nha Trang Restaurant on Baxter Street greeted us on entry.

He’s not Filipino but greets all Pinoys this way, and if you chat him up on why he knows how to say masarap (tasty), he will tell you that he lived in a Vietnamese refugee camp in the Philippines for quite a while. We’ve been coming to Nha Trang for over a decade and personal touches like this are hard to ignore.

That’s not to say the food doesn’t deserve credit. Other than Nicky’s, Nha Trang’s pho is among the tastiest we’ve found in the city, and the have perfected the use of half-cooked beef slices that melt in the mouth.

Other favorites here include their grilled porkchop and hollow vegetables (kangkong, says the old man).

That evening we opted for pho and fried squid, cut nicely and deep-fried and set on vegetables.
Nha Trang Restaurant has been as reliable as the old man’s hello at the door.