By Lucinda Frye
The mention of a newly opened Vietnamese restaurant during conversation over a delicious breakfast, lead me to "Cam Ranh Bay" for dinner. Always on the lookout for a new place to try, it is often a mission to locate the new place but, in this case, my breakfast companion had the restaurant's card so it was easy to call and book.
The name has such a nice ring to it, I thought, as my dining companion and I found the first of the street signs in Concordia. We, in actual fact, found our way in the maze of streets directly to the location, but others who joined us had some difficulty in finding Cam Ranh Bay in the dark.
"It is important to approach them from the turn off at the gendarmerie; head straight on up past the turn off to the 'radiology' and the art shop and keep on going up until you see the first sign pointing left...follow the signs."
Availability of parking is not bad, as opposite the restaurant is a parking bay.
The restaurant is aside a building that looks like a small hotel. The tables are set out in a large courtyard with a few plants in pots and the ubiquitous Asian decorations hanging from the rafters. There is a high wall surrounding the courtyard on the street side on top of which is a tarpaulin curtain which was obligingly pulled closed for us, as we were there on one of the coldest and windiest nights.
We were warmly welcomed by a delightful Vietnamese man who spoke little English. As he showed us to our table, he told us his name is "Wan." (This made me laugh, as a friend has just returned from Bali and, in relating her stories, tells us that over there everyone seemed to be called Wan.) He did say that his French name is David and his wife's name is "Wa" but in French, it is Fleur. His wife gained a cooking diploma in Vietnam. His story came out as he served us during the course of the evening. And what a story; it is amazing how other people's lives take different courses to ours and then we all end up on sunny St. Maarten/St. Martin.
Cam Ranh Bay, where Wan hails from, is a beautiful bay in Vietnam, located at an inlet of the South China Sea on the south eastern coast, and is considered the finest deepwater shelter in Southeast Asia. The bay has been significant from a military and navy standpoint with the French, Russian and Japanese basing there before the Americans arrived during the Vietnam War. After the Americans left, the area became too hot to stay and Wan left on a boat for the Philippines. From there, he made his way to Paris. Eventually, he returned to his home village to fetch his wife-to-be and, on returning to Paris, they opened a successful restaurant called Cam Ranh Bay, evident by the menus we were given to choose our meal from.
Deciding to venture to a French territory for a change of scenery, this lovely family has made its home here in St. Martin and opened up another restaurant with the same name. They cater to those who want take-outs as well as a special buffet once a month. This buffet seems to be a really good deal. Do phone and find out about the next one; they need reservations up to three days beforehand as it is quite popular.
Of course, my dining companion and I had to try a starter or two before the rest of our guests arrived – they were after all driving around looking for us; having not followed our simple directions. So we devoured dumplings (called chicken croissants) Nems and steamed dumplings along with a very passable Rose.
For our main meal, we all ordered duck. Some of us ordered the Roast Duck, which was exceptionally good, and others of us ordered "stir duck with Vietnamese sauce" and "ginger stir duck." The mains came with a choice of rice or noodles. As usual, we all tried everyone's dish – eating family style is always fun in restaurants like this one. Our meal ended on a sweet note; apple fritters with vanilla ice cream.
We all enjoyed the meal very much and enjoyed talking to Wan who is keen to practice his English – we should have been practicing our French!
Cam Ranh Bay is located in Rue L-C Fleming, Concordia. Open for lunch from 11:00am to 2:00pm and from 6:30 to 10:00pm for dinner. Buffet is once a month. Call 0 690 774728.
