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KOTO Restaurant Hanoi

Lunch at KOTO Restaurant

KOTO Restaurant In Hanoi


KOTO Restaurant is located at 61 Van Mieu St., Hanoi, Vietnam

 

KOTO Restaurant:This is a very special restaurant, run by the kids many tourists hate. The only restaurant next to the Temple of Literature, it should not be missed for a lunch or breakfast. The story began with an Australian tour leader who befriended some street kids and decided to teach them to cook. A year later, an international chef, an enthusiastic staff and a group of keen learners opened the KOTO, "Know One Teach One," Restaurant. Guided by Australian teachers, these street kids produce great results. Their buffet breakfasts, pesto salads and fresh fruit juices come highly recommended. Property Information by Wcitie

 

KOTO Restaurant Reviews:


Good food of good people by Giapfriend yahoo.com
I've been there sometimes as I was a tour guide, it is very good place near the Temple of Literature, KOTO means Know One Teach One, was setled of some good men to help poor children. You can come there, enjoy the very good food and support for them. I do hope that there will be many restaurants like that to help more Vietnamese children.


Outstanding food and service by BetsyHK - tripadvisor.com
Wide variety of freshly prepared Asian and Western dishes. The menu is creative with many healthy choices. Food is delicious and the service is attentive. The restaurant is part of an NGO that takes young adults from the streets and trains them to work in the food service industry. The restaurant is in a building with multiple floors - if one is full, just keep going up until you find a free table. Visit the Temple of Literature and the Craft Link store while you're in the neighborhood. Highly recommended!


Excellent Food, but Not Much for Ambience by Johann&Sandra - tripadvisor.com:

We visited here as part of a private tour, and upon entering, we were kind of rolling our eyes. We had requested a non-touristy local place (no tour buses) for lunch, and when we walked in here, we saw nothing but white faces, all sitting at tiny tables with a booth on one side and chair on the other, typical chain restaurant style. Groan... Little did we know at the time, we were in for a surprise! We ordered the set menu for lunch (rather our guide ordered for us) which again we were not happy about, as we typically don't like set menus, but we were pleasantly surprised as every single part of the set menu was great. It all tasted so fresh, flavorful, and delicious! We ordered their special iced tea, which was great, and were limited only by the size of our stomachs. The service was very good as well, we were very happy - with every dish, our eyebrows raised in surprise as a whole new taste entered our palette. The ala carte orderings others were getting looked even better than ours! You can read the other reviews to read about the cause and their non-profit organization, but regardless of their very nice charitable endeavors, this was just plain a great meal.


Great experience by spannaAustralia - tripadvisor.com
We really needed a steak for a break in our noodles/rice diet. they cooked beautiful food with great flavor and presentation. It also supports such a wonderful cause - they are a non-profit organisation that helps to train street kids and give them a career. We were glad we make the trek across town to dine here. It is a little more pricey than other places we ate.


Great place! by A Yahoo! Contributor - yahoo.com

I really liked the place; the ambiance as well as the situation near the Temple of Literature. And according to me, the food was more than just good, it was excellent. Also the kids were very neat and tidy, so I dont see any point to complain lacking hygiene. Of course the service isnt perfect, as the kids are not yet prfessionals, but they are taking their job very serious and I think theyre doing great. If I ever come to Hanoi again, I will certainly visit the KOTO restaurant again and I absolutely recommend it to everybody.
A really great place to have a meal!!


I love KOTO by A Yahoo! Contributor - yahoo.com
I love the whole idea of this little place, it is entirely charity funded and employs streetkids and youngsters (16-22) from dissadvantaged backgrounds. The food and service are just amazing and the price is great. The current restaurant is looking a bit tired, however they are so popular they are about to move to a much bigger one this year! A huge success, the brightest light in all of Vietnam.


Excellent - must eat here when in Hanoi by Ellce - tripadvisor.com
This was a delicious meal and a wonderful cause! We really enjoyed the food, atmosphere and the staff were lovely. Not overpriced either.


New Hope for the Kids of Hanoi

Report From a Volunteer in Vietnam By Michele Peterson - transitionsabroad.com

If you’re like most travelers to Hanoi your first contact with locals will probably be one of the many children selling postcards on the streets of the Old Quarter. They’re swift-footed and charming—and know just enough in each language to make almost every visitor feel welcome. But there’s a dark side to their world.

“I used to give to children on the street—the most needy ones, the ones with babies on their backs,” says Bridget, a New Zealander who has worked with Intrepid Tours in Vietnam for the past 16 months. “But then I found out the truth. Many of those “baby brothers or sisters” are rented in order to generate extra sympathy. Then they are drugged to keep them quiet.”

Bridget has found another option: a stop at KOTO restaurant.

KOTO is also a school that provides hospitality training for children working on the streets of Vietnam. Founded in 1996 by Jimmy Pham, an Australian of Vietnamese origin, it is a registered Australian charity that aims to help children by providing them with skills and a job placement to leave street life behind. Through a training program involving theoretical and practical skills development as well as essential life skills, each of the 40 KOTO trainees has an opportunity to develop in a culture of trust and teamwork and is supplied with a training allowance, meals, medical insurance, and language lessons.

While in Hanoi last spring I visited the 80-seat restaurant, located across from the Temple of Literature in the Old Quarter, which serves a breakfast buffet as well as lunch and dinner.

“Many of us face a dilemma when we travel to a developing country,” said Pham, who continues to be actively involved in KOTO’s growth. “Faced with such poverty, we feel compelled to do something. But you need to understand that many kids make so much money from begging, that they can’t afford to go to school. And as their ‘cuteness’ factor fades they must resort to more lucrative and dangerous activities.”

“As I got older my street bosses gave me worse and worse areas,” confirmed Nguyen, a KOTO trainee who was born in a village in northern Vietnam and lived on the streets of Hanoi for several years. Now ready to graduate from the program, he has been promised a job at a major hotel. Full of confidence and hope for the future, he joked, “Maybe you hire me in Canada some day.”

Demand by street kids like Nguyen is far outstripping the school’s current capacity. Fortunately, travelers can help in many ways:

“Spread the word and encourage dining at KOTO,” says Pham. “Second, if you have skills in training, management, or the hospitality industry, talk to us about volunteering your time to work at KOTO. Or take a look at our wish list of items needed for donation.”

According to Street Kids International, there are over 100 million children living and working on the streets around the world. By supporting alternatives like KOTO, we can do a little to give them options.

KOTO Restaurant is located at 61 Van Mieu St., Hanoi, Vietnam; (84-4) 7470337, kotohanoi@koto.netnam.vn, www.streetvoices.com.au.

 

 

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