Some secrets should be kept; and this restaurant, which serves Vietnamese cuisine with a reserved balance, might be one of them. On several visits to this elegant, almost austere villa, the Spanish restaurant downstairs was full; diners nibbled on tapas plates, sopped up puddles of squid ink with crusty bread or sat at the bar, sipping a perfect manhattan as Ella crooned in the background. But the Vietnamese dining room lay empty, and we talked over the jazz with barely a whisper as clinking wine glasses and hungry chopsticks echoed off the hardwood.

Le Garcon Chinois’ Vietnamese menu is large, covering noodle dishes and crispy pancakes from Hue, Hanoi classics like cha ca (fish dusted with tumeric and fried with dill), and dishes from the south which utilize coconut, pineapple and other flavors from the tropics. There is a pho, the beef noodle staple of the Northern capital, many variations on the spring roll and enough cold salads to merit several summer visits. And while not everything is perfect (some things tend to err on the sweet side), each dish’s subtlety seems to enhance the next, and after the meal you don’t remember one great dish but a rather a succession of very good ones.

Crisp spring rolls are actually served with a pile of herbs to wrap them in; fried chicken is enhanced with the heady fragrance of lemon leaf; sour fish soup is flecked with dill and filled with pineapple, tomato and firm fish. Combine the strengths of the kitchen with a solid wine list and remarkably good service, and you’ve got the makings of a memorable meal. The secret’s yours.