First Look: Indochine Bistro Brings New Life to Old Green Papaya Location

Green Papaya in Oak Lawn went through a few iterations, from a Vietnamese restaurant to a plant-forward vegan spot by the same name before finally closing last fall. Chef Michael Huynh and new owner Jessica Vo have joined forces in yet another rebirth and reimagining at this location, this time as Indochine Bistro. It's a place that promises East Asian flavors of traditional dishes along with modern takes — all infused with French flavors.
The mood is set when you enter, with French '60s-era songs emanating from the sound system, filling the casual-yet-elegant space with music that you might have heard in a Saigon bar while on leave from Khe Sahn — if Apocalypse Now is accurate at all.
We started with a couple of cocktails, a sesame colada and a Vietnamese coffee martini, the latter because for some reason we were in the mood for an espresso martini. The sesame colada is made with lime juice and simple syrup with a sesame seed mix on top. The coffee martini is a take on traditional Vietnamese coffee complete with the requisite sweetened condensed milk. Both were fresh and brought a palatable new twist on old standards.

The appetizers are broken down into rolls, salads, chilled and hot. We got some crab spring rolls and chili escargot from the roll and hot section, respectively. The spring rolls came three to an order and were composed of pork, shrimp, lettuce and herbs along with some dipping sauce. No mention of crab other than in the title, but the rolls were definitely meat-centric. Other roll options include mushroom spring rolls, shrimp summer rolls and pan-seared beef dumplings.
The escargot arrived on a traditional serving plate along with several slices of toasted baguette. These were in a rich and flavorful curry-centric sauce, and they did not skimp on the escargot: there were easily a dozen of them, each divot in the plate housing more than one. There were plenty, but within a few minutes the escargot was escar-gone.

Next, an order of Tom Yum chicken wings, with about three flats and drumettes. Sticky-sweet, crispy-spicy, these were full of satisfying texture and flavors and came with a dipping sauce that we found unnecessary.
Finally, we rounded off the lunch with the clay pot ginger chicken. This came in an earthenware pot with a generous side of cucumber, bean sprouts and carrots and a bowl of steamed rice. The pot was jam-packed with white meat chicken, with shallot, fish sauce, coconut juice and a plethora of hard-boiled quail eggs rounding it all out, the broth and rice making a nice medley.

Other menu items piqued our interest such as grilled lemongrass lamb chops and spicy lao sausage (both appetizers), barbecue shrimp salad, stir-fried Thai eggplant, shaken dish with choice of protein, Saigon-style pork chops, grilled Lao ribeye and several fish entrees that include whole red snapper, Bangkok-style fried crispy fish and lupe de mer fillet. We’ll be back, and maybe sit on the outdoor patio next time.

Indochine Bistro, 3211 Oak Lawn Ave. Monday – Thursday, 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon – 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon – 10 p.m.