Just yards from Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral the lovely April 30th Park sits an airy café perfect for an agreeable stop whether it is breakfast, lunch, or a simple snack and coffee on noisy afternoons. Housed in a charming colonial building with original cement tiles and old window frames, Au Parc is by no doubt one of the most elegant restaurants in one of ${bigcity_Ho_Chi_Minh_City:"Ho Chi Minh City"}'s most historic areas.

With high ceilings, deco tile floors, and terracotta-topped tables, this restaurant-café has a distinctly European ambience with a touch of Mediterranean art. It’s not a surprise, though, as the place is owned by a French expat, Noelle Carr-Ellison. There are tables on the sidewalk outside the eatery facing the park.

The place offers three separate areas - two of which are non-smoking. The ground floor is always a bit more crowded than upstairs. Upstairs is divided into two dining rooms (smoking and non-smoking). The non smoking room has vibrant Moroccan atmosphere with yellow walls, domes and colorful cushions. Paintings featuring middle eastern ladies are hung on the wall. It is on the second floor where the best view in the area can be enjoyed. The big glass wall-window displays the park's giant old trees and the grass below, Saigon's most prestigious tree lined street.

From afar, the motorbikes are almost swallowed by the park's small forest of trees allowing diners to enjoy quiet afternoons in the café reading or writing, or just enjoy a moment of peace.

A variety of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern plates and mezze round out the all-day menu. They are serious about the term Mediterranean here, they don't just mean Southern France and Italian delicacies, their diverse menu includes cuisine from Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, France, Italy and Greece.

These diverse flavors are offered at reasonable prices. You can choose a two courses menu (VND190,000) or a three-course menu (VND230,000). Among the popularly ordered plates include lentil salad with roasted tomatoes and feta cheese, sea bass with fennel confit couscous and petit pois. On top of their excellent sandwiches, many come for their hummus served with crudites, grissini and flat bread, and their fresh tuna salad with wasabi and ginger mayonnaise on bagel. Their desserts are for the most part winners. Their carrot cheesecake, chocolate nemesis cake and earl grey-flavored crème brulee are simply adoring.

Costs are truly reasonable. A Greek salad with roasted tomatoes and feta can be ordered for VND87,000-side, VND130,000-main; a marinated lamb with chickpea salad with lemon-coriander-olive, oil dressing costs VND210,000; while a lahmacun-Turkish pizza with chopped salad and cucumber yoghurt sauce is priced at VND68,000..

Location-wise, ambience and cost-wise, Au Parc is arguably the most popular expatriate joint in the city. Located at 23 Han Thuyen Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Au Parc has been open since February 2003.