Month: July 2018

The American BBQ that won Vietnamese over: Quan Ut Ut in Ho Chi Minh City

I still remember when Quan Ut Ut opened in March 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City taking over a multi-story building previously occupied by a seafood restaurant. It was an instantaneous hit. Locals would queue for an hour outside the restaurant, defying the heat and the rain, to get a table. At that time you could see the head cook Mark Gustafson grilling ribs and sausages on the walkway in front of the entrance.

For this reason, it took me a while to try it. I truly enjoyed all of my visits (usually early in the evening to avoid the big crowd… you probably do not have to wait one hour nowadays, but it can get full pretty quickly). And when I think of Quan Ut Ut I cannot avoid marveling at the fact that while one restaurant can become crazily successful others, even if very similar, cannot pass the one-year mark.

I have recently been back and learnt that a minority stake of Quan Ut Ut (that meantime expanded to include a second location and another brand, BiaCraft) was recently acquired by a investment-fund backed Vietnamese restaurant operator, Red Wok Cuisine. This means that the brand is likely to expand in other cities and locations. Hopefully, they will be able to maintain the same standards. For sure, it makes a great entrepreneurial story.

The visit

I visited the original location in Vo Van Kiet street and headed to the first floor. Two big changes: first, now they are open for lunch; second, now the upper floor has windows and air conditioning. This is truly appreciated. The rest was the same: spartan park-style seating, pork miniatures and silhouettes everywhere to remind the core business (“ut ut” denotes the onomatopoeic sound of the pig in Vietnamese, like oink oink in English), the menu printed on a paper cover. The staff speaks English and was very professional (they even tried to talk me out ordering a big platter all for myself… very nice of them).

I ordered one of their combo platters, named the Meat Sweats, including 4 Memphis style ribs, one big pork sausage, 300 grams of brisket, corn, green beans and slaw.

The brisket was good, very tender and I could taste the smoke (if it is even possible). I still prefer the one at TNT BBQ however.

This was the first time I tried Memphis ribs. This is a type of dry rib that is treated with a “rub” powder in which paprika is the most distinctive flavor. I am not able to judge whether they were authentic or perfectly executed, but I appreciated that the ribs were tender, well cooked and meaty. I did not enjoy the paprika flavor that much.

The sausage was ok.

In the past I enjoyed more another of their big platter, the BBQ Sampler that includes rib tip, pork shoulder, smoked chicken. Also, their signature cashew smoked pork ribs that I had in the past would have been a better choice.

Their menu keeps expanding and they also sport cacao-smoked ribs and pineapple smoked lamb shoulder.

The check

The platter was 600,000 VND. In total I spent 630,000 VND (including an iced tea) as their prices are inclusive of 10% VAT and service (chapeau). That’s 27 USD for a lunch that could have satisfied two people. I call this very reasonable.

By the way, Quant Ut Ut is definitely a place to try in a group where you can share multiple dishes.

While the involvement of a restaurant group worries me a little bit, what I found in July 2018 was still the old Quan Ut Ut and as such has my recommendation. Also, I cannot disagree with them:

You are what you eat. We have what you are.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
168 Võ Văn Kiệt.
Pro-tip I: They do not take reservations. Go early! Go for lunch or be there before 6pm to enhance your chances to get a table right away.
Pro-tip II: They have some very reasonably priced lunch sets. Check their Facebook page for updated information.

 

All the flavor of Vietnamese food at Cuc Gach Quan in Ho Chi Minh City

I kind of forgot how good and tasty Vietnamese food can be until I recently came back to Cuc Gach Quan. I discovered the restaurant I believe back in 2011 and it was already very popular, one of the few restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, along with Pizza 4P’s, where a reservation is in order. Shortly after, Hollywood celebrity couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had lunch in the restaurant during one of their humanitarian trips to Vietnam. At that point securing a table became very difficult! For this reason I stopped going (I hate competition when it comes to eating).

The restaurant was started by architect Tràn Bình in 2009 with the aim to recreate a family environment, like at his grandmother’s house, where guests could enjoy traditional Southern “countryside” food.

The visit

My most recent visit took place on a weekend in July 2018. I booked over the phone the night before. The receptionist spoke English and booking was not a problem.

The restaurant is located in a residential area called Tan Dinh at the margins of District 1. It is a nice area not yet gentrified (no Family Marts or Circle K there!). If you have a chance, take a walk.

A view of the entrance.

Across the street they have another facility that they call “Party” mainly used to host corporate events or large groups.

As you can see from the pictures above, the interior is very nicely decorated with vintage furniture and objects. The feeling is very intimate. Each table has its own character.

The ritual began as always with the massive menu (they have both a Vietnamese and an English version). Vegetables, meat, seafood, you name it… they have so many choices. Be aware that usually their bring only one menu since in Vietnam it is customary to have one person to order for all the party.

The sight of the table full of food was a bit moving. I felt like being in someone’s home and not in a restaurant.

This fried tofu was super delicious. We finished it in a second.

The prawns in coconut juice broth were a simple dish, but again so tasty. I even ate the onion as the sauce was irresistible.

Anther simple dish, squid, made delicious by the sauce, this time based on tamarind.

The deep fried fish with fish sauce cannot be missed in a Vietnamese family meal. This is river fish. Not that meaty, but again, the flavor was remarkable.

Another must-eat: a soup with clams, dill and tomato.

Somebody wanted some beef!

My friend ordered these soft shell crabs specifically for me. She knew I crazy about them. These are the best I had in Vietnam for a long time. The key is that they are only lightly fried, as opposed to those I had at TIB Restaurant for example.

The check

The feast cost us 1,115,000 VND (prices displayed on the menu are inclusive of 10% VAT and no service charge is added, thanks!). That’s around 48 USD for a meal that satisfied four people. That’s an incredible value for money considered the quality of the food, in my opinion much better than the food at TIB Restaurant for example. Just to make a comparison: at TIB one soft shell crab cost me around 270,000 VND, here I spent 250,000 for two.

For once, this was a restaurant that lived up to its reputation and the success did not mess things up. That they are popular is hardly surprising: the food is incredibly delicious and the able use of tamarind, coconut, passion fruit and other Vietnamese “countryside” condiments turn even the simpler food into a mouth-watering dish; the location has character and it is intimate; the price point is very honest. I must add that the service was good; I had some bad experiences in my first visits, I guess they improved this department.

These reasons make Cuc Gach Quan one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
10 Dang Tat, Ward Tan Dinh, District 1
Pro-tip I: check their website to get an idea of the different seating arrangements available and when you book try to specify where you wish to seat. Warning: the stairs to the second floor are very steep, if you have mobility issues, ask for a seat downstairs.
Pro-tip II: they also opened a Cafe located in 92 Thạch Thị Thanh. Be sure to go the right address! In the cafe they serve a very enticing set lunch (no menu, only the set lunch available). Staff in the cafe does not speak English.

Vietnamese fine dining with a backstory of unfulfilled love: TIB in Ho Chi Minh City

There is an interesting backstory to this restaurant. It has been repeatedly told by a Vietnamese friend that seems to be super sure about its accuracy. Admittedly, I did not find any corroboration online (but also nothing to falsify it). So maybe I am uncovering something new for the English-speaking web, or maybe not.

It goes like this. The restaurant was opened in 1993 by a very famous Vietnamese composer and song writer named Trịnh Công Sơn (deceased in 2001) and now run by his younger sister Tam. With the name of the venue, he meant to hint his love for singer Lê Hồng Nhung (born 1970), nicknamed Bong. Tib should stand for “toi ieu Bong” or “I love Bong”, where “ieu” is a variation of the most common “yeu”, “to love”. It was probably a love not meant to happen given the huge age gap between the two. Certainly, Nhung/Bong was regarded as a powerful interpreter of Son’s love songs so the two of them were in some kind of relation.

The restaurant quickly gained notoriety as a luxury interpretation of Hue food (Trịnh Công Sơn grew up in Hue, a historic city and former Vietnam’s capital). That was something relatively new a that time. In 2007 Tib was chosen by George W. Bush, then president of the United States, to host a dinner with the Australian Prime Minister during a visit to Vietnam.

The visit

Tib restaurant is tucked away in an alley of Hai Ba Trung Street and occupies what could have been an old Saigon patrician house. The decor, characterized by massive wooden furniture and old paintings hanged on the wall, is both classy and decadent. You are usually welcomed by a Vietnamese gentleman dressed like a butler and of course old Vietnamese love songs play in the background.

This review is based on their original location in Hai Ba Trung. They also operate a vegetarian restaurant in District 1 called Tib Chay (170 Tran Quang Khai Street) and a more informal eatery in Phu My Hung (100 Nguyen Luong Bang Street, Dist 7).

I recommend you to eat at Tib in a large group so you can share multiple dishes that are usually designed for sharing. This is what I had with two friends.

As an appetizer we had banh beo, that is some tiny rice pancakes with ground shrimp. They are supposed to be dipped in fish sauce and you can add some chilies. Honestly I would not recommend this appetizer, there are better choices in the menu. It is just not that tasty.


Then I could not avoid ordering a soft shell crab fried with garlic. These soft shell crabs are one of my favorite dishes in Vietnam, as you can eat everything of the crab. Sometimes the frying is overdone, but not in this case.

As customary for seafood dishes, you can dip them in a sauce of lime, salt and pepper (see picture above; they leave you the pleasure to squeeze the lime).

Another classic Vietnamese dish: a fish soup with tomato, herbs and a good quantity of white fish. There were no bones. It is an excellent dish to share and have with rice.

Somebody in the party really wanted a beef steak. Please do not order a beef steak in this kind of restaurant, really a waste when so many more interesting items are available!

We also ordered some pork ribs glazed in sweet (and sticky) fish sauce. A bit messy to eat, but a nice flavor combining different tastes.

The check

The dishes my small party had represent just a tiny selection from a very vast menu. Soups, fish, meat, vegetables, you name it. Tib has a lot of choices. Still, I hope that this review can give you an idea of how Vietnamese find dining can look like.

The check (handwritten…) reflects the fine dining concept. We spent a total of 1,298,000 VND (or 56 USD, that is less than 20 USD per person) that may seem extreme for Vietnamese food, but it seems reasonable for a fine dining venue.

Evidently, Tib suffers from a lot of competition nowadays in Ho Chi Minh City and they seem happy to continue to provide their traditional menu. If you want to jump back in time and have a “vintage” fine dining experience with classic Vietnamese dishes, Tib may just be the right place. But if you fancy a hipster decor and innovative dishes, you may want to look elsewhere.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
187 ter Hai Ba Trung, District 3.
They have a website, even if not necessarily up to date.

Eating on the Shinkansen: What you need to know about the ekiben

Japanese have a word to describe the lunch boxes for train trips: ekiben. Ekiben is a type of “boxed” (bento) take-away meal that is commonly sold at rail stations and airports. Ekiben were already popular in the 19th century; today they are mass produced in food processing facilities and combine two of the elements of a good Japanese meal: delicious food and nice presentation. I personally have very bad memories of meals consumed on trains in the US, Europe and China and I just try to avoid the experience. But when I am in Japan, I gladly incorporate an ekiben in my days on the road. Here’s a few examples from my trips.

The first one was advertised as the lunch box of the movie stars… found at Kyoto station on the way to Tokyo.

This specific ekiben sported a nice piece of marinated mackerel, a bite of unagi (fresh-water eel in its sauce), a piece of cutlet, and some other delicacies (a fish ball, a piece of fried tofu, etc.). And of course a good ration of rice.

Total price for this meal on the go, including a coke and a red been sweet (sold separately): 1,505 yen (around 13.55 USD). The ekiben alone was 1,010 yen, around 9 USD. As compared to overpriced meal options available in train stations and airports in other countries, not bad.

Here’s the unboxing of another ekiben (in my memory even better than the one described above):

This ekiben had a large portion of tonkatsu (pork cutlet), omelette, pickles, rice, even some spaghetti!

Finally a very nice ekiben consumed on the train between Hakodate and Sapporo for ony 980 yen (not even 9 USD):

Ekiben are my favorite cold lunch boxes in the world. If you happen to travel by train in Japan, arrive at the station a bit earlier to shop for an ekiben, so you will not miss the little joy to unpack it and consume its content.

My favorite sushi restaurant chain in Tokyo: Itamae Sushi

On a very famous review website that I shall not name there are over 97,000 restaurants listed in Tokyo. 97,000! Not a typo. Eating options are certainly not lacking in Tokyo, but finding a good place may be sometimes a challenge. Tokyo is the only city in Japan where, times to times, when I had not done enough research, I ended up with a less than satisfactory meal. For this reason let me share one everyday sushi eatery that has never let me down: Itamae Sushi. It is a chain, but they do not compromise on quality. It is well-known in Tokyo as, among other things, in the early 2000s they would systematically win the first tuna auction of the year at Tsukiji fish market (that is kind of a big deal as it is thought to bring good luck to the restaurant and it is widely reported by the media); in 2011 they were in the news again as they offered a sushi meal to over 1300 volunteers that were working in the aftermath of the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

For me they have two big pluses. First, they buy tuna and seafood directly from the auctions in Tokyo Fish Market and that’s great (sure, you can have comparably fresh seafood from a distributor, but I like when the supply chain is shortened). The other big plus for me is that they have a special focus on tuna (maguro), my favorite fish!

The visit

I usually go to Itamae Sushi in their Ginza Corridor branch. This post in based on a visit at the end of June 2018. Ginza Corridor is a foodie destination, in the South-West area of Ginza, hosting countless izakayas and Japanese and Westerner restaurants, pubs and cafes. Once I had a fugu dinner there! The restaurant is small, with counter seats and some additional table seats. It is ideal for a quick lunch.

The photo above showing their tuna mix sushi is the main reason why I go. For less than 20 USD I can get this amazing tuna platter, including regular tuna, two pieces of medium-fatty tuna (chu-toro) and one piece of the prized o-toro (fatty tuna). By the way, I am not that big on o-toro: yes, it melts in your mouth, but it is quite heavy to the point to be difficult to digest… the best for me is chu-toro.

The set also includes three rolls and an additional piece of negitori sushi, that is minced tuna in this case with scallions.

Coming with a complimentary miso soup (for lunch only), this is a very satisfactory lunch set and a great way to sample tuna. By the way, for dinner they keep the same menu, just not the free miso soup and a few other lunch set options.

The check

This great lunch cost me only 1,980 yen, that is around 18 USD. Tax included and no additional service charge. Great value for money and one of my go-to places for a quick but fresh and satisfactory lunch when in Tokyo.

PS: Of course they have much more on the menu. You can find all the typical sushi types and order single pieces or sushi combinations.

Where in Tokyo:
8-2-13 Ginza, J bldg 1F, Ginza, Chuo 104-0061
See their website for further addresses in Tokyo.
Pro-tip: time to time in some branches they have tuna cutting events where you can observe a chef skillfully cutting an entire tuna.

Melt-in-your-mouth brisket and more at TNT BBQ in Ho Chi Minh City (Closed)

Sadly we learnt that the restaurant closed at the end of September 2019. This is the message announcing the closure from the owners:

Vietnamese love BBQ and over the course of years a few solid American-style BBQ restaurants opened in Ho Chi Minh City. In my opinion, TNT BBQ is probably the best, certainly a favorite of mine. A few years ago they moved in a nice location just a couple of blocks from the central Ben Thanh market. I always try to stop by during my trips to Saigon.

The visit

TNT BBQ is tucked away in a quiet side street of Ly Tu Truong. They did a very nice job in decorating the place. The faux bricks wall, the “far west” memorabilia and the vintage posters create a cozy atmosphere.

They also have a wide assortment of craft beers if you are into that.

As you seat, you are welcomed with a plate of corn bread, dip sauce and a bottle of cold water. Free of charge. This is a great level of service in my books.

In my latest visit, I ordered 200 grams of their smoked beef brisket, a piece of their smoked chicken with signature sauce and a jalapeno sausage, plus a side dish (coleslaw). Above you can see what I got (and you can see that by the time I got my order I had almost finished the corn bread… so good). They also specialize in pork ribs and have pulled pork. I had the ribs in the past and they are also excellent.

Everything is delicious, but the brisket in my opinion stands out. It just melted in my mouth and the ratio between fat and meat is perfect to enhance the flavor but without killing it. According to their menu it is slowly cooked for 16 hours to get to this shape.

Special mention to their jalapeno sausages that are filled with cheddar cheese. I would not know where to find them anywhere else in Ho Chi Minh City. By the way, for some reason good sausages are rare in Asia, so if you like them, make sure to include at least one in your order.

The check

I liked every single bite of what I ordered. While the brisket stood up, the chicken and the sausage were also great specimen of good BBQ meat. Overall, I spent 390,000 VND (more than half, 210,000, for the 200 grams of brisket). That’s around 16.75 USD, what I regard as a reasonable price for the quantity and quality of what I received.

If you like original smoked meat in a nice environment, I highly recommend TNT BBQ. Bonus: I will also mention that, over the years, I found them incredibly fast and reliable in their delivery service.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
3 Dang Tran Con, District 1.
They have a Facebook page and offer delivery. 

Tasting the original Japanese hamburg steak in Saigon: Gyumaru

Japanese cuisine is immensely rich (it is not just sushi and sashimi!) and has been subject to many external influences (tempura is a legacy of the contact with the Portuguese for example). Along these lines, it should not come to a surprise that Japanese have developed their one version of the hamburger. It is called hambāgu and is quite different from the classic American hamburger: usually it has a softer texture and is enriched by various herbs. In Japan, an hamburger is often part of a quick set lunch. I have tested a few in Tokyo and Sapporo for example and I was left unimpressed. But luckily, I can satisfy my taste in Ho Chi Minh City in an authentic Japanese restaurant called Gyumaru Hamburger & Steak. Gyumaru is a small chain of restaurants that originated in Ureshino, a city located in the western part of Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. They also have locations in Nagasaki (read thee review of the Japanese location for a comparison!), Hiroshima and a few other small cities. The branch in Ho Chi Minh City is their only international presence. In Saigon, there is a sizable Japanese business community; my theory is that the owners of Gyumaru must have had a friend in HCMC that encouraged them to open a branch.

The visit

This review refers to their location in an alley of Le Thanh Ton, in the part that is known as Japan town. They also have a small restaurant in the basement level two of Takashimaya, but it has a different menu specializing in burgers only.

I have been a customer of theirs for years. Every time I am in HCMC I pay at least a visit. The reason is their namesake hamburger steak.

The set meal begins with a salad with their delicious dressing sauce.

They have a number of set menus for lunch that include a soup and a side of bread or rice. I chose the simple onion soup. But for a small additional fee, you can get their signature corn pie soup that comes covered with a layer of pastry.

In this meal I chose the simplest option: a plain hamburger steak with some vegetables (this is the 150 gram version, you can choose bigger sizes.

As you can see in the picture above, the hamburger is served sizzling hot on a cast iron plate. By opening it, you will see its juices being released. The meat is soft, tender and enriched in flavor by various herbs. Just great.

The menu includes a number of combos (with croquettes, my recommendation, with fried fish, with BBQ meat, etc…). They also have an hamburger with curry that is great if you like Japanese curry. I finally recommend to have a go once with their huge combo meat platter.

They claim their beef to be wagyu (the type of beef steak that gets marbled with veins of fat that enhance its flavor and tenderness thanks to a special diet administered to the cows). And you can also order a full-fledged wagyu steak for reasonable prices. Honestly I do not care. Wagyu is one of the biggest fad in fine dining right now and I have seen restaurants calling wagyu ordinary beef. What matters, is that the resulting hamburger is brilliant.

I have not dined in any of their Japanese locations, but by looking at their pictures online the offering in Ho Chi Minh City seems to be the same as in Japan. My impression is that they offer the real deal.

The check

This set lunch cost me 209,000 VND (or about 9 USD). I went for the cheapest set, but even the larger combos will not set you back for more than 15 USD or so.

I think that this is great value for money for a quality meal with premium ingredients and professional preparation according to Japanese standards.

I highly recommend Gyumaru for anyone who has not tried a real Japanese hamburger steak or for hamburger lovers in general.

Pro-tip: if you become a regular, take advantage of their point collection scheme (it used to be more generous, maybe too much, but it is still a nice kick-back).

Pro-tip 2: also I love that they keep a set of colored crayons on every table. They can be used to draw on their paper cover. Fun for your kids or for your inner child.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
8/3 Lê Thánh Tôn, Bến Nghé, District 1
(Another branch serving burgers only – not the dishes presented in this review based on hamburger steak – is located in the second basement level of Takashimaya)
Attention: at time of writing, the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. Check their Facebook page for Vietnam.

Italian fine dining at its best at Romeo and Juliet (R&J) in Ho Chi Minh City

For years I had a recurring line with friends asking me to comment on Italian food in Saigon: “In Ho Chi Minh City there are a lot of Italian restaurants, but not really Italian food”. The joke illustrated the problem. Even the places run by Italians would be plagued by problems with personnel turnover and I found them very inconsistent and not going beyond the level of everyday cuisine. I can now confidently say that there is an exception to this trend and it is Romeo and Juliet (R&J) lounge and restaurant. And it is not just run-of-the-mill Italian food, but bona fide high cuisine fine dining (a rarity with Italian food in Asia). If you ask me what is my top pick for Italian cuisine in HCMC, R&J is now my answer.

R&J is one of the eateries of the luxury Reverie Hotel located in Times Square, one of Saigon’s iconic buildings, towering on two of the main central thoroughfares, Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi. It features a heavily baroque dining room, but it is still intimate, with some booths for parties requiring privacy and the furniture is very comfortable.

Behind R&J, The Long and the other eateries of the Reverie and some sister properties there is a team mainly comprised of well-seasoned Italian chefs. Over the years I spoke, more than once, with their director, Giovanni, and I had a chance to speak to the new head chef of R&J, Enrico, that at the time of my visits had just overhauled the menu. Enrico hails from Capri, where he was working in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The visit(s)

I visited R&J twice in July 2018. On my first visit I opted for one of their two set menus, Juliet. This was a five-course menu and provided a good introduction to the venue. On my second visit, I tested one of their lobster-based seasonal dishes. On both occasions, food and service were outstanding.

Let’s see what I got during the first visit. The service started with the bread basket and an amuse bouche. The bread basket alone is worth the visit! They have half dozen varieties of bread, all based on the Italian tradition, including delicious fritters with seaweed called “zeppoline” in Naples. The amuse bouche was also inspired by the flavors of Naples, admittedly one of the culinary capitals of Italy, and consisted in a bite of amberjack (“ricciola”) surmounted by zucchini and lumpfish roe, cooked in olive oil. Just delicious.

The first dish was a burrata, on a base of tomato jelly and a piece of roasted tomato. Olive oil, oregano and basil completed the presentation. The burrata was imported from Italy and retained all of its flavor.

The second dish was an oyster on crème brûlée and salmon roe in a creamy and succulent fish soup. I wish soup was always so good.

With the third dish, the meal reached its seafood climax with a seafood risotto. This is a traditional Italian dish and there was a lot of seafood including prawns, squid, razor clams, a mussel and a clam.

The fourth dish was a slowly cooked piece of brisket (a cut that is not so common in Italy and it is a favorite of mine). The brisket came with a very rich dressing whose core element was mushrooms.

Finally, a very Italian dessert, a chocolate tortino and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This kind of cake is served hot and comes with a heart of melting chocolate. I could not ask for a better ending.

The gallery below shows the individual dishes.

On my second visit I ordered à la carte. I wanted to try one of their seasonal dishes based on lobster from Nha Trang, a Vietnamese coastal city. I ordered three dishes.

The amuse bouche was an interesting combination of white asparagus, beef, a quail egg and sea grape. With my first dish, I sampled Vietnamese and French oysters. The French oysters were more meaty but the Vietnamese oysters did not disappoint. If you are hungry for oysters in Vietnam, go local. Then I had their octopus, imported from Japan and pan-seared, enriched by a lemony potatoes salad, salmon roe, and tarragon. Then, my main course was a special type of pasta, called “scialatielli“. This fettuccine-like pasta is typical of modern Campanian cuisine and became popular in the Eighties. Its main characteristic is that is is made with milk instead of eggs and with the addition of basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan cheese. The result is a velvety texture and a melt-in-your mouth effect. Apart from the half lobster, the pasta was prepared according to a modified Nerano recipe (Nerano is a city in Campania, an Italy’s region): basil, zucchini and shallot confit. All in all, this was a majestic lobster pasta dish.

Finally, during my visits, I was offered a chance also to try two other dishes: their lamb and their brand new fagottini. The lamb chop, coming from a fee range farm, was juicy and tasty and came with two potato mille-feuilles and spinach. It is a must-have of the Italian culinary tradition. The fagottini was a brand new dish. Fagottini is a type of filled pasta. In this case filled with lobster meat, dressed with caviar and sea grapes and enriched by asparagus and an extract of prawn. It was an incredibly rich and satisfying dish.

The check(s)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first five-course dinner cost me 1,370,000 VND (around 60 USD), the second dinner with the lobster pasta cost me 1,492,000 VND (around 65 USD). I only had water, the cost of course can sensibly rise if you like a good wine pairing.

I found the pricing more than reasonable for what I got. In Vietnam this price point can be considered as luxury, but if you look at the wider region (Singapore, Greater China, etc.) this is actually great value for money. All the elements of a great dining experience were there: excellent service (with an Italian professional, Michele, overseeing the staff), comfortable environment, an optimal mix between local and imported top-notch ingredients, an equally optimal mix between creativity and respect for the tradition, masterful presentation of the dishes. This is fine dining at its best.

I have been in many Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. I can confidently say that R&J is on a par with many of the best restaurants I have experienced in my travels. I have to say that luckily the Michelin Guide has not come to Vietnam yet: as a result you can still find a team of chefs like the ones at the Reverie and at R&J that care about a great culinary product and are not just about getting stars from the Guide.

Needless to say, I highly recommend R&J for true high cuisine Italian style, something that you won’t experience anywhere else in Saigon. If you are looking for something more casual, The Long upstairs is also a great option (I recommend their original Naples pizza).

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
The Reverie Saigon/Times Square Building (level B1), 22-36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1.
You enter through The Long, the bar and restaurant between Times Square and Lucky Plaza (you can access it both from Nguyen Hue and from Dong Khoi).
Check R&J webpage to consult the menu and see what is going on.

The first tempura kaiseki in Vietnam: my dinner at Hanabi Japanese Cuisine in Saigon

I like when food is linked to compelling personal stories. While I was triggered to visit Hanabi in Saigon by my passion for Japanese food, I found much more. The place was started a little over one year ago, in June 2017, by a freshly married Japanese couple that met in Vietnam. Chef Taka used to work as a chef for the Japanese Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and, upon meeting Ms Nabby, they decided to make Vietnam their home. This prompted them to start Hanabi – Japanese Cuisine in a calm street in district 2, just a stone throw away from the busy Xuan Thuy street. After a while, they found their niche in tempura, a lightly battered and deep fried type of cuisine. I have heard tempura restaurants in Tokyo and Sapporo, but I have never heard of one in Vietnam. While tempura is a common item in Japanese menus, Hanabi must be the first to focus on this type of cuisine and this is certainly a welcome addition to Saigon food scene.

You can perceive a family atmosphere in the intimate and nicely furnished restaurant. They have a number of counter seats where you can see the chef frying the tempura food on the spot, but also a private room is available (a very polite and quiet group was using it during my visit).

The visit

I made a reservation via email for a Tuesday evening dinner and I opted for the larger menu including 8 types of tempura.

The first dish consisted in a beautifully presented set of appetizers, six! (I kind of got excited and I forgot to take a picture, in the gallery you can see only two appetizers). The set included a cocktail with okra, seaweed, ikura (samlon roe) and clam; a cup of tofu, actually bell pepper tofu that tasted much more delicious than similar puddings I had before; a bite of pumpkin with cream cheese; a piece of crab sushi and, finally, a refreshing cup of tomato gazpacho. That was an amazing start.

The second dish came in the form of a two pieces of lightly seared yellow tail with vegetables and yuzukoshō sauce (a type of Japanese seasoning made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt) that was a perfect match for this carpaccio.

Then the chef, in this case Ms Tam, the sous-chef, since Mr Taka was away, came to the frying station to work on the tempura. Meantime Ms Nabby played a very important role explaining the dishes in English to me and other non Japanese speakers in attendance. Each item was battered and fried on the spot in front of me and other guests seating at the counter. The start of the tempura part of the meal was signaled by the salts and sauces that were brought to my place: Himalaya pink salt, matcha (green tea) salt, sea salt, white radish pulp (daikon) and the special tempura sauce (it is not soy sauce!) that came warm. The salts were incredibly tasty, even a few grains would enrich the flavor of the tempura, but I did not overuse the condiments as the tempura dishes were already exquisite as they were.

You can have a look at the individual dishes in the gallery below, here’s a description:

  1. Prawn (ebi in Japanese): this is a classic piece of tempura that you can find in any Japanese restaurant, but here’s the catch: the tempura that I or you have had in other Japanese restaurants in Saigon has very little to do with the tempura prepared at Hababi. Honestly, in other restaurants tempura dishes just look like normal deep fried food, but at Hanabi you can taste the real tempura that is only lightly battered and fried, more like a delicate veil. Having the ebi was the perfect start.
  2. Dragon bean: a vegetable tempura, first time I tried, a new flavor for me.
  3. Young Asian royal fern (zenmai in Japanese): this was a specimen of young Osmunda Japonica, an edible mountain herb found in Japan and other East Asian countries. The flavor was incredibly delicate and the fried herb literally melted in my mouth. Something new that I had never tried.
  4. Japanese whiting (or sillago). This is a small white fish, found in Japanese waters, locally called Shiro-gisu or Kisu, that seems to be born to become a tempura dish. It is rarely used for sushi or sashimi (and only if super fresh). It makes a perfect tempura dish that can be consumed in its entirety and has a very nice marine flavor.
  5. Watercress: an aquatic plant. You would never expect that it can taste so good. Magic of the tempura.
  6. Zucchini flower: it is always a pleasure to eat them as fritters.
  7. Pork: a nice bite.
  8. Baby onion: the last dish looked like a golf ball and hid a super tender baby onion (I was told that it is pre-boiled for 20 minutes).

But the meal was not finished yet! After the tempura dishes I was offered a delicious palate cleanser combining watermelon, squid and an addictive vinegar jelly. Later, another substantial dish came: two pieces of marinated chicken tight (retaining its soft skin) and some vegetables. The dish flavor was enriched by using a sweet sauce that is usually used for unagi (freshwater eel).

Before the dessert, one more dish: a bowl of cold somen noodles with clam stocks and seafood. While I am not a big fan of cold noodles in general, this dish was very refreshing and perfect to slow down before dessert. At this point also a cup of green tea was offered.

The last dish was a trio of dessert: cherry tomato compote, a bite of pomelo and one of dragon fruit, and finally an apple sherbet on a piece of frosted watermelon.

The check

The total bill after 10% tax and a bottle of water totaled 1,127,500 VND (around 48.5 USD). I really appreciated that they did not overcharge the water as most fine dining venues nowadays routinely do. It should be mentioned that they also have slightly simpler menus for 660,000 and 880,000 VND (that is around 28 and 38 USD). Given the quality of the food, attention to the details, level of authenticity and the overall experience, I find these prices very reasonable.

Overall, it felt like having a meal in Osaka or Sapporo and this kaiseki (multi-course meal) experience based on tempura dishes is something new in Saigon. Personally, I highly recommend Hanabi restaurant to those who wish to experience a real fine dining Japanese dinner and I hope to visit them again.

They change menus on a monthly basis and, comparing my dishes with the ones served to another blogger, I can see that the changes may be substantial (one more reason to come back).

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
36A Nguyen Ba Huan St., Thao Dien, District 2 
New address: số 18 đường 41, Thảo Điền, Quận 2 (just 200 meters from the old address).
Check their Facebook page for updated information and new menus.
Phone: +84 93 111 50 88 Email: kaiseki.hanabi@gmail.com
Reservation is required at least one day in advance (open for dinner only).

The Japanese samurai that built a pizza empire in Vietnam: Pizza 4P’s

I still remember when in one of my first visits to the original location of Pizza 4P’s in Ho Chi Minh City I had a brief chat with the founder Yosuke Masuko. It was back in 2011 if my memory is correct (but I see sources that say that the first venue opened in 2012). Pizza 4P’s (Pizza for peace) was an instant hit. It is and it has always been one of the few restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City where a reservation is necessary. I remember that in our quick conversation Masuko was showcasing his mozzarella cheese that they were producing locally and even selling to other restaurants. They continue to make their own cheeses, not only mozzarella, but also burrata, Camembert and many others. I also remember how they enlarged their first venue taking over the adjacent coffee shops. But was only around 2015-2016 that the expansion took off and they started to open new locations in Ho Chi Minh City, and then in Hanoi and Da Nang. According to a profile published on the Japan Times, they have plan to go international and open outlets in Thailand, Japan and USA.

This is the type of entrepreneurial stories that I like: someone animated by passion delivering a superior product and customer experience, after many trials and errors. Masuko and his wife showed the tenacity and consistency of real samurai. And it is probably not a coincidence that actually Masuko’s wife family had bona fide samurai in her lineage and their symbol is now part of the logo of Pizza 4P’s.

The visit

I have dined at Pizza 4P’s so many times throughout the years, usually in their flagship location on Le Than Ton street or in the one in District 7. In my latest visit, I had a dinner with friends in their District 7 location and I tried for the first time their branch near Ben Thanh Market on a lunch by myself.

Since my last visit, the menu has kept expanding and now it features a number of collaborations. For example they have a number of new dishes created in collaboration with chef Takuto Nakamura (shrimp ricotta ravioli, mushroom and chicken miso sauce spaghetti, squid and orange whey fettuccine). They now have some desserts featuring Marou chocolate and they have Onibus coffee from Tokyo. One thing that I noticed is that there are some minor differences in the menu according to the location. For example the menu in District 7 contained some additional pasta items, while the menu in Ben Thanh had a larger selection of spirits.

During the first visit I ordered an anchovy pizza with burrata, another pizza with ham and Camembert and a pasta dish (spaghetti bolognese with Parmesan cheese). We also had some ricotta cheese wrapped in ham (reminiscent of the Vietnamese wraps).  During my solo lunch I took advantage of the possibility to have a pizza with two toppings and I went for salami-chorizo and 3 cheeses (mozzarella, Parmesan, Camembert) and also had a caprese salad (tomato and mozzarella cheese).

All the food was fantastic as always. Pizza of course is their forte. The pizza is soft, with a slightly crispy crust and you can taste the freshness of the tomato and mozzarella sauce. Even if the toppings can be “heavy”, I would describe this pizza as light; never had problems digesting it and going about my day after a lunch at Pizza 4P’s. I am less enthusiastic about their pasta; it is not really Italian original pasta, I guess it is more appealing for the international public, but they do have some interesting dishes. Is this Italian pizza? I would say that the pizza actually is pretty consistent with the Italian tradition; where they add their originality is of course in the selection of toppings (from salmon sashimi to ginger pork or calamari seaweed, they certainly have a number of options that you will not find in an Italian pizza place).

Some recommendations based on my experience:

  1. Use the option to have two toppings to try more varieties.
  2. Try to have a pizza with burrata, especially if you have never had burrata (the one with anchovy is probably the cheapest option, otherwise go all in with their massive margherita pizza with burrata and Parma ham).
  3. Try their cheeses. There are some interesting sampler platters listed among the appetizers.
  4. Among the desserts, try the tiramisu (by no accident, since tiramisu is based on mascarpone, another cheese).

The check

The dinner for 3 cost 829,000 VND (about 36 USD, that’s 13 USD per person) and included drinks and an appetizer. My solo lunch cost 334,000 VND (about 14,50 USD). This prices are a good illustration of the value for money offered by Pizza 4P’s: quick service, nice ambiance and, what is more important, unique and delicious food very reasonably priced. Desserts could add another 4 or 5 USD per person to the bill. The only pizza that would cost you much more is the famed Burrata Parma Ham Margherita that costs around 20 USD, but it is totally worth since it comes literally covered in Parma ham (actually I would recommend it). So these are the reasons that keep luring me back to Pizza 4P’s.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
Please check their website for un up to date list of locations and for online reservation.