Vietnam House is a collaboration between a large hospitality and real estate group (WMC) and Luke Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Australian chef with a good deal of television exposure. It is located in the central Dong Khoi street in Ho Chi Minh City. I have passed by the restaurant so many times, but the combination of the touristy location and a celebrity chef always discouraged me to try it. I must admit that I was mistaken.
The visit
I visited the restaurant for an early dinner during my summer 2019 trip to Saigon.
The interior is finely appointed. Some art deco touches, but to the point to be a bit gaudy.
At the entrance they have Luke Nguyen’s books for sale.
The a la carte menu carries Vietnamese classics enriched by the use of top quality ingredients. My first dish was shishamo fish, crusted in sticky rice with a tamarind dipping sauce. Not sure if the fish was imported. It was quite good, but not exceptional in terms of flavor. The dipping sauce was very good though.
My next dish was much better. It was a garoupa fillet char-grilled in banana leaf, with the house XO sauce and dragon beans. It was a very good garoupa fillet, everything about the dish was perfectly executed.
Then I could not resist ordering a beef cheek dish. It was braised wagyu beef cheek in coconut juice with Phu Quoc green pepper, carrot, shallot served with a Vietnamese baguette. This was the luxury version of the traditional Vietnamese beef stew (bò kho) and it was a surprisingly good dish. The first thing that struck me was the herbal aroma emanating from the pot. The baguette was really useful because I did not want to sacrifice a single drip of the flavorful broth. The meat was really tender.
The dessert was a black sesame flan from the list of seasonal dishes. It was fantastic.
The check
Final check was around 1,489,000 VND (around 64 USD). I think two people could have shared the dishes. Considered the quality of the dishes I think it was good value for money (I am comparing it to fine dining venues around Asia, of course if you compare it with a traditional Vietnamese restaurant is pricey, but I do not think would be a fair comparison).
The menu is quite rich and I would not mind going back trying more dishes.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
93-95, 97 Đồng Khởi, Street:
Website: vietnamhousesaigon.com.