During my summer 2019 trip to Ho Chi Minh City I was invited for lunch to 365º Neapolitan Pizza in Thao Dien. The good went beyond my expectations. The owner is Vietnamese and this eatery is part of a wave if Italian restaurant started by Vitnamese in Ho Chi Minh City. This is actually a positive development. While you may not expect the authenticity of Italian-run restaurants like Into the Kitchens (or Romeo and Juliet on the very high end), some of these restaurants is actually pretty good and shows how the restaurant scene has developed and become more international, with many locals becoming passionate about foreign cuisines and learning the skills.
The visit
We were seated in an air-conditioned room that we had all for ourselves
After we placed our order the dishes started to come very quickly. The service was very attentive throughout the meal. The first dish was an appetizer, a delicious tuna carpaccio.
Another appetizer was a dish of deep fried calamari.
Then we had three types of pasta. An excellent porcini risotto. Porcini is the most popular mushroom in Italian cuisine.
A pasta with a massive lamb chop.
Finally we shared two pizzas. One was a margarita with basil leaves that is their signature.
The second pizza had a generous topping of sausage and artichoke. The pizzas were good, baked in the oven with a nice crispy crust.
Finally we were offered a scoop of ice cream.
The check
No check because I was treated by my two hosts (not related to the restaurants)! I think the prices are reasonable and they also are present on delivery platforms. I enjoyed the great company I had during the meal and the yummy Italian food that was served in a friendly atmosphere.
Final note: when I was in Saigon I noticed they were also operating a food truck nearby on Xuan Thuy street.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 50 Ngo Quang Huy Thao Dien.
While not artisan gelato, Osterberg is an interesting departure from the international ice cream chains that dominate Ho Chi Minh City: it hails from Denmark and it is a family business. In Vietnam the business is managed by Cathrine, who makes all the recipes herself and has a background in Food Science from the University of Copenhagen. The ice cream is freshly made in Ho Chi Minh City with modern equipment.
The visit
In Ho Chi Minh City they have a small ice cream shop in District 2.
They offer a nice assortment of flavors inspired both by their Nordic origins and by the fresh ingredients available in Vietnam. This means flavors such as liquorice, elderflower, buckthorn and blackcurrant (recommended!) on the one side and red dragonfruit, soursop, jackfruit, and lychee on the other.
My personal favorite is their chocolate sorbet (in general I find their sorbets – basically ice cream without the milk – better than regular ice cream flavors). The chocolate flavor emerges so neatly.
I particularly like their ice-blended option: around two scoops of ice cream are blended with milk and ice: the resulting beverage has the right density for me and retains the original flavor.
UPDATE (July 2019): They discontinued the ice blend option for lack of demand. Travesty!
The check
A single scoop, like in the cup pictured in the previous section, is 55,000 VND (2,4 USD). The ice blend was 75,000 VND (3,2 USD).
If you are in district 2, Osterberg is an ice cream experience that I recommend (well, a lot less now that they discontinued the ice blend).
La Villa is a long running French Restaurant hosted in a beautiful villa in Saigon’s District 2. The restaurant is operated by Chef Thierry from France with the help of his Vietnamese wife Tina.
I had several dinners and lunches in this restaurant over the years (the first one I believe back in 2011). I have never been disappointed and I have always regarded La Villa as the golden standard for fine dining in Ho Chi Minh City. However, sadly, I have to file this specific visit among my (mild) disappointments. I will certainly go back and do not discourage you go; hopefully this review can help you choosing the right menu.
The visit
I showed up unannounced for lunch during a weekday. Lunch time is not usually crowded. Dinners are another story and I would recommend to make a booking in advance.
The dining room is not huge and occupies the best part of the ground floor of the mansion (the upper floor is closed to the public). It has a classy atmosphere and tables are generously spaced. They also have some outdoor seats.
The first thing you notice is the impeccable service. The staff is very well trained and provide a high level of professional care. Man, it is one of the few places that will clean the table before the dessert… This is well above the average of what you can find even in five star hotels in Saigon, so it deserves some kudos.
The bread is served warm and you can choose your type. It is regularly replenished during the meal.
In my previous visit, also for lunch, I had ordered a la carte. But that was one year earlier. This time I was made aware that for lunch only the set menus were available and in particular the set menu Petite Villa that was specifically designed for lunch. I did not think too much and I ordered from the Petite Villa set menu.
First, I was offered three amuse bouches, including a refreshing tomato gazpacho.
One more treat came in the form of a salmon mousse sprinkled with a few (literally) eggs of caviar. The presence of original blinis in the composition was really a nice touch.
My first dish from the menu selection was a classic beef tartare. It is a very good well executed tartare. The only disappointment was that it went in a mignon size. Below you can see a picture that I took of the same dish ordered a la carte.
Then I got the duck leg, another French classic, with mashed potatoes. Again, it was good; I suspect it was also a reduced portion.
The dessert was a beautifully presented molten chocolate cake with a mango meringue.
A few more treats came before the check.
The check
Total check was 970,000 VND (or 46 USD at the time of the lunch; at the time of writing this review, only 41.5 USD), including a soft drink.
The food was good but I was disappointed for two reasons. First, this menu did not do justice to the chef. There are way better and more creative dishes on the menu. Of course they will be more expensive, but it is worth. Second, paradoxically, for what I got, I think this was terrible value for money in Ho Chi Minh City. In other similar restaurants (thinking of Le Corto in Saigon or La Verticale in Hanoi) you can get a similar lunch menu for half the price or less.
So in conclusion, if you go to La Villa – and it certainly retains my recommendation – go big, aim high. Do not settle for this lunch menu, go for one of the more comprehensive set menus or choose what you like from la carte. It won’t be cheap, but the return on investment will be higher than the one with the Petite Menu described here.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
14 Ngô Quang Huy, Thảo Điền, Quận 2
Check the restaurant website for bookings and menus.
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:
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.
Dragon bean: a vegetable tempura, first time I tried, a new flavor for me.
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.
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.
Watercress: an aquatic plant. You would never expect that it can taste so good. Magic of the tempura.
Zucchini flower: it is always a pleasure to eat them as fritters.
Pork: a nice bite.
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.
Two of the six appetizers
Yellow tail carpaccio
Salts and sauces
Prawn
Okra
Young Asian royal fern
Japanese whiting
Watercress
Zucchini flower
Pork
Baby onion
Palate cleanser
Steamed chicken with summer vegetables
Seafood and plum cold noodles
Desserts
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).
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 
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.