All Reviews
When I lived in Saigon I used to go here a lot. On a recent trip back for the weekend I returned here and found that it's still as good as it used to be, and it's even busier.
This place has gas barbecues embedded in table tops, and you order from a large menu of dishes to barbecue. My favourites are the Bo Tung Xeo, the Bo La Lot, and the beef wrapped around cheese. A special mention has to go to the prawns, which are brought to the table alive on skewers, the upshot of which is that they often kick each other off the grill! There are also some very tasty salads and vegetable dishes to complement all the grilled delights.
It get's very busy so book before you go and be prepared to wait a short while for food, service. It's definitely worth it though.
| Was this review ... |
I stayed here while on a work trip from Hanoi, and had a nice comfortable stay.
It seems to be a little expensive for what it is, but the room was pretty spotless, there was a great shower, and the buffet breakfast on the roof was really nice, and there was lots of variety (crap coffee though).
I wouldn't have chosen it myself, but then I wasn't paying for it.
| Was this review ... |
A nice, friendly, and reasonably comfortable place to stay in the backpacker heart of Saigon. The price was $26 a night, the bed was comfortable and it was nice and clean.
Not a luxury place obviously, but if you need somewhere cheap is to stay in this area you could do a lot worse. The only negative is that you have to ring the bell to get in after midnight, but that's pretty standard around here.
| Was this review ... |
Quite simply the biggest meat feast going.
390,000VND gets you 12 kinds of meat, brought to your table on long skewers. Here I quote from the menu : "Beef and Pork Tenderloin with Bacon, D-Rump, Striploin, Pork Ribs, Marinated Chicken, Smoked Ham, Calabrian Sausage, Beef Ribs, Lamb, Shrimp with Bacon and Picanha". All of this is complemented by Caesar salad, green salad, sauteed mushrooms, garlic bread, bread, rice and feijoada. If you like the meat, try not to eat too much of the sides as you will not be able to try it all!
Yes it's pricey, but it is absolutely worth the money you pay. The service is great and the quality of the food is top notch. There's a good selection of wine, and plenty of other drinks choices, including caipirinhas.
A great venue for a full on meal or a birthday bash.
| Was this review ... |
Tourist trap. The salads would leave a rabbit hungry. And broke. The coffee is very hot, and rather weak and flavourless apart from a sour aftertaste. Allegedly there is a new brew every day, and unfortunately I've come here more times than I care to admit, (and it always tastes the same), to meet a friend who loved the service, which is good, sort of. A great many people fill the place all the time, never underestimate the need to be seen on Dong Khoi. They don't come for the coffee or the food. Cheaper fresher and better pastries at Brodard around the corner. Sneak yours in.
| Was this review ... |
I confess to patronizing this place a lot. They have the same crappy food as at all the Highlands, and the interior is rather unimaginative, dismal and in need of refurbishing, but the staff are sweet and the lounge area with the huge windows is a great place to slump into a grimy armchair and read your papers and scope the lunchtime crowd. Get better and cheaper food at the stalls across the road and come here for your stale carrot cake and muddy coffee for laters. And why do they serve cake with a spoon? Am I missing something? Am I so gauche?
| Was this review ... |
Khong cam on! When it takes 6 servers 15 minutes to get your coffee and doughnut for something like 4 dollars you know something is amiss. I can appreciate what they're trying to do, but a boston cream with no cream and tons of cloying dough, and coffee that tastes something like starbucks concentrate, well, what I failed to surmise is that I am not a tourist and tourists is who they are selling to. What was I thinking? Oh, they show flicks upstairs, to take your mind off the awful overpriced sludge you're drinking. And those poor kids, I know they mean well. Allegedly BB is a charitable org, well, they got the steal from the rich and give to the poor part down.
| Was this review ... |
Yes, it's pretentious and overpriced. No, it's not perfect, but the staff are winningly charming and competent, the food is excellent (for a big hotel chain) and the decor is splendid modern. I very like.
| Was this review ... |
This franchise has all the charm of a fading hotel down on it's luck. Sullen unfriendly staff who are well put out when they have to like, serve you and stuff, food that is mediocre at best, and this generally grubby vibe that makes the too cool for skool waiters seem even more absurd. Great locations deserve better. The Mac Thi Buoi outlet, with the books and big windows, is much better in the food and atmosphere dept., but with the same sniffy can't be bothered attitude. Management changes can do wonders.
| Was this review ... |
You know, the food is damn good. If that's good enough then go there. It is dear far as curry houses go, but the problem is the management. Some people might enjoy cowed and groveling servers hovering about you ready to slip in and grab any plate that looks done and those horrid forced smiles at the door. I just prefer a bit of dignity and deference. Not a great deal of genuine smiling, a great deal of genuine tension. Maybe it would change if the management let go of the imperiousness and harshness they deliver to their minions.
| Was this review ... |
Well, it was okay when I first started to go there, but the food quality is not consistent and it does appear that success has thrown them a bit off balance. Still a good place, nice staff who do their best, but the clientele is rather chi-chi and dahling you look mahvelous if you know what I mean. Barf.
| Was this review ... |
two words: stay away. A sad and charmless little place with inedible old pastries and watery coffee.
| Was this review ... |
The food was excellent and the house wine okay. But a very serious highroller vibe with people more concerned about being seen than anything else, lots of rubbernecking and loud talking. The chef spent a lot of time glowering from the kitchen, didn't add much.
| Was this review ... |
Pizza too salty but edible otherwise, and the staff were lovely. I've called for delivery a few times and was more pleased. Nice people.
| Was this review ... |
I've been to worse buffets, this one has a lot to choose from. Much more sanitary feeling than Cafe Central on Nguyen Hue. Coffee is probably the worst in town however, and the layout could use some tuning up. The omellete station serves up some pretty gooey stuff, but a good buffy for the price.
| Was this review ... |
Could be a bit more baroque inside, somewhat barren. But every time, the food is expertly prepared and service very professional. Nice place to take your mother.
| Was this review ... |
Despite myself, I like this place. There is a great buzz, it's always busy and the staff are friendly and non-invasive, but they are in just a little over their heads volume-wise. The sushi is competent and delivered quickly enough, just sometimes seems a bit less than fresh. But overall a very pleasant experience.
| Was this review ... |
I was expecting something a little more chic, or at least Italian. The pizza was quite good, as was the bread, but the service and the decor give the feeling of a cafeteria, or somewhere to take your kids. Wine was indifferent.
| Was this review ... |
Very nice, food, decor and service. The house wine was splendid and the staff very amiable and knowledgeable enough. A bit cheap on the bread and olive oil, but overall shows many indicators of skill and taste. Pasta properly cooked and dressed, and non-hovering waiters. Friend's gyro was excessively generous. Recommended.
| Was this review ... |
Not bad, but not great. Tried the veggie burger and fries, the burger was mushy and flavourless with an exceedingly generic fluffy bun, and the fries were very hard. The staff were pleasant, but the food was very late, about 45 minutes, and I hate it when they park you next to the only other occupied table in an empty dining room. Sweet as the staff were, they don't hide the fact that their own convenience is priority.
| Was this review ... |