Viet De Lites — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Hello Viet de lites,

As we promised your staff last evening, we are writing to complain. My husband and I treated ourselves to dinner at your establishment before the Adam Hills show last night. We asked for a bottle of water for our table and only received one drinking glass before the server rushed off????? This isn't, however, our complaint.

Our spring rolls were delicious. Our satay chicken and veg was lovely. Unfortunately, the combination fried rice can only be described an inedible. The only taste that we could identify was burnt onions. I forced myself to swallow three or four bites and left the remainder on my plate.

Not once after our meals were delivered briskly to our table did any of your service staff ask how our meals were or whether we would like anything else. It was obvious that the staff's top priority was to get as many diners in and out our your establishment during the evening as humanly possible. They cleared and wiped tables often before departing dinners had completed the task of gathering their belongings to leave. Providing quality customer service was certainly not on the agenda. This lack of service is unacceptable at any restaurant, let alone Little Stanley Street, Southbank.

Before paying (and not being asked how we enjoyed our meals) we explained how unhappy we were with the fried rice. The young female at the register's only reply was 'Sorry'. We requested that we not be charged for the inedible meal. She just looked sheepish and said that she wasn't allowed and that the manager was not present to give her authorization. Why was there not even an assistant present on a busy Saturday night to deal with our concerns?

We did speak with a young male employee who told us that it was our mistake. We should have flagged down an employee during our meal and that the kitchen would have prepared another dish for us. Does anyone else think that this is an amazingly absurd excuse?

A reply to my post would be greatly...

We thought we would try Vietnamese food and was disappointed with the food experience offered by this restaurant.

To start with we were told if no one comes to service your table then use the app. But basically the server was saying use the app.

Once the food and drinks were ordered by the app it took ages for the drinks to arrive.

Then our food arrived or should I say I main dish of 5 ordered. The fact we had not received the appetisers that were ordered.

Then they only supplied small sides dishes and no serving spoons. So we had to go and ask for some to be supplied.

Then as our remaining dishes arrived one by one over the next hour was ridiculous.

And finally one dish the chicken coconut curry came out looking nothing like the picture on the app, literally chalk and cheese different. We questioned this and was told it was the correct dish. But it clearly was not. But the server just was not interested in correcting. So we just let it ride, could not be bothered to argue further.

If someone wants good Vietnamese food with at least average service then give this...

I've had great memories of this place from 2012 to 2018 — the food used to be fresh, flavourful, and full of authentic Vietnamese character. Unfortunately, my recent visit was a stark contrast.

The ingredients no longer feel fresh. The rice noodles were dry and seemed old, and even the rice had a similar stale texture. I ordered the bún chả, which is typically all about beautifully grilled meats. Sadly, the meatballs appeared to be either boiled or microwaved, not grilled, and the pork slices lacked proper marinade — possibly repurposed from a stir-fry used in other dishes. The accompanying sauces didn’t have the balance or flavour profile I remember.

The papaya salad was especially surprising — it was overly sweet, more like a jam than the crisp, tangy freshness you’d expect from a proper Vietnamese gỏi đu đủ.

It feels like there might be some challenges in the kitchen, and I sincerely hope this is just a temporary dip. This place used to shine, and I genuinely hope it can return to its former quality. I’ll be keeping an eye out and cheering...