Viet Lounge — Restaurant in Calgary

Hello Viet Lounge, *Vietnamese below * I’ve dined at your place quite often. I’ve been meaning to write a review for a while, but I wanted to try your food several times to give the most fair and objective feedback.

Your food is absolutely delicious! I must say the chef’s skills are among the best in Alberta, as I’ve traveled across the province trying different cuisines.

I am a food enthusiast and the owner of a restaurant in Vietnam, where I am also the chef. As someone from Ho Chi Minh City, I can confidently say that your chef’s cooking is truly excellent. 🫡

**But today, I had a truly terrible experience—honestly, the worst of the worst I visited the restaurant as usual, traveling all the way from a remote area, covering a distance of 200 km. After arriving, I ordered a plate of rice with grilled pork, shredded pork, and egg meatloaf (with an extra meatloaf), a portion of spring rolls, a portion of fresh rolls, two bowls of beef noodle soup, and an additional bowl of beef tendon.

As always, I also ordered drinks, including coffee and an avocado smoothie.And as a person from Saigon, I always enjoy beef noodle soup with iced tea. So, I asked the server for a glass of iced tea, as I had checked if she could speak Vietnamese. Thinking we were both Vietnamese, I felt comfortable making the request.

And I casually asked if there was a server named "Hien" working there.

But suddenly, this server mentioned that I would be charged for the iced tea. (Do I look like I can’t afford to pay for a glass of iced tea? Did I ever say it should be free?)

And then she went on to say that she was the manager there and that if "Hien" were around, she would scold "Hien" . I was taken aback because I hadn’t said anything about it. At this point, it wasn’t telling about "Hien" giving it for free or something —I was just wondering why she said that in the first place. Nonsence.!!! So, I asked her for her name, and she said her name was "@@ Ha".

It was a normal conversation until the mention of money and that implication. I went ahead and Okay with my usual coffee and smoothie. But as a Vietnamese dining at a Vietnamese restaurant, you can’t help but feel disrespected. :)

Everything was fine until they brought out the plate of rice, spring rolls, fresh rolls, the extra bowl of beef tendon, and the plate of vegetables to accompany the beef noodle soup.

The food above was brought to us at 8:52 PM, and we finished eating except dish of veg. We then waited until 9:55 PM, but the two bowls of beef noodle soup still hadn’t arrived. Since Hà claimed to be the manager, I decided to wait and see how she would handle it. :) The plate of vegetables was still sitting on the table, yet she let us sit there waiting without asking or checking if anything was missing. :)

After waiting for exactly one hour, I felt it was enough, so I called the staff to ask for the bill. The staff then asked, "Where are the two bowls of beef noodle soup?" and then proceeded to ask what I had eaten. I was completely confused.

Do you think, just because I’m Vietnamese, it’s okay to treat me this way? You served the tables next to us (they got their beef noodle soup before us), yet you didn’t even notice that we were still waiting with the plate of vegetables untouched on the table? :)

As for" Hà" , I think she appointed herself as the manager, but if this is how she manages, it’s a disaster.

I just want to say this: :) When "Hiền" was serving, I had quite a lot—3 bowls of beef noodle soup, 1 plate of broken rice, 1 dish of skewered grilled meat, 1 shrimp salad, 1 bánh xèo, 2 coffees, 1 avocado smoothie, and 15 bowls of beef noodle soup to take home the next day. And yet, you’re hesitant about charging me for a glass of iced :) To sum it up, when you visit Viet Lounge, make sure to ask for chị Hiền. :) She’s very nice and will guide you on what to eat. She knows exactly which dish to bring out first. I’m the kind of person who’s willing to travel all the way from Lethbridge just for the service she provides, so you can imagine how much I...

UPDATE: We have since returned to Viet Lounge due to the owner's kind reception. He has been very generous in working with us and we hear that the server we had issues with, Nina, has since moved on. The food can be a bit inconsistent at times, though the service has greatly improved. They are a new business, so hoping they will iron out these growing pains soon.

Would give 0 stars if possible due to the terrible in-person experience we'd had with our argumentative, condescending, and inexperienced server, Nina. Food was also exceedingly mediocre.

I've ordered takeout over 10 times in the last month from Viet Lounge and have always been happy with my peanut sate soup. I finally tried the restaurant in-person this evening and found that my soup was spicy to the point of being inedible. I asked if I could get a new bowl and if the soup could be made more mild - a VERY standard request which is easily accommodated at most restaurants. Nina rudely told me that the soup was made the exact same way every single day and that it was the exact same chef who cooked it every single day. She had no response when I'd asked if there was a slight chance that the chef might deviate in how the dish is prepared day-to-day - I find it quite hard to believe that the chef would be 100% consistent 100% of the time...

At the end of our meal, we flagged another waiter to ask for the bill and takeout containers as we did not feel comfortable speaking with Nina who had been extremely rude to us. We asked for her name and the manager's name as well so we could follow up as we were quite disgusted by the way we had been treated. Nina came up to our table and interrupted the conversation we were having with the waiter to ask, "Is there a problem?" She was unnecessarily aggressive and seemed to be upset that her authority had been overstepped as the other waiter let us know that he had to report to Nina. What an embarrassing display for a senior staff, as she not only ruined our dining experience and our opinion of Viet Lounge, but disrupted the dining experience for surrounding customers as well.

I'm regretful for the money I've spent at Viet Lounge so far and will definitely not return or order takeout again. Try Pho Hoan Pasteur, Bolsa, Bagolac, Saigon Y2K, or Golden Bell instead if you want good pho....

Hi Viet Lounge,

I am writing what I did in last review cuz there is no spot for more. As you can see, all 1 star is for the service. Now lets go with what happen with me today. If you come to Viet Lounge from morning until 8 PM, and dishes like pho are only 10 dollars, but I’m willing to go in the evening when the dishes cost around 18 dollars just to be served by " Hien" . So you can understand why it’s frustrating when money is brought up over a glass of iced tea, and then "Hà" , who claims to be the manager, provides such poor service. :)

I apologize to the restaurant for this one-star review, and I’m sorry to "Hiền" for this situation. But honestly, if I had my own restaurant, "Hiền "would always be my top priority to become my employee. It's rare to find a server like her, I even thought she might be a family member of the restaurant owner.

And the other staff members were really indifferent from "Ha". You all should learn how to handle situations better. Oh, and after I waited for an hour with no 2 bowls of beef noodle, "Hà "finally came out to ask if there was a problem, then just apologized (" oh Sorry" ) and gave me the bill. :) whaooo.

Her communication and problem-solving skills are so poor, no wonder the rest of the staff is just as bad as she is. :) (If she’s really the manager, that is. :)))

And to" Hà" , I apologize. :) Honestly, this is even worse than some Indian restaurants or the young servers I’ve encountered.

And to" Hiền" , I’ve been looking for you all the time. I’ve been going back and forth, but still haven’t found you, and the road is long.

Finally, such a good food with the worst service ever except " Hien" .

And with " Hien" you will be served like this gentle way, so tidy, so beautiful, so fast , and so organizedddd. Please guys check the photos below and compare to the bad way I was served by Ha with previous review.:)))

You should learn from Hien instead of being jealous of her or if Ha, you are the member of owner, you should change your mind and learn:)).

I even did not know Hien phone number, try to ask another server but no real answer.:)) Okay

Hope everything will be better in the real soon. 🤩🤩🤩🤩And ask about The Woman Named "HIEN" for your service in Viet...