525 Eat & Drink — Restaurant in Vientiane Capital

My expectations were high based on the reviews I read. And I will say that the entry from the street was enchanting and delightful (I never those words).

I wasn't feeling well (migraine) so I just ordered some orange juice, some broccoli and rosemary potatoes.

The juice was watery and less flavourful than I imagined it would be. But whatever.

Then when my food arrived I was initially taken aback by how small the portions were, and how they didn't look like the photos. And then I had to request cutlery so I could actually eat them... Strangely, as soon as I took my first bite, one of the staff wanted to know if he could take my empty glass away and then kept asking more questions... I really would have appreciated either being asked before I started eating, or being left for a little while once my food arrived.

The first piece of potato I ate was half raw, so that had me cringing...but fortunately the rest was cooked through. About a third of the portion was very dark and overcooked on the outside, so I left most of that, plus it was all unnecessarily oily/greasy.

The broccoli was overcooked and could have done with a bit of salt.

Then to add to my disappointment was the surprise of the service fee. Usually I'll happily leave my smaller change as a tip, but not this time!

Also, the music was super cool....but it was a little loud (but that could be because I wasn't feeling great).

Maybe if I chose different food I would have had a better experience, but out of all three basic things I ordered, I'd never order any of them again,...

I have visited 525 in Vientiane several times with my Wife and 10 year old Daughter and have had such a great evening of food, cocktails and service. Not so this evening. I had just returned from working out of town and as I had missed Childrens day I promised my Daughter she could choose our eating destination. She chose 525 immediately and got excited about the mac'n'cheese balls, the battered fish, the gnocci and the churros. On arriving the door staff led us in to the 'speak easy' style room where we always sit. The front of house 'lady' (02/06/23 @ 6pm) told us unfortunately the booths had been reserved but we could sit at one of the free pedestal tables or at the bar (as we generally do for lighting). Then right out of leftfield she said "actually you can't have a table, we don't allow children", I explained we had been here on occasions previously to which her retort was "Really? We don't allow children" So, if the GM is reading this, I would be happy to show you my previous receipts in order for you to match the dates with your cctv to show we 'had' enjoyed past times as a family at 525. Not any more though, perhaps we were not insta-ready or influencers!

03/06/23 I would like to update that as well as replying to my online review, I received a personal call from Andrew to apologise for the misunderstanding. This underlines that 525 is on point with customer care and reacts to issues to maintain...

I had to switch it up, wanted to see what this place was about. I really like the atmosphere that was in this place, I sat on the bar side which had elegant dim lighting, as they played old American songs like jazzy type. They have a long list of alcoholic drinks, I love frangelico liquor, they made a pink frangelico which I had to try. While I sat there I must have drank4-5 so good. Also the food was on point, the first round I had asparagus which comes with Himalayan pink salt to dip in, also had bacon and prawn crackers, which I did not read the description cause I thought I was getting bacon and prawns on a cracker, that is not what it was, it was a cracker flavored with bacon and prawn with a homemade sauce 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️. Which was still fantastic. The next round was bbq ribs, which I had 2 of they were so good and it just fell off the bone when I took a bite. I would recommend anyone and everyone to stop bye. It will be pricer then the normal shops in Laos, but we’ll worth it in my opinion. It was probably all the drinks which I had that...