Gariana's Vui Vẻ Modern Vietnamese — Restaurant in Sabah

Food - 4/5 Service - 5/5

To know a place, is to experience it yourself.

I've read all sorts of reviews for this place however, having just dined there I can personally say that my party had a fabulous time.

Getting a reservation was a breeze but take note, there is limited seating here. Julius answered all my questions and even advised me what time would be great for leisure dining.

We arrived on time but had to wait a little for them to clear up the table which is understandable. Loved the ambiance. The cushion covers at the front were so pretty. As soon as we sat, I knew what I wanted to order as I'd already studied the menu. You can find the menu online.

We got the spring rolls, pork chop ( dry vermicelli and rice), rice paper rolls, mango shrimp salad, bbq prawn rice, roasted pork & pandan tea.

Loved the spring rolls. Well balanced seasoning with good amount of filling and crispy skin made it an excellent starter. The rice paper rolls were nice too. Prawns were fresh and juicy. The dipping sauce was lovely compliment to it. Mango Shrimp Salad had not much shrimp but the whole combination of mango with the marinade & peanuts was delicious. We were spooning the sauce onto our main dishes. Speaking of main dishes, the pork chop was marinaded & grilled to perfection. The roast pork was succulent to say the least. Crispy skin and juicy pork belly. Yum! Could have a few plates of that.

Now, the sauce for the Grilled Pork with Vermicelli ( dry ) was severely lacking in flavour. It needs to be stronger. More umami as vermicelli itself is tasteless, so the sauce has to be tasty! Pandan tea was my least favorite. A bit strong and couldn't really taste the pandan. Maybe got to steep the pandan longer and the tea for lesser. Just needs a bit of tweaking.

Lastly, I asked if they had dessert and they did! Julius said it was banana cake but I asked what he meant by banana cake and he showed me the pics of the cake and it wasn't just your normal banana cake. Actually, I've never come across such a cake before. I would say it's a Vietnamese Banana Pudding Cake. It was so lovely 😍 It came as a set with Vietnamese Egg Coffee which I was a bit reluctant to try but turned out to be the BEST DARN COFFEE I've had in KK. It's sweet, strong and oh so good!

Jack the bartender makes amazing drinks. Can't wait to try out his cocktails!

Met the owner as well and what a gentleman. Honestly, had a wonderful chat with him and I can say his staff enjoys working for him.

I look forward to visiting here again. Thank you for the...

Rating is based on my personal experience and comparison to other mid-upper scale restaurant in KK specifically.

Quaint place, ambience is good. Greeted by pleasant interior decor. Serving utensils and dishes are tasteful.

Food was delicious for colloquial standards. Vietnamese food out of Vietnam somehow misses the mark, nevertheless a good experience overall

We ordered; Standard rice paper rolls, fried pork spring rolls, mango and papaya salad for starter:-

Rice paper rolls had succulent and fresh prawns. Did not skimp on the ingredients. Pairing sauces were tasty

Fried pork spring rolls were the highlight of the day. The sauce was unique. Had nice acidity and tartness with a hint of rose water. Unique. Spring rolls were crispy and pork filling was seasoned well

Mango and papaya salad could’ve been made better. Lack the tartness and needed more fish sauce. Too much of been sprouts and less mango and young papaya. You can do without this.

Mains- Chicken pho and Vietnamese vermicelli with chicken

Broth was yummy. Good flavours. Succulent and juicy chicken.

Chicken on vermicelli was flavoured well. Nice garlicky flavour. Overall a good dish if you like tanginess in your food

Dessert; We had the s’mores brownie with ice cream- one word underwhelming. Can skip this

Price; not bad. Standard kk pricing but maybe a lil above average. Spent rm180 fr 2

Overall would return, would try their other menu. Skewers looked good Good...

The ambiance and the decor is quite nice. The utensils and little details are also pretty good. There is no other upscale vietnamese eatery in Kota Kinabalu. And I guess that is why at the moment the reservations are through the roof.

But the booking experience was already quite unpleasant. There was no definite answer nor were there a systematic approach towards the reservations. Perhaps they are understaffed or were facing teething issues.

During the dinner some items were not available, granted we live in kk and items can be limited, but then expectation was not met again when the decor and setting is so nice.

I had the bbq prawn with rice. Which was alright. The mango and prawn salad was good too, with the right dressing. But what was quite lackluster was the Pho. It tasted alright but there is something missing, the depth of flavour. They did put on a good show of pouring the broth into the bowl, cooking the beef in the process.

I think the restaurant is still trying to find it's footing. And the decor is great. But that's it so far. Gotta give kudos to the owners for opening something...