VINA TRANG Cuisine — Restaurant in Makati

We just ate to the Vina Trang location at Basement 1 of Century Mall, Makati, around lunch time. The restaurant was empty for what should have been a very busy time of day. The lack of business should’ve been a clear sign to us that we were better off eating anywhere else in the mall. We ordered the pho dac biet and traditional banh mi, and I have to say, it was the sorriest excuse for pho and banh mi I’ve ever had. It is a disgrace to traditional, authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

The pho was served half full, with very tough beef and barely enough broth to cook the raw meat. The “meatball” was incredibly tough, and more akin to a fishball, which it should not have been. Not only that, but there was only half a meatball for the entire soup. The broth severely lacked flavor and depth, and the noodles were mediocre at best. Oh, and if you want more broth they charge you 45Php for a small bowl of it. Every single aspect of the pho was pitiful and clearly designed to save the business as much money as possible. The vegetables on the side were so small I could count the number of bean sprouts they gave. They gave lettuce instead of extra cilantro - why even give lettuce in the first place? No self respecting Vietnamese restauranteur would do something that disgraceful. Instead of lime, they gave a quarter of a lemon. A single wedge of lemon for a bowl of pho that’s supposed to be big enough for two people, according to our waitress… to top it all off, there was no green onion! They placed celery leafs and bits instead of green onion! Are green onions that expensive? Long story short, Vina Trang skimps on every single aspect of their pho, and is the only pho restaurant in the world that does this.

Unfortunately, I also decided to try the banh mi. Needless to say, the bread was atrociously hard and much too flaky. The meat was skimpy, and the sauce was anything but authentic. And for some reason, they put melted cheese on the end, making the sandwich taste very odd. The best banh mi I’ve had was at Saigon Sandwich in San Francisco, CA, and they’re charging the same price in USD as Vina Trang is for their unauthentic banh mi. Saigon Sandwich’s owners are actual Vietnamese owners, and are generous with their chicken, vegetables, and sauce. Somehow, Vina Trang has found a way to make an inferior sandwich, at half the size, while charging the same price as a restaurant in the US.

There’s a clear and consistent theme with Vina Trang, and that is to nickel and dime the customer at every opportunity. The wait staff are instructed to give as little of everything as possible, and are yelled at by the owners if they are more generous (or rather, give the appropriate amount of food for what you pay for). I highly doubt the owners of Vina Trang are actually Vietnamese, let alone worked in Vietnam. If you are looking for authentic, and delicious Vietnamese cuisine at a great value, Vina Trang is literally the worst...

18 minutes ago First, I was about to like the food. But I ended up having a horrible experience here. I believed they had a Filipino cashier and waiter that no integrity and principle and a shame for being a Filipino knowing that Filipino is known for the most friendliest and kindest people in the world. They took a screenshot of my debit card here knowing that I wasn’t aware of what they did. Good thing I had a strong intuition when I look at the cashier girl when the waiter handed my card. I was so fast to lock my card not to be able to use it. Their modus is getting your card without telling you to accompany them on their cashier area and when your card is in there if you look at the cashier area , then the waiter who got your card will block your sight not for you to be able to see that they are taking a picture of your card. Please please beware of using card or go here. I’m not sure if the owner or manager knows about this or I’m not sure if he might be also involved in this modus. And also please double check your receipt as it seems they are trying to make an honest mistake by putting other meal or beverages that you did not ordered as they purposely done it as the way...

Ordered delivery at 11am on a Tuesday. After waiting over an hour, called VinaTrang to see where my order was. The lady answering the phone was inattentive to anything I asked, holding a conversation with her coworkers while completely ignoring my questions. She then hangs up the phone and sends me a text saying "its otw sir"; no ETA, no explanation. I attempted to call back several times, but all of a sudden, nobody could pickup the phone. A full 2 HOURS after I ordered, I'm informed that my delivery has arrived. Upon going down to pickup my order, the delivery person proceeded to blame me for not including my unit number, which I promptly showed her was included in my original message.

The food might be good here, but the poor management, communication, and subpar employee training will be the downfall of this place.

ALSO, you can afford rent in Century City Mall but you still take orders via SMS?! Get on...