GoGi House Restaurant — Restaurant in Hà Nội

Had an impromptu meal there with a group of friends and the food, service, table....all was great (we all vowed to return and some of us have)....the one major problem? This is one of those restaurants installed in a corporate building, in other words, most of these places are not suited for the purpose for which they are used...USUALLY meaning that the space is a lot higher than necessary and so an architect/designer has the great idea of lowering the lighting and all of the fittings which would normally be attached to the ceiling, to about 10-12 feet off the ground. The result? Yes, the place looks more comfortable and less austere, the lighting is appropriate to the space and the atmosphere is more open and less stuffy. But, if they don't suspend a faux ceiling at the level where the lights now are, there is a huge space above which needs to be filled with sound and in Hanoi, with the idea which still persists that eating in restaurant of a higher status than a pho shop means that YOUR status is high, so therefore if your status is high you are OBLIGED to shout and make as much noise and swagger as possible (which is often unbearable for people who like to eat and chat at reasonable volumes) AND bring the kids who because they are NOUVEAU RICHE they have never been taught any manners, as later as possible, again to show that your are important......and let them run riot around the restaurant, to the annoyance of people who purposely decided to eat later to avoid families and noisy kids and to the bewilderment of waiters and staff doing their jobs. The result was, with a bunch of friends who love to enjoy a few drinks and long chats after dinner, we seemed very eager to leave and go home and put a wet compress on our foreheads but congratulating the quality of the food (This could be fixed fairly easily and have a higher echelon of customers coming to your restaurant: 1. BECOME KNOWN and APPRECIATED as the restaurant which does not take bookings for families with children AFTER say 8pm. 2.Lower the ceiling/suspend the ceiling, to contain the noise. 3.Gather all of those cardboard egg cartons which your restaurant MUST use and line the blackened upper space with them and they will cancel some of the bellowing, shouting screaming, whining and the sounds of children throwing cutlery, their siblings, glassware and food on the floor. WIN-WIN! (and no, us foreigners did not come here to change the culture of the country, but the point is that if the local population go to a restaurant specialising in food from another culture, they should eat the food the way it is eaten in the other culture, sit in the same type of furniture, use the same utensils....then you could at least try to complete the image by behaving in a reasonably civilised manner and with your kids either sitting like humans as opposed to animals, and with you speaking to the people 1 meter away in a normal level........ Bring earplugs, it's winter here now and it is freezing, it's quite warm and comfortable......and...

24.7., 8PM. We tried Korean BBQ. It's not the first time I came into Gogi house to enjoy Korean BBQ - I really like it, this time food quality was no exception. But what really lowered enjoying the food was the service - we had to ask 5 times for extra garlic and more lettuce. The staff 4 times failed and forgot to deliver to our table. Is it normal??! If I went to the Vinmart nearby and bought garlic and lettuce by myself, it would be faster and more efficient! The only who really tried to look after our table and served us immediately what we ordered and with smiles was the manager/duty supervisor. She really did a...

Poor experience overall. Meat quality was pretty poor (some very tough), only two sauces available, and servers forgot to bring at least 1 of every 3 dishes that we ordered. The light above our grill was broken as well, meaning we had to regularly rotate it to see which meat was cooked. This would be fine if the price were, say, 150k, but at 329k/person, I have higher expectations that were not met.

Beyond all that, there were also multiple hygiene concerns: one chef who didn't wash her hands after using the bathroom and one service staff who sneezed on one of the sauce bottles then served...