Vanakkam Indian Family Restaurant - Taste of india — Restaurant in Hạ Long City

We visited Ha Lang Bay in November 2023 for one night. Upon arriving at the hotel after a flight to Hanoi and then a ride to Halong Bay we were kind of tired and wanted something light for dinner so searched for a place close to the hotel. We searched for a restaurant that offered a decent selection of vegetarian food with no MSG and discovered tmost places were serving seafood (as expected since even our guide said Halong Bay is known for good sea food) or if they had any veggie dishes it had MSG. We finally found an Indian restaurant about 5 miles away from our hotel that had good ratings on the web and took ook a Grab taxi ride to the restaurant.

The taxi driver dropped us off and it did not seem like much activity around the restaurant. Anyway we entered the restaurant and found out main dining area was upstairs and an employee of the restaurant took you up the elevator. When we entered the 2nd floor it is a pretty big restaurant area but only about 3-4 tables were occupied which seemed odd for a Sunday evening. The server

Food - The menu is a mix of north and South Indian food. Since we wanted light snacks type food , we only ordered Aloo Paratha, Jeera Raita & Poha. Upon ordering the server asked us what spice level we wanted so we ordered medium (as sometimes spicy can be very spicy especially in South Indian restaurants). Surprisingly food took quite a while, even by vietnamese standard, before it was served to us. That was surprising considering there were only 3-4 other tables occupied. Maybe their kitchen staff was occupied with other orders or had less staff. The Aloo Paratha and Poha was good , better than what we initially expected . The raita was not very good as it was kind of watery - too liquidy (it seemed like they had taken buttermilk or chase/lassi and basically used that to make raita). Also after dinner we ordered masala indian tea and they said they could make it for us. But after 15 minutes they said they could no longer make it as chefs in kitchen were busy with other orders - that was a disappointment

Service - the Server Can was very good, friendly and a good sense of humor. As mentioned she did ask us what spice level we wanted and explained what the levels would be from an indian point of view vs a vietnamese or western point of view. That was a sign of a well trained server. She did apologize for the delay in order and the fiasco on the masala tea order (not her fault). She did inform us they had many take out orders and also they were expecting a large number of people from a tour group to come later on in the evening (we did notice that they then put reserved signs on about 8-10 large round tables ).

Ambiance - nothing great 2 fairly large dining rooms 1 with an outside view. Music blaring from a a TV screen in teh room. Maybe not a priority for the owners , but with some decor improvements and more kitchen staff, this place could attract more folks and also have a better dining experience

Overall Couple of food items good but based on the significant time from order to serve and the tea fiasco, not had a very good experience. Kudos to server Can for the service...

First and foremost this place is savior for all craving for Indian food. One of the must places to try if u really want a break from the seafood and Vietnamese delicacies.

Pros: 1 very good food, we tried butter chicken friend rice .. it is amazing authentic North Indian. The butter tandoor roti ,lassi, chilly chicken were all too good . Special mention to the rotis freshly made and served piping hot. Chef Rohit Sharma amazing and really friendly. He understands the need cookies exactly considering the kids. Thanks Rohit for going the extra mile. 2 . The staff is really courteous and they go long way to make you feel at ease. Ambience is also comfy and u feel at home at this place.

Con: If I have to say something : Location is easy to find on google but with no visible board it is bit difficult to know the exact place. But for us we called the contact number and the owner came out and guided us so was easy and she said they planning to put a bigger sign board so may be it is changed now.

All in all I would strongly recommend the place , please do try out if u in need of proper north...

If you read this review and love Indian food, then you should definitely try this place out. We checked out this place out of a whim and when we arrived for an early dinner (we have a 1yo) the place was empty and made us worry we might have picked the wrong place. However, the guy helping us was very welcoming and helpful and even suggested us to take less options because in his own words: “let’s not waste food and money” and he was right! The portions we got was more than enough and we even had some to take away. The food was amazing, plenty of vegan and non vegan options, and I’ll definitely suggest it to everyone visiting the city. A typical place where you shouldn’t judge the book by its cover. Definitely...