Brio Thao Dien — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

I recently dined at this restaurant with my family, and while the customer service was good, our experience with the food was mixed.

We started by ordering the linguine with prawns as a starter for my parents. For their main courses, they had the vegetarian lasagna and the sea bass. My wife and I decided on three dishes: the ibérico pork, rigatoni amatriciana, and the pesto and mortadella pizza, telling the staff they could bring them in any order.

The lasagna for my mother arrived first, followed by the linguine with prawns, and then the sea bass. About 30 minutes later, our pizza arrived, which was okay. Another 15 minutes later, we received the ibérico pork, but it was completely raw. We asked for it to be cooked more, and after 5 minutes, it returned still looking like a piece of raw pork. Realizing they didn't know how to cook it properly, we changed our order to seafood spaghetti, which was just okay.

When asked if everything was alright, we mentioned the issue with the pork, highlighting that serving it raw is potentially dangerous. The manager insisted that this is how they serve it. As a Spanish person who has eaten ibérico my whole life, I explained that it can be a little pink but certainly not raw. The manager stood by their method of preparation.

In conclusion, be really careful if ordering the pork here and be aware that they won’t bring the food at...

I've tried several Italian restaurants in Vietnam, this place is truly qualified fine dining and the best value for money considering pricing (spoil alert: 200K for magherita pizza).

In my pictures: Pesto Duck and Margherita Pizza for main courses; and Lava Cake for dessert. I was impressed by how tender the duck steak was and its beautiful garnish, not exgaterating to say it's the best duck I've ever had. Then the pizza had a nice balance in taste, thinner layer of cheese that really popped the tomato sauce flavor, and not too salty like in most Italian places I've tried. Lastly the ava cake was absolutely delicious!

Chef James, the head chef is also a great person to meet here, if you're curious about what ingredients that your food is made from, you can totally ask him, he'll explain it all. You might be surprised by his cooking skills, how he turned a common ingredient into such a delightful taste that you're no longer familiar with :D

Service in general was very professional. Really nothing to complain overall, but if anything needs improvement, I wish the waiters/waitresses would ask both of the consumers for their feedback after meal, not only the one that ordered the food out of menu (and lady first if...

I ordered the octopus pasta, but I was served a meat pasta instead. Since it was clearly not octopus just by looking at it, I asked the staff, “Is this really the octopus pasta?” I was told twice, “Yes, it is.” Even though I had my doubts, I tried it — but it was definitely meat, not octopus. I then asked to see the menu and pointed to the dish to confirm, and only then did the staff admit that it had been a mistake.

Although they apologized, they suggested that I just go ahead and eat it as it was. Since I’m not comfortable eating meat, I asked, “How long would it take to make the correct dish?” They told me it would take 30 minutes. My partner’s pasta had already arrived, and I didn’t want to wait that long, so I reluctantly agreed to swap dishes with my partner.

I really don’t think it should take 30 minutes to remake a pasta dish — it felt more like they just didn’t want to bother with making it again.

When it came time to pay, they offered a 20k discount, but I didn’t quite understand it. I wasn’t asking for a discount, and I also don’t know how they came up with the 20k amount in the first place.

The food itself was delicious, and I had liked the place, which makes this experience all the more...