Layla - Eatery & Bar — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Management changed I think This is my 4th visit , quality has plummeted.

Under staffed , I ordered for milkshake with ice cream , Was given with straw only , no spoon . I had to ask for it .

3 people were involved for just 1 table

Person 1 - took my order Person 2 - served me & took the cash at last Person 3 - who gave my bill ( 3 different people )

I paid my bill But no one came to take the money from my table so I had to wave & call the girl who served me .

Service is poor , lack of co ordination .

Food quality is far less than my expectation . My first 3 visits to this place was good . ( 5/5 for my first 3 visit )

NOTE - September 2022 , first visit , September 2023 - second & third visit .

This is my 4th visit . ( 1/5 for this time )

July 2024 - fourth visit .

I wouldn’t recommend this place to foreign people .

RACIST ! I noticed they serve well & focus on Vietnamese customers only .

I looked around , I saw few Europeans in one table , another had some Russians, service was poor for them too .

First priority & allocation of staff given to Vietnamese customers only because owner believes they come back often .

Not a wise way to run & expand a business in my opinion .

I would not recommend this place & I am not...

Note: this was a Saturday so maybe that is the reason*

Tried to book a table for 2 and told it was too full but on. The phone I was told I could sit at the bar as there was only two people and the booking confirmed and my name given. They also agreed to help me with a table once I arrived.

When I arrived they said no space available and that bookings are not allowed, first problem. I would have rather them said it's too full and I could have chose a different place to meet up.

They were kind enough to find me a table after 10 minutes but when ordering a cocktail it started to get full rather quickly. Customers were just left hanging around my table area where I was getting elbows near my face and random people literally leaning on my table while I was waiting for my friend (not very romantic). Was expecting something a bit more relaxed but it seems to be just a lot of people getting very loudly drunk on expensive drinks. In the end I decided to rush down my 180k long island cocktail and left to take my friend to another bar.

2 stars only because they did find me a table and apologized

Not a place I will be returning to...

I was really looking forward to trying this bar as I'm a huge fan of their other bar Summer Experiment. Unfortunately the experience wasn't great.

The bartender preparing our drinks was sick, blowing their nose and then continuing to make drinks without washing their hands. Definitely a huge red flag especially in these post pandemic times. I had to send one drink back because I wasn't comfortable drinking from the same glass he was touching.

Usually I sit at the bar just to get a bit more guidance from the bartenders on cocktail recommendations and finding what maps best to my preferences. However, this was the first bar in a long time where there was 0 interactions with the bar tenders, not even a quick how does it taste. It was also difficult to get service as I'd need to flag down staff working the tables to order.

Cocktails and food were good, but overall service experience means I can't really recommend it. Definitely recommend summer experiment instead if looking for more of a proper cocktail...