Lupin Bistrot et Vins — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

I think mistakes happen in every restaurant every day and restaurants don’t deserve to get bad reviews just because of an honest mistake.

Not so much the case at Lupin. I booked a table in advance for an early dinner. There were only two other tables when we arrived. We ordered fairly quickly, not that we were in a rush by any means. The starter arrived within a few minutes and was great!

After that we waited over 40 minutes for our mains to arrive - just a medium rare beef steak and a bone marrow. That’s a very long wait between dishes, but we couldn’t help notice that table after table seemed to be arriving, ordering, and receiving food long after we had arrived. When a table of 8 (8!!) arrived after our starter had been cleared, ordered and received all of their food and our mains still hadn’t showed up I assumed a mistake might have been made.

I asked the staff if they knew what was going on. I watched them go huddle at the bar and start frantically looking at receipts. They picked up the phone and called up to the kitchen.

I’d expect someone to come over and say hey, we’re really sorry, the kitchen never received your order. We’re making it as fast as we can. This is so obviously what had happened - at this point we are almost an hour since we’d arrived and this is a medium rare steak? It takes five minutes to cook.

But no, the staff came back and said the kitchen was busy and can we please be patient. No acknowledgement that any mistake had been made or anything was out of the ordinary. To make matters worse, the table of EIGHT PEOPLE have finished all of their food at this point and their desserts have arrived. They arrived half an hour after we did and ordered starters and mains? Sixteen dishes? We’re still over here waiting for a medium rare steak?

The table of two behind us, who also arrived way after we did, are paying their bill and leaving at this point. But the staff aren’t acknowledging that anything is amiss about our table?

We continue waiting and eventually decide to call it quits and go home. We’re at an hour and 20 minutes since we’d arrived at this point. Of course, right as we ask for the bill so we can go home the food finally shows up.

Two big points for me that prompted me to leave a bad review:

1. when we first asked if there was any problem with our food, your staff blatantly realised that a mistake had been made and called the kitchen to put our order through. They then chose not to tell us.

2. the floor manager came to our table and said ‘I hear the food took a little longer? Sorry about that.’

I don’t think this was anywhere near good enough. ‘A little longer’ - you took over an hour to cook a medium rare steak. I think that phrasing was passive aggressive and made us out to be impatient guests.

Nothing was offered by way of apology. Lupin’s a never...

Dinner at Lupin Bistrot & Vins – HCMC

After a long day working from home, we finally made it to Lupin Bistrot & Vins — a long-overdue visit already postponed twice. Tucked away in a warm, inviting corner of Saigon, the bistro delivers a French dining experience with a modern, playful twist. The setup is charming — from the glowing Bar à Vin counter to the long communal table framed by colorful art and wine cork walls, the atmosphere feels equally suited for a date night or a convivial gathering with friends.

We started with L’Assiette Lupin — a generous charcuterie board — before moving on to the highlight of the evening: le jarret (lamb shank), which isn’t on the menu yet but was melt-in-the-mouth tender and deeply flavorful. The pumpkin and zucchini ravioli was delicate and balanced, bringing a light, elegant touch to the meal.

We followed with the Fromages des Frères Marchand — a minimal selection for the price — and ended with the Baba au Rhum. While the local rum used in the baba was excellent, the cake itself leaned a bit dry.

The wine list is well-curated — we enjoyed a bottle of Modeste, a French wine with a poetic backstory that paired beautifully with the meal.

Bottom line: Lupin has a great vibe, attentive service, and a limited but well-executed menu. While a couple of dishes could be fine-tuned, it’s definitely a place worth trying if you’re in the mood for French bistro...

We went here for a special anniversary dinner.

We were greeted with a friendly smile and taken to a beautiful little table. The ambience, music and decor transported us straight to a little bistro in France. The waiter who served us was incredibly polite, welcoming and knowledgeable.

The food was fantastic. We tried the half roast chicken which was juicy and full of flavour - cooked to perfection. We also had a wonderful small plate of duck liver pate and a side of roasted vegetables which were both excellent.

There's a great selection of wine by the glass and advice on hand if you want to know what will go well with your meal.

Just as we were finishing the owner (I presume) came over to personally deliver a delicious dessert on the house for our anniversary.

This was such a special and memorable night. The food is fantastic, but the real draw which distinguishes Lupin from other restaurants is the atmosphere and service.

We both left incredibly chuffed and grateful to the wonderful staff.

The fact that the restaurant was packed on a Tuesday night speaks volumes. No matter how busy it was, the service was always swift and friendly.

This is a real gem and a perfect place for celebrating a...