Sài Gòn Kitchen Vina — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Sài Gòn Kitchen Vina: A Disappointing Tourist Trap in Central Ho Chi Minh City

Seeking a well-reviewed local dining experience after a day of exploring Ho Chi Minh City's central attractions, we stumbled upon Sài Gòn Kitchen Vina. While prepared for varying service standards common in Vietnam, our immediate impression upon entering was one of unwelcome.

The youth and apparent inexperience of the entire staff, from the front-of-house to the kitchen, were quickly noticeable. Waiters seemed disengaged, more focused on their mobile phones and internal chatter than attending to customers, creating a rather unwelcoming atmosphere.

As anticipated for a restaurant in a tourist-heavy area, the prices were higher. However, this expectation was compounded by the significant disappointment in the food's execution. It was evident that the kitchen lacked experienced hands. Our pork fat, for instance, was not properly rendered, resulting in an unappetizingly chewy texture. Similarly, the grilled skewers were barely cooked, indicating insufficient grilling time.

We left Sài Gòn Kitchen Vina with a sense of regret, feeling we had made a poor dining choice. The addition of a service charge only further exacerbated our dissatisfaction. Given the high prices and poorly executed food, we cannot recommend Sài Gòn Kitchen Vina unless one is truly desperate for a meal in the...

Food is delicious and flavorful. However service was so strange. I ordered 2 dishes, but 20 mins later after we finished the first dish, the second dish still didn't come. There were many servers and one of them was rude when I mentioned the free drink for review on Google. The whole restaurant had 2 tables w customers including mine, and yet they forgot 1 of my 2 ordered dishes. When I asked them, one of them told me that the dish ingredients price went up so it would charge more to order, also that they forgot to make it. It was incredibly shady and stupid, and I was ready to give them a great Google review bc I also came for lunch and the food and drink were good in general. The price of the dish in the pic is 200k but now that I think about it, it's...

So glad I found this little gem. Food was so good and the staff was pleasant. I thought it took a little long for my food order but it may be because I was dining alone and got bored. I would probably give the atmosphere a 4 but I also didn't know if that was due to dining alone. I ordered the vermicelli with grilled pork with some spring rolls. Everything was just as expected and tasted delicious. Tables could be a little cleaner and the floor needs to be cleaned more often. I watched staff clean table with cloth and sweep things on the floor. That stuff stayed on the floor for the...