Sorae Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

I wish I could give this restaurant a five star review. They have what it takes for that, but they lack in preparedness.

I came with my wife in our trip to Vietnam, because every single site pointed Sorae as one of the best Japanese restaurants in town. We were drawn to the many positive reviews we read and made a dinner reservation.

We sat down in this beautiful table with dim lights ambience and got their menu. Great variety of dishes and very enticing options with high-quality ingredients. We ordered salmon and fatty tuna sashimi for starters and some cocktail drinks. We waited for about 10 minutes before the waitress came back to tell us they had run out of tuna. Wow, a Japanese restaurant that doesn’t have ANY tuna. Ok, we said. Let’s try something else. We then proceeded to order a wagyu dish. To our surprise, the waitress came back a few minutes later also to tell us they had ALSO run out of wagyu for the night. We ordered a Salmon taco, which was basically a sashimi in a cracker. You can guess it by now, but they also told us the crackers had run out and couldn’t provide that dish. At this point we simply gave up on trying and stuck to Salmon, which we knew was STILL available. And let me tell you, they were really good. And if I had had a similar experience with other dishes I’m sure I would’ve given this restaurant a 5 star, but I simply cannot condone with the fact that a restaurant of this size, name and magnitude could run out in one night of so many key ingredients to its cuisine. That simply is not allowed to happen in high end dinning. They’re not running a restaurant inspired by Taylorism with minimum stock and maximum efficiency. It’s a restaurant’s obligation to be prepared for occasions when demand is higher than expected, and have an acceptable minimum stock of its ingredients to provide its customers with top-notch quality service. I consider that unacceptable.

They gave us a tea-like drink and a 15% discount as an apology for having tried to order 10 different dishes that were out of stock. I recognize that, at the very least, they were reasonable enough to understand how bad and unacceptable the situation was, and tried to make up for it with freebies and discounts, but still… I had a $200 dinner experience where I was basically obliged to order what was left. Food was great, but that’s far from a memorable experience.

3 stars out of 5, but maybe in a different day I would’ve given them a 5 star review. They have great food, and surprisingly I would still recommend this restaurant for anyone luckier than we were. With luck, you may have a great time, as per...

The worst ever service I have witnessed in Vietnam. They very rudely tell you “we only overcharge you and if you cannot afford, you leave. And even if you can afford, we’ll treat you as bad as possible”. Wow!! Even in the small shops anywhere in Vietnam you get far better service. I believe it is a management issue that they train the waitresses to ensure that everyone spends at least 1.500.000 VND and they think that being able to sit on 52nd floor will fulfill whatever falls under service quality. Sorry, but you really need to treat the customers respectfully first and the rest (view, etc.) comes later

The story is that after enjoying our drinks at the bar on 51st floor at sunset, we thought it would be a good idea to try the Japanese food on the next floor. We asked if there are places available and got the for sure answer from the lady from the bar, who guided us there

The positive winds changed as soon as the waitress took over there. No smile, no friendly attitude. Fair enough, people can have bad days. We made almost a round in the restaurant through empty tables, where there is beautiful view on Saignon river and bridges. But she stopped us at the end of the restaurant next to kitchen entrance and disappeared. Without understanding why we cannot sit in any of the empty tables, we waited for her to come back. When she finally made it back to us (no idea why it could take so long in an empty restaurant), we asked if we can sit somewhere else. The answer was a cold “no, they are reserved”. Really?! At 7 pm, 90% of the restaurant empty and you even did not ask us how long we plan to stay (in fact we had max 1 hour to stay but she did not bother to ask such a question at all). And while I was trying to explain that we really do not stay long, she even did not listen and just repeated like a machine “you have to spend at least 1.500.000 VND per person” and left 😳😳😳 Wow!! I have witnessed quite a lot but such harsh and rude behaviour in a posh restaurant is a new experience

Dear Management, if I need to use the language you used towards us: “yes we can definitely afford 1.500.000 VND per person. But we choose not to waste our money sitting next to fire extinguishers, almost in front of kitchen with the view on construction site while there are so many empty tables in far better place. And when we spend our money, we as customers appreciate to be treated...

If there was an option to rate this resturant zero stars, I would. YOU GUYS RUINED MY VALENTINE'S DATE IN VIETNAM. It only comes around once a year and I was really exciting until I ate SORAE. First, me and my fiance went here for valentines day, they had us put down a deposit of 1,000,000 vnd which i thought was weird. They also had a set menu for Valentine's day. We get to the resturant they greeted us and just sat us down, 15 minutes go by and they finally ask us "What we wanted to drink ?". Whatever, then the server brings out our first appetizer. Then comes time for the second appetizer, BUT WAIT we weren't done with our first appetizer yet and they decided to bring out the second one. Then comes out the rest of the food one at a time, then we stop at the waygu A4 part of the menu. They let us sit for 25 - 30 minutes before telling us the kitchen was behind and asked us if they could bring out the soup. We agreed to it since we had been already sitting there for a long period of time with nothing in front of us. Then as soon as we finished the soup they switched it out quickly as if they were trying to rush. Meanwhile the soup was cold, WHICH I THOUGHT the soup was supposed to be hot? Also, while trying to correct the menu they brought us out cold waygu which totally ruined the taste of the waygu. Then sushi was next and let me tell you that was the most DISGUSTING sushi I have ever had it was so bland, no taste to it at all. Lastly, was the desert. The desert was just as bad as the service and the rest of the meal. The frosting they used to draw the letters on the plate was so disappointing. It was salty and left a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, it was a terrible experience and I wish I could say something nice but it was just terrible overall. I spent a total of 2,500,000 vnd per person and I do not think it was worth this price. I guess i paid just for the view not the service or the food. Sorae not...