Chookie's Beer Garden — Restaurant in Ninh Bình Province

How on earth this place has 4.6 with 600+ ratings is beyond me. It was the worst food we’ve had in a month of being in Vietnam.

Both our dishes were practically inedible and tasteless. I firstly ordered sausages and mashed potatoes which was a steep 180k and my partner ordered the fish and chips. My food came and it was 2 chipolata sausages on a bed of what I can only describe as slop ,but somehow with lumps of undercooked potato in it. We had to send it back and I exchanged this for the fish and chips. Only to find his food too was awful. Undercooked fish that was sloppy and gloopy instead of flakey. Picture below. I quickly changed my order to a beef burger and thought they couldn’t mess that up.

Turns out I was wrong. Not only was the patty flavourless, it was again, sloppy, undercooked and like eating wet cardboard. I’ve attached a picture below of the consistency of the meat as I couldn’t finish it. The outside of the patty was cooked somewhat but the entire middle was like it was boiled.

See we totally understand that cooking Western food isn’t the norm in Vietnam so we know there’s a lot of room for error and different interpretations of western dishes…and we just fancied something a little different and a taste of home. But when we saw a Western chef in the kitchen and the menu, we assumed this would be promising accompanied by the reviews.

Our server was wonderful and she felt so bad that the food was so disappointing. She was so helpful and accommodating and we really enjoyed chatting to her so the front of house staff are really wonderful. It’s the food that has brought me to write this review.

As we were leaving I asked the table next to us how their food was and they said it was bad and disappointing too. Sometimes you get a bad meal somewhere and I understand that things happen. But after ordering 3 dishes and all of them being awful and the table next to us not enjoying their food either, it’s not a coincidence.

The ingredients looked good quality it’s just the execution of cooking them that is so so bad. The place looks fantastic and it’s super stylish, so it’s easy to think you’ll be getting good food to match the efforts of their decor and branding….

I’m sorry if this comes across as harsh but they need to have a real look at their recipes and try their own food. Save your money and go elsewhere or just skip the western food cravings...

Beautiful setting with disappointing service

The atmosphere and setting were lovely—we were seated by the pool right away, which was a great start. Our waiter, Bin, came over promptly to take our order.

However, I found his body language and approach quite disengaged. While taking our drinks and food order for our family of four, he leaned on the table and looked around rather than interacting with us directly. He also didn’t confirm the order before leaving, which led to confusion later.

Drinks for my husband and daughter arrived, but mine—a Margarita cocktail—was delayed by about 15–20 minutes. When it did arrive, it turned out to be a Margherita pizza instead. While I understand how this mix-up could happen, the waiter’s response was surprisingly confrontational rather than apologetic.

The food also arrived at very different times. My husband and I had already finished our meals before our daughters’ food even came out, which was disappointing and made the meal feel disjointed. When my daughter’s steak sandwich finally arrived, the chips were cold and soggy—adding to the overall frustration.

To top things off, when we went to pay the bill by credit card, we were told there would be an 8% surcharge added for using a card—something that wasn’t mentioned beforehand. Just a heads-up for anyone planning to pay by card.

This interaction unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the evening. Service felt impersonal and unwelcoming, and we experienced long waits for both food and drinks.

Overall, while the location is undeniably beautiful, the service and food did not meet expectations. For me, the setting is the only highlight—I wouldn’t return based on...

Disappointing experience. We were recommended to visit Choki Beer during our two-night stay in Ninh Binh. On the first night, we arrived at 8:28 PM and were told the kitchen was already closed — even though the restaurant was full of people eating. Strange, but we gave it another chance.

On the second night, we came back hoping for a better experience. Instead, my wife had a cockroach crawl on her shirt, and a rat literally walked over my feet. When we told the staff, they didn’t seem to care much — they just moved us to another table without providing new cutlery or napkins.

We ordered two burgers. One came without fries, and we were told the fries would come “later.” Overall, an unpleasant and unhygienic experience. Definitely not recommending this place.

After the unpleasant experience I had at Choki Beer, I still went to the counter to pay my bill and calmly explained everything that had happened: a cockroach on my wife’s shirt, a rat running over my feet, poor service, and missing items in our meal. Sadly, the response was complete indifference — no apology, no gesture of goodwill, not even a simple acknowledgment.

This level of service and hygiene is unacceptable. I understand things can go wrong, but the lack of care or responsibility was shocking. I’m leaving this second review because people deserve to know what kind of place this is. I won’t be coming back, and I don’t recommend...