Jo's Cucina - Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Phú Quốc

My review is based on only 2 dishes that we tried, as they have very limited options for vegetarians/vegans.

We asked for the Spinach Capellini from the menu which is in tomato sauce, with olives and capers, and it had a V sign next to it for vegan, in the menu but we were told it had egg in it (and while we are not vegan, we don’t eat eggs) so we were told we could pick Bucatini with the same sauce. And we just asked for some bell peppers to be added as well.

It was served to us with some slices of red peppers but no olives and capers at all. And when we pointed this out, the chef was kind enough to take it back and add black and green olives but it still came without the capers. It was nice, not bad but nothing to rave about either but it was a simple dish and it would not be fair to judge their cooking based on this.

We also had the mango ice-cream (which they served complimentary when we put in a review) and it was really nice - very light and yet full of flavor, probably the best mango ice-cream we’ve had in Vietnam.

However, we got a bit of a surprise when we were handed over the bill, we were charged for Bucatini Carbonara, which was VND 70.000 more than the price for Spinach Capellini. And when we asked about this, the server said it was because we asked for the bell peppers. They just put less than half a bell pepper and charged VND 70.000 for it! It’s ridiculous that they compared it to ordering a dish with meat in it. This made our experience quite unpleasant and we asked the server to double check regarding this, she just went inside and never came out. We waited for 10 minutes...

Very "average" cuisine. I really don't think italians were the ones to give this restaurant so many positive reviews (based on the majority of tourist "origin" we can find here, that's understandable... To them it must taste like heaven).

Anyway, to give a fair review :

First of all, I was hugely disappointed by the fact that they don't provide wine by the glass (I have never seen this, even in the worst crappy restaurant, at least they have a "cheaper" house wine you can fallback to).

We ordered a "burrata" which tasted like ricotta (very crumbly when cutting it) and with a "truffle" taste that was inexistant (which is OK because I'm not a huge fan of truffle on burrata anyway).

We also ordered a focaccia that was very dry but tasted OK. They give a mix of Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (it would have been great to choose if we want olive oil separately or not...) to dip the focaccia.

My cacio e pepe pasta was overcooked (again, for an Italian taste) and the sauce was a bit runny and bland ("Phu Quoc" pepper was almost inexistant in the dish). But overall it was OK.

My wife's aglio olio came with some guanciale (why ??) but the spaghetti was cooked properly. She thought it was lacking a garlic taste (I think it was ok).

Lastly, we ordered a floorless chocolate cake that was surprisingly good and had some almond flavor (I suspect them using Orzata, which is not a bad idea).

So overall I think it doesn't deserve at all the current note (4.7 when writing this review). To explain the very average quality, I'm thinking they must be struggling to get Italian products to such a...

Surprisingly amazing restaurant!!! It was recommended by the JW Mariott’s staff as we stayed there for a week and get bored by hotel’s dishes. Come here for 3 days in a row for a dinner and we always ordered Truffle Mushroom Risotto. Apart from that we also tried their Aglio Olio, Spinach Capellini, Amalfi Pansotti, Mediteranian Salad, Waldorf Salad, Pannacotta and Tiramisu. It was great pleasing pastas, especially their Risotto! I’ve been trying different Risotto in other countries, like Australia, England and Italy, definitely their Risotto is one of the best!

The staffs were so friendly, polite and can speak decent English! They also provide complementary bread sticks. And when you enter their hotel, they serve infused water and meringue for complementary! Since I came 3 days in a row and tired their meringue, I asked the receptionist if I can buy the meringue, they said the stocks are limited and surprisingly they gave me the whole jar of meringue for free!!!

See you...