Stella Restaurant

The quest for halfway decent food in the Pham Ngu Lao area in HCMC continued yesterday. The town was heaving with the up-coming "Liberation Day" (North Vietnam "liberated" South Vietnam on this day in 1975) on the 30th of April; followed by May Day. All I wanted was a quick bite to eat so the first stop was at a "Subway" on Pham Ngu Lao proper. The conversation went something like this:

Young male sales person that would rather have been somewhere else (YMSPTWRHBSE): Good evening.

Yours truly (YT): Good evening.

YMSPTWRHBSE: What do you want?

YT: (looking around a branch of Subway): a sandwich I guess.

YMSPTWRHBSE: What bread?

YT: Rye?

YMSPTWRHBSE: Finished.

YT: Wheat?

YMSPTWRHBSE: Finished.

YT: Right, what do you actually have?

YMSPTWRHBSE: White bread (which I do not like).

YT: No choice, I guess.

YMSPTWRHBSE: (pointing at the displays behind him) Which sandwich?

YT: I'd like to build my own.

YMSPTWRHBSE: Cannot.

YT: The sign here says I can?

YMSPTWRHBSE: If you insist (unhappily).

YT: Bye-bye.

This little chat set the tone for the evening. Next stop was the Boston Pizza and Sports Bar on 175/6 on Pham Ngu Lao. I was getting hungry now but the visit here was short-lived too. What appeared to be the owner/manager was sitting at the bar working very hard to dislodge something from his teeth. This one I could have ignored, but I was not so happy with the waitress doing the "what do you want" bit. How about parting with my hard-earned cash to get some food and less questions? Whilst waiting for my Strawberry smoothie I took a couple of picture. Now the waitress got really rude; giving me the 3rd degree as to why I was taking pictures. So up I got and continued looking for food (yes, I did pay for the smoothie even though I did not actually have it.

Next stop a branch of Wayne's Texas BarBQ on Bui Vien. I hear the steaks are pretty good here, but I never got that far. Asked for an OJ: finished. Asked for fresh coconut juice: finished (in Vietnam, a country with more coconut palms than motorbikes).

Menu has a good selection without being worryingly large.

I was ready to go to bed and cry myself to sleep when I walked past the Stella on 121 Bui Vien. I had walked past this place a few times before, noting that they are not exactly bashful, with a big sign proclaiming they have the "Best coffeein town" and also thinking they should find someone to correct their sign.

The interior is not much to write home about, but I was greeted by a couple of very friendly waitresses. A clean and fairly extensive menu was presented in no time at all and once again the waitress was on the ball, quickly taking the order.

The interior does not exactly scream "Italian".

I ordered a Beef Carpaccio which at USD 5.00 was not the cheapest starter available. However, the Chef was not miserly with the beef, there was heaps of it. The color was a little strange, a bright pink, but the quality was very good. The lettuce the beef was on was fresh and the Parmesan was better than what many Italian restaurants serve. I would change the vinegar used in the dressing though. It was obviously a cheaper vinegar which was sour in a not so nice way.

Plenty of meat and yes, the color did look a tad strange.

I ordered Saltimbocca as a main dish, like most dishes it was around USD 5.00. Beers go from just over USD 2.00 with milk shakes and juices from USD 1.50 to USD 2.00. As this came with either vegetables or mashed potatoes, I ordered the potatoes and a "Insalata Stella". The Saltimbocca arrived after about 20 minutes and both meat and mashed potatoes were piping hot, the way it should be. The meat was excellent, though obviously not veal which is hard to get in Vietnam (and the menu did say that the meat was pork loin); well grilled without being dry. The sauce was great as well, though I did miss the sage. Not sure what the herbs were but they had little taste.

Excellent meat.

The salad was pretty good with decent Olives and Feta cheese; once again many Italian restaurants use awful Olives and plastic cheese; I'd go back for the salads alone. I will also have to go back for a coffee and verify their "best coffee in town" claim. Whilst I was having dinner a number of patrons came in just for the coffee, so maybe the owners are not exaggerating.

Massive salad and not stingy with the cheese.

The restaurant has an air-conditioned area; not common on Pham Ngu Lao but a welcome relief as it was stinking hot yesterday. Inside and air-conned also means some respite from the ever-present touts and trinket sellers that prowl the back-packer ghetto.

I saw some comments on the web that the Stella is too expensive. It might be a little bit more expensive than some of the dives in the Pham Ngu Lao area, but both service and quality of food are also considerably better. My total bill was less that USD 20.00 and I was close to bursting as the portions are certainly not small.

Update 18/05/2011:

The "best coffee in town" could not stand unchallenged so I went back for lunch today.

The Mozzarella salad was OK; the tomatoes were fresh and tasty but the Mozzarella was a little "blah".

The Tagliatelle al Funghi on the other hand were excellent. The sauce was expertly seasoned with the taste of the mushrooms really coming through. I'll go back for that one.

The coffee: couldn't order one last time as I went for dinner; if I have a coffee after 16:00 I'll be dancing the jitterbug all night. Today all I had to look forward to was a tedious meeting in the afternoon; perfect to try a coffee. I ordered a Cappuccino but I am still not sure if it is the best in town; haven't had enough coffee in HCMC yet.

One thing is for sure though, it has to be one of the friendliest coffees in town; first time a Cappuccino wished me a "Happy Day":

Service: **** Friendly and attentive.
Food: ****
Ambiance: ***
Value for money: ****

Recommended: Yes.

Crazy Buffalo, Saigon

The good thing about the Pham Ngu Lao area, home of banana pancakes, fisherman's pants and dreadlocks, is that my expectations are very low when it comes to food. Every so often though, even these low expectations are not met.

The "Crazy Buffalo, on the corner of Bui Vien and De Than certainly fits the bill. Impossible to miss with the garish neon lights and the very loud music. Getting closer, you will also notice the service staff being busy chatting with each other, screaming across the restaurant, and generally not being very interested in the guests. Don't get me wrong, they are friendly enough; but I guess this is what you get when you hire inexperienced high school kids.

Not exactly subtle.

Sitting down, I eventually managed to get the attention of one of the waitresses and got the menu. The drinks list is pretty extensive, with 13 different beers ranging from USD 2.00 - 3.00. Their "Outstanding Wine List" (their words, not mine) is less impressive, but I suppose one cannot expect much for USD 20.00 a bottle. Shakes and juices are USD 2.50, which I find rather expensive for Saigon and spirits are around USD 3.00, plus another Dollar if served with a mixer.

Good selection of juices and beers, at a price.

Food is mostly run-of-the mill with all the tourist restaurant staples: Pizza, Pasta, Burgers, and some Asian dishes. Again, not exactly cheap. Starters are on average USD 4.00, Burgers around USD 5.00, Pastas USD 4.50, Pizzas USD 7.00 and Western mains from USD 6.00, which is not too bad. Vietnamese dishes will set you back around USD 6.00.

PNL staples: Pasta, Pizza, Burger.

Prices do not include 5% service charge, and they tag on an additional 20% after midnight; this was a new one for me.

As I am no fan of fast food, I ordered the "Pan Seared Old Fashion Fish". Purportedly Sea Bass with "Fermanted Yazu crsusted" (they should pay some backpacker a beer to check their menu) with Polenta Cream and Smoky Sauce. Sounded pretty appetizing and I was looking forward to it.

The food came quickly enough, maybe too quick. I like my veggies crunchy, but the vegetables I got were raw and ice cold. The piece of fish was minuscule and I now know where the "Old Fashion Fish" comes from; the fish I got had been out of the water for a looong time. It was well cooked however, but smothered in salt. Still not sure what "Yazu" is, maybe Japanese for salt?. This is more than could be said for the Polenta cream; not only did it have the consistency of wet cardboard, it also tasted like I would imagine wet cardboard tastes. As for the "Smoky Sauce", I failed to detect any taste of smoky; actually I failed to detect any taste at all. The meal will go down as one of the blandest I have ever eaten; I had better food on planes or in hospitals.

Both presentation and taste pretty naff.

During all the time, the music was good (all 70's stuff) but way too loud. The owner needs to decide if he wants to run a restaurant or a club, both at the same time doesn't work. In particular as the waitresses shouted their orders right across the restaurant. They were also quite pushy, on more than one occasion they almost knocked me out of my chair as they passed.

The restaurant also serves Shisha (water pipe or Hookah), and the guy setting them up seemed to be the best staff in the restaurant. However, USD 10.00 a pipe is pretty exorbitant in my opinion.

Overall, not too great an experience even if one keeps in mind that the restaurant is located in the middle of the backpacker ghetto. The quest for good food in the Pham Ngu Lao area continues.

Service: ** Friendly, once you manage to get their attention
Food: *
Ambiance: * to *** Great for people watching, but too noisy and constant hassle from people trying to flog their wares.
Value for money: **

Recommended: Nope

Sala Baï Hotel School

The Sala Baï is not a "real" restaurant per se, rather it is an outlet of the Sala Baï Hotel School (more information here: http://www.salabai.com/html/index.php?p_lang=en) and is meant to give the students a chance to practice their newly learned skills. Thus, not only will you do a good deed when eating there, you will also come across lovely kids that try very hard to hide their trembling hands. I can sympathize with that; been there, done that. The restaurant is only open from Monday to Friday, opening hours are 07:00 - 09:00 and 12:00 - 14:00 and it is located on Taphul Street.

The restaurant interior. Nice enough.

As soon as you get there, you will be greeted by a very friendly hostess that will positively fuss over you. This attention continues; it can be a bit much at times but then do remember that they are still learning the ropes. The setting of the restaurant is nothing fancy but friendly enough (can a restaurant actually be friendly?). Lots of second-hand books in case the food takes a little longer, though I always found the service more than fast enough.

The menu is very small, but they do have a choice of an Asian or Western set menu that changes every week. The menus usually are between USD 6.00 and USD 8.00 for a three-course meal, I do think it is excellent value for money; I have eaten a lot worse for a lot more. Mind you, today I heard the next table complain that "c'est pas donné" (it is expensive), but then they were French and in my experience the French make everybody look like big spenders. Some people shouldn't travel, but maybe they were still pissed off at the dismal showing by the French national team in the World Cup. Drinks are USD 2.00 for fruit shakes, USD 2.00 for an Angkor can, and USD 3.50 for a glass of wine.

Watermelon Gazpacho! But the cheese was excellent.

We both had the Western menu, even though I am not a big fan of Gazpacho and even less of watermelon. I ordered it for the fresh cheese that came with it. I ended up eating my daughters Gazpacho, she likes it even less than I do. Bummer!

Pork chops with Mushroom Risotto.

The pork chops that came as the main dish were really good, as was the Risotto, though I would have preferred the latter just a little bit more "al dente"; it was a tad over-cooked. Like the service staff, the kitchen staff are also still learning; though they do better than a lot of the restaurants recommended by Lonely Planet....

I am on a chocolate diet.

The dessert was a highlight for me. According to the menu it was supposed to be a frozen chocolate cake; luckily it was more of a chocolate mousse and I will be damned if it wasn't one of the best I have had in Siem Reap!

This is certainly a restaurant I would recommend, but only to people that remember that things can go wrong. Having said that, in my 10 or so visits, this place has never let me down; no burnt food, no soup in my lap, just a bunch of extremely willing (if nervous) kids that would be a credit to many a regular restaurant out there.

Rating (out of 5):

Service: ***** (taking into account that they are trainees)
Food: ****
Ambiance: ***
Value for money: ****
Recommended: Absolutely; good food, good cause, what else could one wish for?