[English review] As a longtime Kpop & Kdrama Vietnamese fan, I had to come to check in at this cute little restaurant myself when I finally had a chance to visit my homeland again: DonSalon (Heo Salon Saigon), under Sunwah Pearl apartment building in Hồ Chí Minh City, Việt Nam (former Bình Thạnh District area), since various Kpop idols and Korean celebs came there + some Vietnamese celebs too~ 🇻🇳🇰🇷 💞 Personally excited for TEMPEST, Blackpink members, Yujin (IVE), Kwangsoo, and few others! 💞 • Overall foods were freshhh, very soft meat/skin, tastyyy (for me), good portions (for 2) • Precooked meat! = quick + convenient + no smokey scent lingering around the restaurant nor on clothing/hair + no constantly worrying about grilling and just eat away (although I like to cut them even smaller as I prefer small wraps of many things together—they did provide scissors and thongs) • Acceptable price point for the location & type of food, although a bit high in Vietnam (under 900k VND or ~$34 USD for 2 persons) • Your expected basic KBBQ, with good refillable banchan and not too many options on the menu (I do prefer some more choices of drinks, deserts & types of fresh veggies) • Very polite staff, aka the Korean middle-aged man (maybe he’s the owner?), the other girls did not talk much • Small space but roomy, clean & not busy at all during late lunch on a Saturday • Nice choices of Kpop as background music—not too loud for easy chatting • Highlight: and of course we can’t forget the photos & signatures of some Kpop idol & celebs on the outside of their door—not much but still recommend checking them out while in Vietnam! Although menu options is not really suitable for 1 person to eat alone—much better for a group/family gathering—and a bit high price for Vietnam, not perfect perfect in every single aspects, but I did really enjoy the foods here! By dish: - The 5 types of precooked meat for 2 persons was a great choice. DonSalon uses 72hrs water aging method for their meat, so everything was quite soft and nice. Even the pork skin is soft & yummy, not giving the too-fatty-mouth-feel if ya know what I meant. - Most sauces and banchan were to my tastes~ - The cold noodle bowl was huge, so fresh and flavorful too, just the half boiled egg in it was quite dry/overcooked. I really enjoyed the banchan egg instead. 😉 - Beef tartare with egg yolk was super fresh, as well as the provided salad and veggies for meat wrapping. - Mango soda with bits of mango was quite refreshing although not as exactly my favorite drink; its pineapple shaped glass was nice though. Didn’t need the full glass of ices for the small roasted rice drink by the way, since its bottle came out cold already. First time ever I didn’t have to ask for more banchan at a KBBQ because I was somehow full, haha. Next time returning to Vietnam I’ll comeback to try for sure the jokbal, maybe soups and deserts. Thanks DonSalon! 🙏🏻☺️
