2nd trip to HMC and was staying at the Park Hyatt. Decided to try Square One for some local cuisine and it was excellent. Nice ambience and great service with the server explaining in detail about the dishes. She also made great recommendations on what to order and portion sizes. The mixed appetizer dish, steamed bass and coconut nut lollipops for dessert where the highlight.
The lamb chop is absolutely fantastic at the raw stage but I requested for medium rare tho. I want a little bit further cooked and they got me well done. One of the staff that looks like a discipline teacher does not have any smile on his face, hope he is having a great day still. The manager is at good attitude when handling my comments. I was leaving at that moment so I just want to pass the message . The vietnam tasting platter is nice tho! There are hard elements inside the Escargot and not quite acceptable The beef tartare seems “nice”, the flavour of the herbs covered the beef’s original taste, I am not sure whether they have prepared too much for the staff to put in or there is no lesson for staff and lead to over-seasoning. It is very quiet too, the staff kept asking and giving bread to the only other table (2 mature guy), but they just came over once even we are less than 3m apart. No other customer apart from us and the 2 mature guys at the store.
I visited Square One in Saigon with my aunt and my sister Olivia Maire. We had a wonderful dining experience. We ordered quite a lot to share. Everything was beautifully presented and full of flavor. For my main course, I had the 250g Wagyu tenderloin, and it was absolutely delicious! Perfectly cooked, incredibly tender and full of rich flavor. For dessert, I had the lava cake with vanilla ice cream and it was just as impressive: warm, soft and the perfect sweet finish to the meal. The atmosphere, the quality of the food and the overall experience were outstanding. I recommend it! 👍
Similar to Now’s review, a majority of the food was fantastic, but the service was below average for fine dining at the Park Hyatt. Staff were friendly, but they were missing a lead waiter / maître d. No explanation of the menu and only got the value add advice from one of the initial waiters that advised we have ordered enough for our group and the sommelier with his great recommendation for a right bank French wine. The other negative was the kids waiting for their meals for 45 mins for an entree (ciabatta toast) and then one child waiting close to another 45 mins for his penne bolognaise. This was being managed by the Italian restaurant within the Park Hyatt. For the positives - most of the dishes were fantastic. I would highly recommend the lobster noodles, crab soup, spring roles and soft shell crab. Get advice for wine selection from the sommelier - he didn’t try to rip us off at all. Wine he recommended was only under double the price of retail which is great value for fine dining. I would have expected 3x mark up. Unfortunately I don’t check the champagne price and they got me there hahaha. Hopefully the restaurant improves the service and story telling. Some dishes can improve but 85% of our dishes were excellent. Not cheap but it’s Vietnamese French fine dining.
The food and atmosphere of the restaurant are wonderful, but the service is terrible. I visited for lunch. The Vietnamese dishes, adapted to be more accessible for international guests, were visually appealing and delicious. The dessert crepes were exquisite, and it was fascinating to see them cooked right in front of us; however, caution is needed due to the remaining alcohol. Unfortunately, the service was extremely disappointing. The staff was not only unfriendly, but none of the details I discussed over the phone in advance were communicated at all. The warm main dishes were served while we were still eating our appetizers, so by the time we got to them, they were already cold. The birthday plate I had reserved by phone was provided when we received the bill (after we had already finished the dessert, leading to a second dessert being served…). This was the worst service I have ever experienced, especially in a first-class hotel. While this may be one of the top luxury hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, the service at this restaurant is shocking if you have any expectations.
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