After reading a review of Stix Restaurant, District 3, our party of six decided it would be worth trying. Stix was described as ‘stylish restaurant serving up high-quality traditional Vietnamese cuisine with a modern twist’; this sounded an excellent way to show off the best of Vietnamese food to our overseas guests. The entrance to the building was certainly glitzy with an over- abundance of brilliant lights showcasing the location. We passed floor to ceiling wine racks as we were taken through the ground level and up the stairs to the first floor where we were seated at a long wooden table with a bench one side and high back chairs on the other. The whole ambience was stylish and modern.
It was still early in the evening and there were no other diners in the restaurant so the waiters were able to focus their attention on our table. Unfortunately from the beginning there was confusion due to lack of experience and language difficulties. Although they tried hard they lacked the skill level required for a restaurant of this calibre. The order for iced water as well as sparkling water took a long time to explain, then my enquiry as to whether the tofu had meat in the sauce (for a vegetarian) was not understood and we were served another tofu dish with mushrooms for which we were charged but hadn’t wanted. The lack of understanding and proficiency continued throughout our meal with every request becoming an ordeal.
We commenced with an excellent bottle of Australian wine (Penley Estate 2009) a rich chardonnay from the Coonawarra region (VND995,000). A great start while we looked at the menu. This was attractively presented in a hard cover but very extensive. My experience is that this generally means that it is difficult to have top quality food with too many dishes to prepare and this summation revealed itself to be the case.
For our first course we had a variety of entrees to share including Durian seafood spring rolls (VND145,000), deep fried tofu with Xichuan sauce (VND99,000) and roasted tiger prawns with garlic and chilli. The spring rolls were crispy and packed with seafood, not sure about the durian flavour, although subtle, it is an acquired taste. We had asked for the grilled prawn mousse roll wrapped on sugar cane but was told by the waitress that ‘they weren’t available as they weren’t delicious’. We did have a good laugh about that.
Our main courses, also to share, were chargrilled black cod fish with chilli and salt (VND545,000), pan fried salmon with XO sauce (VND295,000), sirloin steak with mustard and mushroom sauce (VND385,000), chargrilled rack of lamb with tropical herbs and red wine sauce (VND445,000). Unfortunately these were mostly a disappointment with the sirloin steak and pan fried salmon being almost raw and cold. When I asked for it to be warmed and cooked slightly more it was back within a couple of minutes after having been obviously put into the microwave which made it uneatable. The cod, however, was delicious.
Throughout our main course we had had to contend with the arrival of a large party in the centre of the dining room with lots of small children who were racing around with balloons, shrieking and yelling, which did rather spoil the ambience of a sophisticated and high-end restaurant with the prices reflecting this.
We decided to forego dessert and finished off an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia (The Cover Drive-Jim Barry) and beat a hasty retreat. The wine selection was superb but this restaurant has a few teething problems to overcome if they are to attract diners expecting high end food and service, which is currently not what they are getting but are paying for.
Stix Restaurant is at 15 Le Quy Don Street in HCMC’s District 3, tel: 08 2224 1781
It was still early in the evening and there were no other diners in the restaurant so the waiters were able to focus their attention on our table. Unfortunately from the beginning there was confusion due to lack of experience and language difficulties. Although they tried hard they lacked the skill level required for a restaurant of this calibre. The order for iced water as well as sparkling water took a long time to explain, then my enquiry as to whether the tofu had meat in the sauce (for a vegetarian) was not understood and we were served another tofu dish with mushrooms for which we were charged but hadn’t wanted. The lack of understanding and proficiency continued throughout our meal with every request becoming an ordeal.
We commenced with an excellent bottle of Australian wine (Penley Estate 2009) a rich chardonnay from the Coonawarra region (VND995,000). A great start while we looked at the menu. This was attractively presented in a hard cover but very extensive. My experience is that this generally means that it is difficult to have top quality food with too many dishes to prepare and this summation revealed itself to be the case.
For our first course we had a variety of entrees to share including Durian seafood spring rolls (VND145,000), deep fried tofu with Xichuan sauce (VND99,000) and roasted tiger prawns with garlic and chilli. The spring rolls were crispy and packed with seafood, not sure about the durian flavour, although subtle, it is an acquired taste. We had asked for the grilled prawn mousse roll wrapped on sugar cane but was told by the waitress that ‘they weren’t available as they weren’t delicious’. We did have a good laugh about that.
Our main courses, also to share, were chargrilled black cod fish with chilli and salt (VND545,000), pan fried salmon with XO sauce (VND295,000), sirloin steak with mustard and mushroom sauce (VND385,000), chargrilled rack of lamb with tropical herbs and red wine sauce (VND445,000). Unfortunately these were mostly a disappointment with the sirloin steak and pan fried salmon being almost raw and cold. When I asked for it to be warmed and cooked slightly more it was back within a couple of minutes after having been obviously put into the microwave which made it uneatable. The cod, however, was delicious.
Throughout our main course we had had to contend with the arrival of a large party in the centre of the dining room with lots of small children who were racing around with balloons, shrieking and yelling, which did rather spoil the ambience of a sophisticated and high-end restaurant with the prices reflecting this.
We decided to forego dessert and finished off an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia (The Cover Drive-Jim Barry) and beat a hasty retreat. The wine selection was superb but this restaurant has a few teething problems to overcome if they are to attract diners expecting high end food and service, which is currently not what they are getting but are paying for.
Stix Restaurant is at 15 Le Quy Don Street in HCMC’s District 3, tel: 08 2224 1781