Oh well, yes, I’m perfectly aware that Vietnamese food should be exclusively street food or at most it should be eaten in some really cheap canteens with plastic tablecloths and plates. I do know it, ok?

And almost all the “fashionable/rich” places are no more than a fraud for tourist losers.

Indeed, yet there’s a nuance!

There’s this Vietnamese and slightly French restaurant taking shelter on the second floor of Park Hyatt Saigon, right after the faint beautiful chandeliers. Its design would easily suit a place by Arkady Novikov.

It’s worth taking your time to look for the place.

When I saw Vietnamese spring rolls there (in Vietnam) for the first time, I asked with my mouth open:

“What the hell is this??!”

And I don’t want to hear about any authentic whatever and street food – afterwards I’ve had spring rolls in dozens of places but never again have I come across such a work of art – with transparent lace dough and a heap of perfect basil, which looked as if printed on a 3D printer.

It’s the same story with Pho Bo, when they pour broth upon the finest raw marble beef right from a teapot, making it not at all raw any more. This is a very peculiar experience.

Everything: incredible chicken, crab tempura, juice mixes, curry, grill, and raw bar – is mad tasty.

This is a place for those occasions when you want to go out properly dressed, climb up the fancy stairs past some crystal and take a seat at a table full of crystal, in semi-darkness, and have… your favorite street food beautifully and deliciously served.

The place is for a long dinner, everlasting conversations, Australian and Californian wines, and spicy smells and flavors that have found their way into the luxe from the Neon Saigon streets.

Do enjoy!