Still seeking great Italian food in Saigon

Still seeking great Italian food in Saigon

Not so long ago, I talked here about my occasional need to interrupt my Saigon street food eating compulsion with a good Italian dining adventure.  I described my typically great eating experiences at Pendolasco.  At the end of that blog, I rated Pendolasco as a Yum Yum on Eating Saigon!’s Yum Meter. 

Never content for less than a triple-Yum eating adventure, however, I’m continuing my search for an even more delicious Italian eating experience.  In fact at that time, I put out an urgent call on several Saigon expat blog sites seeking advice and recommendations for people’s favorite Italian restaurants in Saigon.  The passionate responses poured in!

I now have my work cut out for me.  My in-box is filled with suggested eateries …  back to work for me!

So, two weeks ago, Hai and I scanned the Italian food recommendations and decided to give La Hostaria a visit.

Now, typically, I avoid all restaurants located at ground-zero tourist central in Saigon, knowing Vietnamese food there is typically compromised to accommodate western palates.  However, where better to find a good Italian restaurant than smack in the center of Saigon’s tourist-land?

Or so I thought!

Hai and I arrrived a little on the late side – about 9 p.m.  Immediately, the restaurant visuals struck us as perfect!  White table cloths.  The appetite-generating red-colored napkins and walls were lovely.

Notice the colors matching those here at Eating Saigon! (A coincidence?? Who knows?)  And a subterranean wine-cellar “feel”.  Very Romanesque!  Even the unpleasant smoke that filled the room, I suppose, added to the Roman ambiance.

A wonderful first-impression.

We considered the attractive menu options and selected 3 dishes:

• Insalata Caprese
• Risotto al Gorgonzola e veli de Speck (risotto with gorgonzola & Speck slices)
• Tagliatelle nere ai Gamberi (black ink Tagliatelle with shrimp)

While we waited for our meal, the new chef/manager at La Hostaria came to our table and introduced himself.  He was very excited about his new menu, his new life in Vietnam, and his hopes and dreams to build an ideal future here, involving a small Italian eatery and  Vietnam’s countryside charm or coastal beauty.  We enjoyed the encounter and wished him all the best.

But, soon the downhill slide would begin 🙁 .

We assumed the Caprese salad would come to the table first – but didn’t think to actually direct the waitress to do so.

First to arrive was the risotto.  Quite beautiful.

Oh, but where was our salad?  

Before we could ask, the tagliatelle and shrimp dish arrived.  A very cool looking triangular plate!

But where was our salad?

We waited a few moments to begin our main courses – surely our salad would arrive soon.  Our discomfort began to rise as our tagliatelle sat motionless under the cooling shrimp and our risotto chilled.

Finally, we inquired of the waitress as to the whereabouts of our Insalata Caprese.  We told her we’d like to enjoy our salad before the main course.

She defensively explained that she hadn’t taken the order – someone else had.  Therefore, it wasn’t her fault that we had no salad!

Oh okay, I understand.  WHAT?

Five minutes later our salad appeared.  But now, one big problem!

The two main course dishes, together with our dinner plates completely filled our table top. The confused waitress considered where-o-where  to set down the Caprese salad serving plate?

No problem.  Without a word exchanged, the young woman who brought us the salad (NOT the one who took our order, of course) immediately scraped half the tomato slices and half the mozzarella cheese slices onto each of my and Hai’s empty plates. 

Ah, excuse me.  (Was it worth explaining that I preferred more mozzarella cheese and Hai preferred less?)  The diplomat in me thought not.  But, then again, exactly why was Hai getting 80% of the black olives and me 20%?  I love black olives!

No matter.  It turned out the black olives (marketed on the menu as “Italian black olives”) were the flavor-less, out-of-the-can, water-logged type black olives.

So there we were, eating our equally-divided portions of Insalata Caprese (unequally distributed canned black olives) as our risotto cooled further and our tagliatelle continued to sit motionless.

Now, I try to be an objective guy.  I will say in spite of the bazaar service, the tomato slices were okay, the mozzarella cheese was very yummy, the olive oil was fair and the olives were pathetic.  I think, adding that up and dividing by four, that calculation yields a “fair” salad result.

At this point, a young male Vietnamese server came to the table and apologized for the salad mix-up.  Pleasant smiles were exchanged.  WHATEVER.

It was now on to the main courses.

The risotto was, in a word, NGON (delicious)!  I love risotto.  I imagine that had it still been hot, it might have been over-the-top. The risotto cooked to perfection, the smoked ham slices served in generous portions and delicious.  The gorgonzola cheese very very nice.

Next, the shrimp tagliatelle was okay.  Again, as the dish had lost its warmth, any wonderful impression it might have been able to make on us was also lost.  If we were to return, we wouldn’t order this dish again.

We enjoyed our two glasses of Merlot and didn’t dare extend the dining experience by ordering dessert.

Our bill, 1,185,000 VND ($57 USD). That’s $28.50/person.

Now, I must say, when I pay $2 or $3 for an excellent Vietnamese meal in a restaurant or on the street, I never concern myself with smoky air or mindless service.  But, when I pay western prices, somehow I expect western amenities.

Here at Eating Saigon!, La Hostaria rates an overall Ho-Hum on our Yum Meter .  I will add, however, that it seems La Hostaria (with a little attention to details) might well have what it takes to upgrade its performance.  Perhaps a future visit will tell us for sure.

La Hostaria
17B Le Thanh Ton
District 1

(84) 838 231 080

www.lahostaria.com

View La Hostaria in a larger map