Intro
Hi everyone, first-time poster here. First I'd like to say that I've really enjoyed lurking in this community for the past few months. Reading about everyone's experiences has been very educational and in many cases entertaining.
I'm not a stranger to fine dining, but I don't claim to be an expert either. I've eaten at M-starred restaurants mostly in Japan, but also in the US, France, Spain, Thailand, and now Vietnam. I had incredible experiences at some of these places, some I found remarkably average, and only a couple I did not think lives up to the billing or price.
Anyways, I found myself a reservation at Gia on a steamy Hanoi night in early June. I hadn't read much about the place other than what's on the Michelin guide website and some older posts on this sub that indicated people had issues there with inconsistent service. IIRC, when I dined there they were a few weeks into the current menu. Apologies in advance because my wine notes are much more extensive than the food notes – I've been studying for the CMS lvl 2 test off and on for about a year. I've put wine notes at the end of the post for this reason.
When I visited, Gia was still only 1 of 4 restaurants in all of Vietnam that had been awarded a star (now 7).
Here are my thoughts:
Service
The meal started with a chilled melon, oolong and lemongrass tea in the lounge. The staff asked me to name the ingredients I could taste before telling me the ingredients. This was a great way to establish a playful, interactive standard of service they aimed to execute throughout the dinner.
Staff then escorted me upstairs after a spiel about the history of the space – an old house across the street from the beautiful Sanctuary of Truth UNESCO world heritage site – and a brief look into the fermentation cellar and the kitchen.
Unfortunately, the central A/C must not be very reliable upstairs in the dining room because they had a number of large, expensive stand-up dehumidifiers units in different corners of the dining room. I'm not going to put them down for this. It's Hanoi during rainy season, ffs.
Since I was eating by myself, they had arranged some travel magazines on my table which was thoughtful but a bit strange.
Service was generally prompt and friendly, sometimes even chatty throughout the dinner. The pace sagged by a few minutes when a very demanding ten top sat down opposite me in the dining room, but not enough for it to really influence my experience.
A chef would bring out ingredient trays between some of the courses to explain what the ingredients were and where they were sourced from. Sometimes I'd also get stories about the origin of specific dishes. Very nice and continuing the interactive theme established earlier.
I opted for the wine pairing, which I generally enjoyed. As they did with the tea, the staff would not tell me what they were serving me until the somm stopped by after I finished each glass and asked me what I thought it was. This prompted some great conversations with the somm that really added to my enjoyment of the evening.
I was brought back downstairs into the lounge for the two dessert courses. Here, unfortunately, I felt a bit forgotten for the first ten or so minutes. Not enough to upset me or ruin my mood, but enough for me to take notice.
Food
Standouts were seared grouper liver with Buddha's hand and mountain herbs; roasted pork loin with lotus-tea infused mountain rice, pickled eggplant; and long beans with sweet shimp paste and chili sauce.
The other dishes were generally good, but fell a bit short for me overall. Especially the mantis shrimp. If you're going to show me the biggest mantis shrimp I've ever seen in my life, serve me more than 2 ounces of it. It should be a satisfying dish that stands out the same way it does on the ingredient tray that was presented to me before the course (see pictures). For many of the dishes, I also wanted a touch more seasoning and heat, but I attributed this to the fact that I had just spent a month in Thailand and generally doused most of my foods with Prik Nam Pla.
The best dish of the night was the dry ice passion fruit pop rock popsicle that was served to me out of a newspaper-wrapped styrofoam cooler. The textures! The explosive flavors! The concept – one chefs' memories of eating street popsicles in his small town in the northern mountains with his family every Sunday! An unforgettable way to wrap up a wonderful overall experience!
Overall
Positives here far outweighed the negatives. Overall the cuisine was thoughtful, well conceived and well executed. I only left with minor criticisms and no true complaints. I will say that I think they are at their best when they are being playfully creative like with the popsicle and when they are paying homage to tradition without getting too technical (the pork dish).
Service was generally consistent, welcoming, and highly interactive, which I greatly appreciated as a solo diner. There were a few small issues here and there with pacing, but they weren't enough to take away from a great overall experience. IIRC, the whole experience cost around $340 USD.
Did it blow me away? Not quite, but I will definitely return the next time I am in Hanoi. I am excited for the young chefs and service staff who made my experience possible. I think Hanoi will continue to modernize and they will be at the forefront of a fine dining scene filled with creative opportunities.
Wine
They fooled me with the first wine (after I had already drank a glass of Cremant de Jura that was not included in the tasting) which paired wonderfully with the second course. It screamed moderately aged French chardonnay (think S. Burg here) but with the dill/coconut oak characteristics you get with great Spanish wines that primarily use American oak. I was stumped. Maybe a well-made Godello from Ribiera? Possibly a very restrained Rioja Blanco? The wine in question was from Jurancon (of course – I thought to myself 😂).
After this I was served a very herbal and expressive Lugana, followed by an amontillado sherry (I admire the balls to serve an amontillado mid-meal) that both worked well with their respective dishes. Then came the orange wine from Japan – not for me. Last up were a nice pinot noir from Tasmania and a rosemary and blistered-pepper perfumed Bordeaux blend from South Africa v. 2010.
Last but certainly not least, I ordered a glass of 2012 Arbois in the lounge after dessert that was simply sublime. The somm and I talked for a while after this. I understand why he favored wines with an herbal edge for that specific menu. Three of the wines definitely enhanced their dishes, the others at the very least provided some compliment or contrast. I even understand the orange wine pick, with it's strong floral and medicinal notes, even though I'm not a fan.
Overall, probably my favorite wine experience in SE Asia over the last six months.
by Magickj0hnson