Some people I have known for a long time here in Da Nang opened a restaurant not that long ago. It is a Irish/Australian hybrid of a place and I thought it was a good idea. I was actually initially a little upset that they hadn't talked to me about bringing me in as an investor.
Well here we are 3 months or so later and I am extremely happy that the call to maybe include me never happened because I would be very upset with the other owners, the staff, as well as myself for getting involved in something that at least for now, seems destined to fail.
I am not going to name and shame them, because in the end they are still my friends and I do want them to succeed. I just feel like when a place has been open for 3 months (or so) that all the kinks should probably be worked out by then.
There's Nadi at the front so you know it is me When we approached the first thing I noticed was that they were playing Vietnamese hip-hop at club-levels of volume. It was 930 in the morning. They open at 9 so I wasn't one of those annoying customers that comes before the place is ready, but the blasting of music, especially non-English music in an area where the customer mix is 100% foreigners, is just an awful strategy. There is no chance that anyone is going to walk into this place.
I think the staff know this too because as soon as I sat down and I pretended that I couldn't hear the waitress, they immediately turned the music down and changed it to some light, breakfast style music in English.
I ordered a cappuccino even though at 60,000 VND this is one of the most expensive places to order such a drink anywhere in this part of town.
This is what I received. I didn't doctor this photo, I didn't touch the cup. I don't think you need to be an Italian coffee expert to know that this is NOT a cappuccino. That is a black coffee with a bit of milk crudely foamed, probably from a barely functioning machine, onto the top of it.
One-third espresso, one-third steamed milk, and one-third dense microfoam.
I don't think that my drink had any of those things. I believe based on the taste of the coffee portion, and the lack of noise heard from a bean grinder, that the person behind the counter just poured that pre-made coffee stuff into a cup and then took it from there. The cup contained no milk.
Had I been any other place than where my friends are the owners, I would have sent it back - politely, but still sent it back - but instead I just asked for a side of milk and made the best I could with it.
The food I ordered was about the quality that I expected, I didn't bother taking a picture of it and just ate what I could of it even though it was rather bland but but but! It has a swirl of sauce on the plate indicating that you are in a fancy restaurant! Man I hate that pointless decorative crap.
The worst part of the entire experience though was the fact that the staff were just hunkered down behind the counter the entire time staring at their phones. When it came time to get the bill I had to shout like an asshole just to get the bill.
I was lured into giving this place another chance because one of the owners recently presented me with a VIP card membership and because the breakfasts have a special right now where everything is 50% off.
the staff did not apply the 50% discount and they had no idea what the VIP card even was, let alone what they are supposed to do with it.
(ps, I was not trying to get 70% off. I didn't really even want the 50% but my original plan was to tip the other 50% to the staff)
At this point I was so annoyed that I didn't even bother pursuing it any further and just paid the bill and left. I did not tip even though the waitress stood there after handing my change like she was expecting it. I had barely seen her during my time in there because she had some sort of urgent TikTokking to do.
This place is broken. The food is average, the coffee is flat-out wrong, and the staff apparently do not give a damn. I guess the owners don't really care either because none of the 3 owners were anywhere to be found.
When the cat's away the mice will play I guess.
