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Ratings and reviews

RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Details

PRICE RANGE
$11 - $25
CUISINES
Vietnamese
Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, After-hours
Reviews (1,020)
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662 results
Traveller rating
403
185
62
8
4
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LanguageEnglish
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Traveller rating
403
185
62
8
4
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Reviewed 30 March 2020

We enjoyed the set lunch at this restaurant while exploring HCMC and must say that the food service and ambience at this place was excellent. The restaurant is on the first floor of a building that is not obviously a restaurant - which is typical...of this city - so please persevere and visit this eatery. Thank you for a super lunch.More

Date of visit: March 2020
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 6 March 2020

Everywhere in Saigon excellent restaurants are hidden behind non descript doors, down small alleys and you need to look up! This is no different and you would need to be looking for it to find it, but I’m really glad we made the special trip....The building was interesting, the plate settings were pretty and the food was excellent. The staff were friendly and provided service which demonstrated their excellent hospitality training. Our waitresses all spoke lovely English- well done. I would recommend this quaint restaurant unreservedly.More

Date of visit: February 2020
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 29 February 2020 via mobile

Delightful quaint place nice ambience .. lovely service good food... lots of expats especially I think Japanese.. perhaps the owner/ manger is from there...

Date of visit: February 2020
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 February 2020

Huong Lai is a little hard to find. It's on the first floor of a nondescript building and you probably will miss it if you aren't looking for. That's a pity for the food was the best I tasted in HCMC, and the price was...amongst the cheapest. The wait staff are all street kids who clearly appreciate the opportunity the restaurant is providing them and are cheerful and helpful. All were relatively fluent in English. The restaurant itself is nothing special in terms of décor and the elderly air con will no doubt struggle with summer temperatures but the food and fast service make up for this. Recommended..More

Date of visit: February 2020
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 7 January 2020 via mobile

We dined here on New Years Eve and we weren’t disappointed. The restaurant is low key from the outside, then as you make your way up the stairs (definitely not recommended for the elderly or infirm) you enter a quaint dining room. The staff greeting...us on arrival were so friendly, with impeccable manners, it would be hard not to be impressed. The concept of the restaurant is beautiful too, in that it trains and employs orphans and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. We elected to order the Seafood Set Menu ($280,000 VND pp) and whilst the food was very good, it’s the staff that truly make the experience. We were served by a number of wait staff and nothing was too much trouble. I’d like to single out Hoa for her beautiful service and thank all of the staff present on New Years Eve for a wonderful evening. All the best for the New Year and may all your dreams come true in 2020 ❤️More

Date of visit: December 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 5 January 2020 via mobile

One of our best meals in Vietnam. We especially enjoyed the unusual spicing of the pork with eggplant, the chives with bean sprouts and beef with sate sauce. Juices were great too. Nice quiet place if you are hearing impaired. The young people serving tables...were impeccable in manners and service. Thank you for a lovely ‘last night’ in Vietnam.More

Date of visit: January 2020
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 31 December 2019 via mobile

We loved our dinner visit to the lovely Huong Lai restaurant, a 15min level stroll from our riverside hotel. A staircase leads up to the 1st-floor dining area; modest tables and decor, busy, buzzy, 1940s music, friendly, fans, jasmine flowers on the tables. Unpretentious and...all the better for that methinks. After a shared starter, we chose fried chicken in tamarind hentic. Relaxed too. Time to savour our meal, served by the very friendly, "natural" staff. I'd really recommend dinner here, and the walk means you are again exposed to the hectic pace of this fabulous, friendly city. Enjoy!More

Date of visit: December 2019
Helpful?
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Reviewed 30 December 2019 via mobile

Just off busy Dong Khoi Street sits a nondescript building with a small brightly-lit sign marking the entrance to Huong Lai. Entering the first floor of a narrow building, you ascend an impossibly steep stairway to reveal a romantic and charming dining room. The customers...are predominantly locals, but a tourist or two manages to find this place. Making reservations is highly recommended, but they managed to squeeze us in without making one. However, by the time we left, they were booked for the night and we would have been out of luck. The wonderful premise of this restaurant is that they mostly employee orphans and impoverished individuals, young people who exude so much charm and manners you’d never know they had overcome personal struggle. The restaurant is a training ground for their English speaking and interpersonal skills and that made it worth my money! The prices are also incredibly reasonable. I started with fried spring rolls, certainly not the best in Ho Chi Minh City, but very good. The accompanying sauce isn’t as potent and spicy as it should be, but it will suffice. I had the Fried Chicken with Spicy Sauce as my entree. You have to eat around the bones, which is a bit cumbersome, but this gives the dish good flavor. It’s not deep fried like a tempura, but closer to grilled and slightly crispy than anything. The dish was tasty with delicious vegetables.More

Date of visit: December 2019
Helpful?
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Reviewed 4 December 2019

The reason to go is this restaurant employs & teaches orphans & poor young people to work in the food industry.When you arrive you are met by a student being supervised by a teacher & it is a similar idea like TOKO(teach one know one)...in Hanoi.Apart from this the food is good & of course the service excellent.Make up your own mind but we loved the food,the atmosphere & the people.More

Date of visit: November 2019
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 1 December 2019

A very obliging restaurant which found us a table for four, even though we hadn't booked. The 10 minute wait was worth it.

Date of visit: November 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 30 November 2019

What a fantastic restaurant this charming little place is---full of ambiance and character,excellent food and a really good cause too as the waiters are all former disadvantaged youths who have been given a chance and a job.HIGHLY recommended!

Date of visit: November 2019
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 4 November 2019 via mobile

Ambience : 7/10 Food : 8/10 Staff : speak fluent English Make sure that you have call and make a reservation before gooing

Date of visit: November 2019
Helpful?
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Reviewed 2 November 2019 via mobile

Decided to go here after seeing all the good reviews - place definitely lives up to it, lovely food and staff were very welcoming.

Date of visit: November 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 23 October 2019 via mobile

Tucked away just behind city hall, this little place has great service, awesome local food and modestly priced banquet menus should you not be able to decide on the choices. All local, all genuine and fresh flavours. Menu in English, staff great at explaining how...the sauces fit the dish. Up a steep staircase on the second floor with a modest entrance. Make the effort - and support an employment initiative for local kids along the way.More

Date of visit: October 2019
Helpful?
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Reviewed 16 October 2019

Our last night in Vietnam and we found this little gem. Japanese owner serving traditional Vietnamese food. Great choices for Veg and non Veg and staff are happy to adjust ingredients to suit tastes. Owner is always on hand to ensure service is top notch....What is also amazing is that staff are all from under privileged backgrounds. Give it a go you will not be disappointed.More

Date of visit: October 2019
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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HUONG LAI RESTAURANT, Ho Chi Minh City - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews

Frequently Asked Questions about Huong Lai Restaurant

Huong Lai Restaurant is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travellers:
  • Food: 4.5
  • Service: 4.5
  • Value: 4.5
  • Atmosphere: 4.5