Restaurant reviews are liable to vary depending on the night and the taste of the customer. But for Thuy Hang a second visit confirmed her initial misgivings.
Soaking up the atmosphere: A bar is set up in the garden where there are many unusual and valuable plants and trees. — VNS Photos Truong Vi
While wandering around West Lake on a leisurely Sunday, my friend and I decided to have a late lunch at a restaurant that we had never tried before and knew very little about.
I was quite curious when I first saw an advertisement for the restaurant in an English-language publication. Actually, I didn't know it was even about a restaurant because the simple ad just said ‘Soft Water' above an image of a antique wooden chair, and then gave the address. I did a Google search to find out what it was, and found hundreds of results about a nice restaurant named ‘Soft Water'. Beautiful photos – showing sophisticated bonsai trees, green grass carpet, a landscaped pond, a curving rocky path, and twinkling decorative lights in an old Vietnamese-style house– tempted me to try the restaurant someday.
On that hot Sunday we arrived at Soft Water at about 2pm to find the venue almost empty, except for a few staff members standing around a table folding napkins. I wasn't sure whether they were deep in concentration or our footsteps were too light for them to hear, because they didn't realise we were there until I asked them if the restaurant was still open.
They welcomed us by turning on the air-conditioner, which was really a treat in such hot weather.
As neither of us were very hungry and just wanted something light, we decided to order a portion of banana flower salad to share and two portions of tom yam kung soup (Thai sour and spicy soup).
Diverting our gaze from the menu, we contemplated the outside garden, where there were many bonsai trees and unusual plants. I had never seen some of the species before, and I'd heard that the owner, who is a veteran and a journalist, had spent a lot of money and time on the garden, which is now quite famous among Vietnamese bonsai collectors. Several of his specimens are worth billions of dong.
I felt quite comfortable sitting in the cool room, enjoying the green space, not easily found in this noisy city [although the wooden chairs would have benefited from cushions]. I felt like I was in a tranquil oasis, totally apart from the noise, dust and heat.
After some bread and butter, our food was served. The salad was quite nice with all the typical flavours of a Vietnamese salad – sour, sweet, spicy and salt – in perfect harmony. The soup came in an innovative coconut container, which was a first for me. Ok, I could give one A+ for that.
However, the soup itself didn't impress; it was so spicy that it made me cough, even though I am quite keen on hot food. Most importantly, it lacked proper sourness and the taste of kaffir lime leaves, which are crucial to the flavour of this Thai soup. Instead, the soup seemed to be a fusion of Malaysian cuisine, which made sense once I found out that the chef is Malaysian.
We finished our meal with distinctly average New Zealand-style ice cream, which can be found in many places around town. The bill came to a pricey 1 million dong with a watermelon juice and a beer.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed by the food, but the beautiful green and peaceful garden made me want to bring my family here as soon as possible.
Second impression
I got the chance when my brother and his family visited from abroad, and my mother decided to treat us all to a nice "welcome home" dinner.
On the day of our meal, I happened upon a review of Soft Water on Facebook that described the author's very bad experience with the place. I ignored this bad omen and decided to go ahead with our dinner plan.
Our eight-member family arrived at the restaurant at around 6.30pm, when a Sunday BBQ party was taking place in the garden. After spending a few minutes admiring the garden, our family gathered around the table to order.
The menu is quite pricey, so we decided to skip starters and just order main dishes. While almost all of us chose the same dish – Surf and Turf, grilled Aus beef fillet and king prawn, glazed home plant vegetable and enoki mushroom for $25.90 – my mother got the salmon grilled with teriyaki sauce for $23.90. We also had a bottle of French red wine.
The hostess didn't seem to be familiar with her job and she seemed embarrassed while taking our order. After struggling with the English name of the dish, she finally understood what we wanted to have.
I was concerned that someone so unqualified would be hired in a "fine dining" restaurant, and I asked another hostess to explain the situation. She said that Soft Water had just finished a banquet service for a 700-person party, and almost all the staff had been busy with that. We couldn't understand how they could manage such a large banquet but were incapable of caring for our small group.
The loud music blasting from the party outside tortured us while we waited for our food to arrive. After several prompts it eventually turned up, 40 minutes later, and even then not all of the dishes appeared at once. I could see the looks of disappointment on my family's faces. Even the complimentary bread I had been served on my first visit was missing.
The portions were so small that they glided swiftly into our stomachs without us knowing. My father had to stop for a bowl of pho on the way home to stave off his hunger.
With ice cream for dessert, the bill came to 7 million dong (about US$350), and I would expect to have far better food and service for such a large sum, especially given the five per cent service charge.
Although we left with stomaches growling, Soft Water is still worth a visit if only to escape the busy city streets and relax in this green garden paradise. — VNS
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Soft Water
Add: No.42, Road No.3, F361 An Duong St., Tay Ho Dist, Ha Noi
Tel: (04) 22608968/37173212
Comment: Nice restaurant with beautiful garden, good food, pricey, unprofessional service.
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