Forte La Pizza Italiana - new in Phu My Hung

The S area of Phu My Hung - the part where waterfront is and Greenview and CanhVien - lacked of western restaurants- until now. Forte La Pizza Italiana just opened inCanh Vien 1. Italian chef, italian owned says the brochure. whatever they did it Italy it was not running a restaurant. First try revealed that lasagne is not available. Second try no pesto.. pizza starts at 150000 vnd because toppings are expensive, the Australian lady apparently in charge for the service told me. and basil is hard to get, she added.

I was the only customer, but they could not get the lasagne heated up inside. and the piece of food was kind of small. second try brought the lasagne warm, but far from hot.

The food is just average, but way to pricy. Its seems some friends decided to open a pizzeria - and facing now reality. They better have opened a pub or a bar where they can do what they enjoy most - chatting with friends instead of taking care of the customers. They later offered me the meal free of charge after I complained, but I insisted of paying. I got a lot of " I am sorry", let's see if they learn from that.

UPDATE: Laziness brought me back one more time. The local staff is quite nice and helpful, the italian chef as well (he made me spaghetti pesto for free since he remembered the story, that was quite nice). I am still not a fan of the pizza and I still think it's too expensive and I am convinced that the western lady working there better should get some training in hospitality. But after all, give it a try.

Saigon Dogs Part III

oday it's the story about a dog that is kept usually in the yard, but mostly on a chain. The owners "take" him out 10 meters, then tie the dog on a tree. They want him to poo and pee there. UPDATE: After I shot the video the owner actually walked with the dog for the first time, around the block, but better then nothing. I told the son again that he should better walk with the dog, and it's seems they start at least thinking about it.

Banana Pub and Restaurant in Phu My Hung

There is a new so called Pub in Phu My Hung, which hopefully not a sign of a general change in this area.

Banana Pub and Restaurant is located in the Parkview Building, in the former Pat au Chou shop (same building as Tokyo Deli). They have a huge bar you can sit, a billiard table, dart, some tv screens and - beergirls. They also offer food, mainly western style, french fries with whatever. The salmon steak was not that bad, the chicken was under average. Beer is cheep, the girls (would not call them waitresses) doing there best (what includes sitting on you legs) to serve you.

What I like: When it's closed. (As I said, the salmon steak was ok, the beer was cold, and you might like it to sit outside in the early evening for people watching).

What I don't like: It's one of this sexpats bars, where older grey haired overweight westerners together with lonesome koreans gather to have what they call fun with vietnamese girls. I saw two men actually grabbing the girls butt, and they cannot complain, otherwise I am sure they get fired.

One day they were partying until 2.30am, the music was to hear all over the Parkwview B tower as well as the neighboring appartments and villas. (Disclosure: As neighbors we were really pissed to stay awake until early morning)

Open 10am to 12pm.

Espressamente Illy Cafe in Phu My Hung

Now we have our own Espressamente Illy Coffee shop in Phu My hung. It opened last Saturday. A quick review.

What I like:
The design is awesome. It's a modern and clean design, mandatory for all Illy Coffee shops all over the world with just adjustment to the local shop sizes. The armchairs are real leather and comfortable, the lightning is not to bright, and the close the curtains when too much sunlight comes in.
The range of products is different from other chains like Gloria Jeans and Coffee Bean. They have many creations for cold and hot coffee (the cafe latte is still worth a try), and presentation is good as well. For the opening there was a promotion when you get a small cake with every coffee you purchased. They serve you on the table (that means not stand up and walk to the cashier desk to order).
The cakes are tasty, even if its Asia style cakes with this thick fatty cream. But thats ok. There is a small breakfast menu, mainly some fried egg dishes.

What I don't like:
Forget the food. It's pizza and some pseudo-western style dishes. The pumpkin soup and the spinach soup is ok, the rest just under average and overpriced.
The staff is - no wonder- not trained. They do the best, but from a level zero. So don't expect that they understand what a low fat milk is. For the opening weekend a lot of food was not available (no pizza margarita, but pizza salami.. wtf??) The music is typical 80s western charts :-(

And there is another problem that you should know: The owner of the Espressamente Illy Coffee shops also owns a shark fin restaurant in District 1. So if you are protesting against the inhuman way of killing sharks for fins, you should boycott Illy or at least leave a note of protest there.
When I asked Illy Headquarter about this, they said:

We thank for your letter and, as we can read in your mail, it is hard to
believe an Espressamente illy coffee bar interested in the business of shark
fin.

The premises you have kindly brought to our attention are independently
managed, although the products sold there, the offers, and the exploitation
of our brand unquestionably demand to operate in compliance with rules and
behaviours accurately defined and undersigned by the involved managers, upon
whom we keep a direct supervision.

For what said above, we would like to thank you very much for your report
and we are glad to reassure you that this case is already under assessment
and taken care of with the greatest attention.

Both restaurants are still in the same ownership, they may stopped cross promotion in District 1 - I havent been there since then.

UPDATE: I am sitting in the Illy Espressamente again. The mens toilet room is out of soap. I saw two managers and supervisors using the toilet as well as one cook. Nobody noticed that there is no soap, meaning they did not clean their hands properly. Why they set up useless, clueless and unexperienced supervisors in these shops instead of someone who can run this properly.

I blame the (foreign) management for this problems, not the staff. They haven't been trained properly, so it's not their fault.

Gloria Jeans - one more story

It's just the way it works in Vietnam. Gloria Jean's once offered me a frequent customers card. Buy ten drinks, get one for free. When I asked for the last free drink, the Gloria Jean's in Phu M Hung didn't give me a new card. I asked why, and the staff said, the owner Khaisilk, doesn't want to print any cards anymore.
Of course, these cards are issued in other stores, what - if the staff is right - means, that I should go to other Gloria Jean's store to get a better offer.
I complained in the store, but I am sure they a) did not really understand what I was talking about (indicator: the more they say sorry, the more they don't get it), b) will not forward the complains to the big boss, because big bosses never want to hear bad news.

UPDATE: Got an answer from the main franchiser, the one in phu my hung is apparently a sub-franchise. they apologized and promised to talk with the owner. and keep me up to date about those talks. seems HQ is really professional

UPDATE2: HQ will send me the card and told me about the recent openings of 2 other shops. But, how shall I understand this: "I hope you would spend the card at the new outlets to get to know us more." That actually means that they recommend to spend my money not in the Phu My Hung shop anymore?

Phu My Hung - the place where I live next

Found this video on youtube.. just to get you some impressions about our new place..