Les chinoiseries du guide rouge au Vietnam
Le Michelin arrive au Vietnam avec sa toute première sélections d’établissements gourmands. Notre ami Gilles Malaisé, animateur du site travelfirst.com, qui habite Saïgon, alias Ho Chi Minh Ville, n’est pas content. Et il le dit…
Bibendum a fait le gros plein de soupe ! Disponible exclusivement sous format numérique, la sélection complète des restaurants du Guide Rouge Hanoi et Ho Chi Minh Ville 2023 a laissé la part belle au Phô (soupe de nouilles dont le nom se prononce « pheu », en référence au Pot-au-Feu), et autres spécialités des rues des deux mégapoles du Vietnam. Un wokisme pneumatique, qui a effacé l’héritage français de la belle Indochine : pas un étoilé disciple d’Escoffier ! Ce qui n’a pas manqué d’étonner les rares participants occidentaux présents la semaine dernière à la grande réception du guide, qui manquait de convivialité gastronomique, et où des personnalités comme Didier Corlou (30 ans de Vietnam, qui fut l’étoile montante, il y a deux décennies au Sofitel Hanoï et exerce à son compte dans le même ville !) ou encore le chef français Sakal Pheoung (Le Corto, Ho Chi Minh Ville) n’ont pas reçu de carton d’invitation et ne figurent pas dans la sélection. Réjouissons-nous de voir Anăn Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), de l’éclectique chef Peter Cuong Franklin, remporter sa première étoile. Mais étonnons-nous qu’il soit le seul à recevoir cette récompense dans la capitale vietnamienne de la gastronomie. Trois étoilés par contre pour Hanoi qui, c’est le moins qu’on puisse dire, n’a jamais brillé pour son nombre de restaurants gourmands. Gia, pour la belle cuisine complexe du chef Sam Tran. Tầm Vị, qui est très bien, mais se distingue finalement peu d’autres petits bistrots typiques de la ville. Et pour finir, Hibana by Koki, Japonais intimiste, au tristounet sous-sol du Capella Hotel (où a été organisée la cérémonie du Michelin). Parmi les grands oubliés, sélectionnés mais non récompensés d’une étoile bien méritée, l’Italien Da Vittorio Saigon (serait-ce à cause de l’indigeste décor sino-versaillais de l’hôtel La Rêverie, où est installée cette branche de restaurants lancés il y a plus de 50 ans par Vittorio Cerea, huit étoiles au Michelin ?). Et pourquoi avoir boudé les merveilles culinaires du chef Thierry Mounon, première table de Ho Chi Minh City depuis des années avec La Villa, dont le guide vante la « cuisine des années 1960 » et le pâté en croûte, certes exquis, alors que sa carte déborde d’inventivité. Interrogée depuis Saïgon d’où nous rédigeons ces lignes, la haute-société franco-vietnamienne découvre avec étonnement les chinoiseries du guide pourtant rouge et étoilé comme le drapeau national…
Désolé, j’ai visité le restaurant Anan Saïgon et j’ai eu une expérience terrible. J’ai vu de mauvaises critiques sur Google mais je suis quand même allé au restaurant suite à votre recommandation ici et de M. René Marre. La nourriture était au mieux médiocre. Mais ce qui est pire, c’est la terrible intoxication alimentaire après le repas. J’étais un peu malade, mais mon ami vomissait pendant des heures après le repas. Je me sens tellement mal de l’avoir invité là-bas. Par la suite, j’ai cherché et trouvé plusieurs préoccupations concernant leur hygiène dans ce restaurant sur Google. Plus jamais.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2yFtikiFQaPVGF8s7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wQX4HZWH9SQ6pdL89
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XQx7oG5yW5n9As82A
Let’s calm down the debate. The Red Guide is now the pale shadow of what it used to be. An electronic shadow moreover, in the case of Hanoi and Saigon. Still a reward for some chefs (and I wrote my opinion piece to give them justice), this doesn’t represent much for a modern gourmet. And even less for a traveller looking for a good eatery. It has blogs and forums for that. Just to show how much Michelin lost its influence, I would like to use the example of two Michelin-star chefs (Pourcel bros and Thierry Drapeau). They opened fine dining here, more or less copying the restaurant design of the « ugly » La Villa (visit their new dining room Steve, please) and… looks what happened: they quickly closed down. La Villa (Le Corto, and many other snobbed by Bibbendum….) are still here,fully booked! Enjoy a great day! 😉
Rene: Yeah sure let’s stop debating because I’m so « pathetique » for attacking your nationality just because I (as well as Michelin inspectors) have different views from yours. My ancestors were French by the way. 😉
I’m fully aware that the space should not play a role in the judgment, but I’m giving La Villa a sensible advice here. Read my earlier comment: « Michelin says that they only care about the cooking quality, but let’s be frank the space plays an important role. »
One last note, if you so strongly disagree with Michelin Asia (and it seems you don’t agree with their judgments in other Asian cities all these years), then their opinions shouldn’t matter much to you. Why are you still so obsessively upset with their subjective judgments in Vietnam? They owe you nothing and it is fully their discretion to decide who gets a star and who doesn’t. Why don’t you create your own system of recognition for those restaurants that you think deserve it? 😉
A mes amis français, j’ai arrêté de débattre avec Steve. Regardez les photos sur mon FB: tam vi restaurant est un désastre pour un étoilé. Je leur ai rapidement corrigé des choses, comme par exemple l’hygiène des couverts, des assaisonnements, etc… Restaurant très ordinaire au cadre magnifique. Mais le Michelin clame partout que seule l’assiette compte: Mensonge. Et Steve trouve très bien qu’il soit étoilé alors que de merveilleux traditionnels restaurants Vietnamiens n’ont pas été cité. Du mauvais travail tout simplement. Ensuite Mr Steve trouve bien, pas de honte ecrit’il, d’avoir méprisé l’ensemble des Chefs français. Or aujourd’hui nous savons que c’était prévu, un complot, contre la gastronomie française. Cette affaire est d’ailleurs en train de se traiter, vous verrez… Quant à Thierry Mounon c’est où ne rien connaître aux talents des Chefs et à la qualité des produits, ou être de mauvaise foi par ideologie. Ce Chef oui mérite 1 étoile toujours, parfois 2. Son décor est bien celui des Palaces parisien, un style, que beaucoup aiment et certains détestent. Mais alors pourquoi clamer que seul assiette compte quand on passe son temps à critiquer le décor? Des gens sont naturellement des « toxiques », Mr Steve vient de prouver à tout le monde qu’il en est un bien bel exemple ! Oui le Michelin a fait du très mauvais travail, les Vietnamiens sont en colère, je les comprends, les Chefs français, japonais, cantonais eux aussi… Le talent Mr Steve, apprenez à respecter le talent et peu importe la culture ce dernier, pas critiquer un décor ou une nationalité…
It’s amazing to read what you write…Pathetique too. Ridiculous to write tam vi restaurant ok for 1 star when several others Vietnamese traditional Viet cuisine are much much more better and not selected! And, and, and…. You have to learn a lot of things… And I’ll end this debate there. Consult, ask for help, please stop commenting because you have no sense for the world of gastronomy and you are in bad faith.
René: well did you know that taste is subjective? Subjectively, I didn’t find La Villa to be as good as French restaurants that have received 1*. Subjectively, Michelin also didn’t think so (this year). Why are you so riled up when people’s subjective opinions don’t agree with yours? On that topic, several 1* restaurants in Asia I’ve been to also surpassed La Villa: Est, Esterre, l’intemporel (Tokyo) and Signature (Bangkok).
Are you sure the setting of La Villa is similar to a Parisian palace or more to a new money « villa » (wink) in China or Southeast Asia?
Not being included in the « Selection » is not a dishonor in anyway. Nobody reads the guide for the selected restaurants that couldn’t get a star or a Bib Gourmand. It could simply mean that the inspectors didn’t not get the chance to eat at the unincluded restaurants. Michelin never claims that its list is exhaustive and its inspectors have absolutely tried all good places out there.
Lastly, Tam Vi would very well be Bib Gourmand in France to me. But it still makes sense that it got a star considering other Asian cities have starred restaurants that are worse. Again, taste is subjective, so these restaurants were good enough according to the subjective taste of the Asian inspectors. Essentially, you’re hinting in your heated disagreement that your French taste is superior to the taste of the Asian connoisseurs. Are we living in 2023? 😉
To Steve June 16. You are mixing everything. Your analysis is wrong on several points. 1- You justify Tam Vi by simple way cuisine, and, and. OK. But what does it have to do with obtaining a Michelin Star? Nothing because I can show you 100 Vietnamese restaurants good and simple cuisine. 2- I’m not restricted to professional Chefs: It is your invention. I appreciate talent, only. 3- You did not understand that the level of Asian guides is far from Europeans guides ! There is absolutely no comparison ! 4- You make a comparison with « Le Cenacle » restaurant in Toulouse. Excellent restaurant, I have been there 3 times. Thierry MOUNON is at the same level, sometimes better. He makes great effort to offer the products of the Cenacle… But in Vietnam! Sorry to remind you of this detail. 5- You criticize its decoration: At first, I invite you to visit the Palaces of Paris 2023. Second, everywhere MICHELIN screams that they only judge the dishes: Lie. 6- You confuse STAR and SELECTED: David THAI, also Chef SAKAL, are not SELECTED. Nothing. It’s a joke when we read the SELECTED list ! I was 2 times to Herv2 RODRIGUEZ, of course it deserve an Asia star. To compare, as you did, you must compare what is comparable… MICHELIN did a bad in Vietnam, for ideologic reasons, also by incompetence of some inspectors, and they disrecspected the Vietnamese. I’m so sorry abou that…
To Steve June 16. You are mixing everything. Your analysis is wrong on several points. 1- You justify Tam Vi by simple way cuisine, and, and. OK. But what does it have to do with obtaining a Michelin Star? Nothing because I can show you 100 Vietnamese restaurants good and simple cuisine. 2- I’m not restricted to professional Chefs: It is your invention. I appreciate talent, only. 3- You did not understand that the level of Asian guides is far from Europeans guides ! There is absolutely no comparison ! 4- You make a comparison with « Le Cenacle » restaurant in Toulouse. Excellent restaurant, I have been there 3 times. Thierry MOUNON is at the same level, sometimes better. He makes great effort to offer the products of the Cenacle… But in Vietnam! Sorry to remind you of this detail. 5- You criticize its decoration: At first, I invite you to visit the Palaces of Paris 2023. Second, everywhere MICHELIN screams that they only judge the dishes: Lie. 6- You confuse STAR and SELECTED: David THAI, also Chef SAKAL, are not SELECTED. Nothing. It’s a joke when we read the SELECTED list ! I was 2 times to Herv2 RODRIGUEZ, of course it deserve an Asia star. To compare, as you did, you must compare what is comparable…
Mr René Marre ,le couvert vous le mettez à la française ou à l’anglaise ?
Rene: Not sure what you had at Tamvi but I enjoyed the food there. It is homecooked Vietnamese cusine with simple, delicate flavors. They don’t even have a chef; the cooking is done by the mother (Ms. Tam) I believe.
You seem to prefer Michelin to be restricted to professional chefs only but it’s clear that their Asian teams want to recognize the common cooks / popular cuisines as well. I also didn’t find the M-starred streetfood places in Bangkok and Singapore, or cheap soba and ramen places in Tokyo (Tamawarai, Konjiki Hototogisu) to be any special either. However, I think you’re over-reacting: the guide judges restaurants by category, so La Villa might not be as good as other 1-starred French restaurants in other countries. I also found it good but not exceptional (also their space is quite ugly). For a simple comparison, since you’re from Toulouse: Le Cénacle restaurant (1 star, la Cour des Consuls Hôtel) is clearly better than La Villa and also costs less despite being in France. David Thai’s teppanyaki is the same (and it’s also nowhere near the level of the 1* Capella place that was actually established by a starred Japanese chef). Herve is the same: good but not great.
Steve Lafontaine it is not true for Tam Vi! Nice place only!
Tam vi c’est ridicule… J’ai appris à ces gens a mettre les couverts à l’endroit… L’incompétent inspecteur Michelin ne l’avait pas vu? J’ai redressé des plats sur les assaisonnements et cuissons alors que je ne suis pas vietnamien. Mais on mets de côté La Villa par ideologie et on oublie Rodriguez, Sakal, David Thaï… Du grand n’importe quoi…
Inès HUB vous avez un cerveau bien .. tortueux. Il n’y a pas de méchanceté mais de la tristesse… Le Michelin est responsable de ce qui arrive à cette sympathique équipe. Train de haine écrivez vous? Vous êtes ridicule… Consultez, demandez de l’aide… Les photos témoignent d’elles mêmes, c’est un simple constat, trop sévère donc pour des gens comme vous. Et sous prétexte que l’on trouve les gens sympas et que l’on soit désolé pour eux on doit se taire? Accepter l’abus et l’incompétence du Michelin ? Irresponsabilité même de sa part! Il n’y a aucune haine chez moi et vous êtes ridicule de réagir ainsi…
An advice for La Villa is to renovate their space completely. Michelin says that they only care about the cooking quality, but let’s be frank the space plays an important role. And the setting of La Villa is so kitsch and ugly (to me at least). Again, I think Thierry’s traditional cooking is excellent, but so are many places in France and Italy that are not recognized. He might need a quirky, personal touch to push into the star category.
René n’est pas bien méchant avec Tam Vi. C’est un bel endroit; simplement il y en a des dizaines qui servent la même qualité de cuisine, et c’est très bon (en France ce serait un Bib Gourmand), tant à Saigon et Hanoi. Je le répète, l’erreur du Michelin est de s’être focalisé sur la cuisine Vietnamienne et Asiatique en général, dont je suis grand amateur car elle est délicieuse et bien plus variée qu’on ne l’imagine en Occident, au mépris de belles tables Françaises et Italiennes. Pardon, mais La Villa vaut largement le restaurant de Jean Imbert au Plaza… J’ai du mal à comprendre pourquoi on a laissé de côté ces belles maisons…et sa clientèle présente et potentielle. C’est une grave erreur.
Hi Steve. I am not attacking Hanoi, which is the pearl of Vietnam. I even had good experience there in term of local cuisine; the choice is simply extremely limited, compared to the supremely gastronomic and cosmopolitan Saigon, and not only in term of fine dining. Didier Corlou moved from Hanoi , and the Italian and French cuisines are poorly represented in Hanoi. Metropole is a joke… It seems that you are as familiarized with Vietnam as me; you know how much, by tradition and sometimes a bit of fair snobism, Vietnamese are attached to imported foods (wines, ingredients…) and European cuisines. Particularly Italian and French. This is frequent to fly from Hanoi and a dinner at Da Vittorio, Le Corto (a bit out of fashion I must say), and La Villa -Thierry Mounon. This is more than dining; just stepping in those restaurants is like travelling to France or Italy. And Bibendum missed the step… Enjoy a great day in beautiful Vietnam. Much sun over Saigon today 🙂
René: J’ai vu que vous aviez publié sur Facebook un restaurant (Tam Vi) qui recevait une étoile. Vous pouvez être en désaccord avec Michelin, mais les singulariser pour ridiculiser est plutôt méchant et mesquin. Vous avez dit que l’équipe est sympathique, pourtant vous avez sauté dans le train de la haine que le restaurant reçoit.
Quite unfair your attack on Hanoi. It is smaller than Saigon (about half the size the urban population), so obviously it doesn’t carry the same number of gourmet options. Also being more reserved and low-key, places in Hanoi often don’t advertise themselves very widely; most people there visit restaurants through referrals from friends rather than publicity. However, despite the smaller number of options, Hanoi still offers fantastic (and perhaps better) options than Saigon. Restaurants in Hanoi also tend to have better taste in interior design.
About the 2 starred restaurants in Hanoi that seem controversial to you:
– Tam Vi is probably among the best of its category (Vietnamese traditional cuisine), hence the star. It is also quite possible that the very beautiful space and atmosphere certainly help Tam Vi get the star. However, if you look at Michelin-starred ramen and soba places in Japan or the street food places in Bangkok and Singapore, they don’t significantly stand out from the crowd, but still perform better than most others in their categories.
– Hibana by Koki shouldn’t be a surprise because it was established with Ishigaki Yoshida, the only teppanyaki place in Tokyo that got a star (this year no longer). Japanese cuisine often triumphs on high quality ingredients rather than any special techniques. If you look at the ingredients imported biweekly from Hokkaido at Capella Hanoi, it would be a waste if it didn’t get a star.
About the Western options in Saigon that didn’t get the stars. Well, they are good (most are included in the generic Michelin selection), but they might not be at the same level as French or Italian restaurants that got stars in other countries. Lately, new M-starred restaurants often need some creative, contemporary chef’s touch. Thus, it is rather hard for places that are strictly traditional like La Villa (as well as many others in France and Italy) to get recognized. I’ve been to many other similar restaurants in France and Italy that aren’t even mentioned by M.
One last note, the only Western option that had a recognition (Bib Gourmand or stars) this year is a very little known cafe in Hanoi called Habakuk. Again this follows what I said about how good places in Hanoi tend to be low-key. It’s a cafe during the day and a bistrot at night. Not sure if the chef is Western or Vietnamese, but the cooking (e.g. magret de canard) is legit.
C’est un scandale que de suivre une idéologie plutôt que des talents. Une volonté affichée de faire du mal à la gastronomie française.