Hotel Piola in Milan

Note: this review is written on the Vietnamese perspective. These dishes could have been intentionally tailored to the western palate.

We travel and dine here because we can only eat Vietnamese food and this restaurant has really good review.

But I’m really sorry to write this review, that the food quality is extremely poor, despite the authentic look/plating. We ordered a lot of dishes on the menu to share. All are too bad to eat and have close to zero “Vietnam” in them. Especially, the “banh xeo” is inedible, from the gross texture, to the shallow, weird and unmatching flavour. The fried rice is the hardest dish to mess up, and it still has mostly no flavour.

On the plus side,the waiters/waitresses are nice and welcoming. The vibe/decoration is great, reminding us of our old days. So one star for them.

I’m really sorry I have to write this review, but hopefully it can be used for improvement.

We had 3 nights booked at the hotel (above the restaurant), but our flight was delayed, so we contacted the Villa immediately explaining the situation. It seemed they understood the situation…

We asked if we can arrive in the middle of the night after we’ll land and they said no, because they don’t work at night. That’s understandable for us of course. They said they’ll start their day at 11, so we can check in then. That’s ok… soooo…

We booked another place for the night, we showed up the next day as agreed with Villa and it turned out they cancelled our booking and took the money for all 3 nights.

When we showed up at the hotel they said “call Booking.com, you’ll get a refund”. We did call booking and surprise surprise, they were also lying in this case and also didn’t want to refund us.

On top of everything, the staff from Villa Vietnamonamour were verbally aggressive and absolutely not honest about anything.

To sum up, they cancelled our whole stay even though we showed up, they kept all the money and when we arrived they also informed us the room is already rented out to other people.

Dear mister Vietnam amour. How could one describe a event as disappointing as my dinner? As someone who lived in Vietnam one cannot compare my dinner to anything remotely Vietnamese. Period. The food lacked depth of flavor, it felt like the only seasoning in the kitchen was salt. To say that I left quite salty is an understatement. The portions were so small my A cup tiddies would make a more satisfying meal. On the bright side the interior was cute and the Vietnamese coffee was pretty stun. But does a shot glass full of coffee constitute a Michelin rating, me thinks not. The only stars I would associate with this place are the stars in the cartoons when the character gets hit over the head with a hammer. Where was the Vietnam? Where was the amour? Vietnam felt like it was in another universe, it was giving Rihanna’s California king bed because we were 10,000 miles apart. The colonization of Vietnamese food by the european eye. To sum it up, sounds about white… XOXO BL

DO NOT EAT HERE - SAVE YOUR MONEY.

This is, without a doubt, the worst food I've ever had in my life. I ordered the duck breast (for 18 euro) and this is what came out. It looks like something my dog would throw up. I cannot believe this restaurant is MICHELIN rated!! I'm honestly shocked and no longer respect the Michelin designation. My wife ordered the chicken curry which was so bland it tasted like hot water.

We ate the rice and got the hell out of there as fast as we could. Looking forward to the restaurant's response claiming we don't know what good food is. Ciao!

(original review, 2016) Leave it to this fashion capital to take a seriously delicious cuisine, make it fussy yet bland, serve it in a luxuriantly charming setting, then charge too much. Style over substance, even with their sweet, family-oriented origin story.

Stay far away from the pho, a thin, watery excuse for the popular soup. Run, don't walk, from the hard shell crab-- too much work for too little crabmeat inside the greasy, tamarind-sauce glazed shell. The only good thing I've ever had here was the rice pancake with coconut milk, shrimp, and pork-- but a stopped clock is right twice a day, right? The decor is pretty, though-- a romantic place to stop for a drink (albeit weak and sugary), if you can get a table at this inexplicably popular place.

**Update for 2020**: I’ve been here several times since I wrote this four years ago, probably five times in total, and every time I go, I regret it. Bland, bland, greasy, and bland. It’s super charming, and I want to support a local business, but I just can’t even with this place. On one visit, they explained to me that their cuisine comes from a region more influenced by French cuisine, which is an insult to French cooking.

I’ve just been reading the way the owner responds to Vietnamese people who give them bad reviews (and they're *all* bad). The owner, sadly, is quite disrespectful, usually questioning whether the reviewer is actually Vietnamese. It’s not good business to argue with every bad review, and it's not kind to undermine or compete with someone's national identity.

The owner must know that after all these years in Italy, their tastes and cooking techniques have changed. It's no accident that the only good reviews are written by Italians, though the ones who have been to Vietnam are more critical.

I have since learned that this way of serving a whole crab covered in sauce (cua rang me) is indeed "a thing," but I still recommend avoiding it. To the owner's point that I've only had "powder" crab ("poor" crab maybe?), I lived in New England for 15 years and have eaten all along the Atlantic, often in Maryland. Crab is one of my top 10 favorite foods, so yes, I do actually know what real fresh crab tastes like. Don't tell me they have a tank of live crabs waiting in back for the occasional adventure-seeker.