The Hestia Veggie

Those with Gluten allergies beware!! Good food but plenty lost in translation(?) I ordered a Hanoi Pho which was clearly labeled on the menu as GF- Gluten Free. Despite the labeling I did my due diligence and informed the waitress that I could do trace amounts of gluten but not entire components of a meal. She acknowledged the information and brought over the dish. She then proceeds to point out that the vegan “meat” contained gluten. I was confused as the dish was marked gluten free and she had heard me explaining my restrictions. She then said “But you need to tell me before ordering!” I tried explaining to her that I had mentioned my dietary restrictions to her and also that I ordered the dish as it supposedly was gluten free and marked “GF” on the menu (sounds like a no brainer, correct?). She then proceeds to plonk a cup on the table for me to remove the meat /gluten pieces.. I was just rather speechless as to how this was being treated like “it’s just business as usual”. I obliged her (not that I needed to have) and mentioned that a good portion of my dish was now removed so it would be nice to get some tofu to sub in for the meat. She proceeded to the kitchen, loudly announcing this, and myself and the other customers could hear her and the kitchen staff discussing this matter quite audibly. She then brought over the tofu, and, went back to saying that I didn’t tell her that I didn’t want gluten. It took a while to get the check (I asked twice). When she finally brought the check over she once again, and for the third time now, mentioned that I need to tell her that I didn’t want gluten… I was entirely gobsmacked by this time and just wanted to leave. She went to say how her manager was tough on her about this mix up… (though this is not the customer’s problem), almost expecting me to sympathize for something that was clearly not the customers fault. A customer at the neighboring table who witnessed this whole thing (and acknowledged hearing me clearly stating my dietary restrictions) called the waitress over and advised her that their error could severely affect someone with allergies and risk the ability to keep the place open if they were not diligent about giving gluten free food after labeling it as such. I just wanted to get out of there. I shouldn’t have left a tip but I did out of habit. In the end, I basically paid money to get repeatedly blamed for something that clearly was not my fault. Though, I must say that, the waitress seems to have perfected a good smile - which I appreciate but not the fact that she kept going after the customer. It is interesting that one of the first things the waitress said to me and other customers was that we’d get our money back if we didn’t like the food (she just volunteered this information). I ended up paying money and then some. Thank goodness that the food was truly delicious to make up for some of the unsavory experience. So, folks with special diets - please be careful!

Being greeted loudly is not what I would expect when entering Asian restaurants. A loud shout "Hello my friend" hit me as I walked into the restaurant. Shy analytical people do not react well to boisterous greetings, in fact, I felt so awkward I nearly walked out without sitting down. I went to this place for their vegan pho, so, I stayed and ordered a gluten free pho bowl that promised broccoli, tofu, mushroom, bok choy, carrot, cauliflower. I've been to other non vegan Vietnamese restaurants, and their vegetable pho usually contains a decent number of leafy vegetables – I mean, that's what you expect from a veggie place, right? My soup was tongue burning hot, but quite tasty. It contain a few slices of mushrooms amount to one baby king mushroom, that was good. But the broccoli was tiny, and so was the single cauliflower. The bowl also contains two tiny baby gai lan, no bok choy and lots of friend tofu. I didn't look at the price, but I would far rather pay extra for more leafy greens than eating a meal that didn't meat my quota of vegetables in a veggie place. The tofu tasted like they were deep fried with garlic oil. I was told that if I really wanted no garlic, I should order buddha vegan. Their website shows lots of amazing photos of vegan dishes, but I am not sure if I can brave the boisterous welcome, or trust that the food will look exactly like the photos shown a second time.