Look at the picture below and see if there is anything strange. Note, we have not ate any of the clams, we just took them out of the soup.
(Over 1/2 of the clams are missing)
My friend then asked me to check the soup. Guess what, there were no clams in the soup.
(Soup bowl empty of the clams, where are they?)
Finally the supervisor was called over to explain what had happened. He really could not answer. He just apologized, took the food, and gave us a full refund on this dish.
(Longmonaco Supervisor explaining about the missing clams)
At first, the waiter tried to explain that the clams were in the bowl. This made my Vietnamese friend mad. The waiter brought the supervisor who tried to explain the same thing. Each time they were asked to check the bowl.
After they left, my friend explain to me that this happens quite often with restaurants in Saigon. The waiters and cooks know that customers will be so busy eating and chatting that they will not notice the missing clams. Normally with a meal, you may see one or two missing clams but not over 1/2 of them!!!
So what happened to the clams? Well, it turns out that the shells were taken from already eaten clams from previous hotpots or other clam dishes. The cook just throws the empty shells into a batch of cooking clams. We returned the dish because of this. Not very hygenic way to eat a meal 🙁
“Well, it turns out that the shells were taken from already eaten clams from previous hotpots or other clam dishes”
Ew!!! Disgusting, huh? 😐
Typical Vietnamese
Haha, that’s actually so gross it’s funny. I’ve eaten at that place a million times (I lived across the road from Maximark) and never smelt anything fishy (probably because the cook had removed it before it got to me). Don’t think I’ll be eating there again after this, but I’ll miss the club sandwiches!
@henno: I ordered the pizza which in the past was good. This time is was bad. In general, we were disappointed with them. Parkson’s Food Court is much, much better.
How did you find out that the shells were taken from already eaten clams ?
Have you tried the clam pho restaurant I mentioned before? You definitely get your 10(ten) clams + shells in every bowl and it tastes fabulous!
We like the food court at ZEN PLAZA and eat there often as we are living very nearby. I like the sushi restaurant next to the food court also. No KFC, Pho 24 or pizza available though. There is WiFi and a convenient elevator.