La Maison 1888

We hadn t planned on La Maison 1888 at the Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang for our 14th-anniversary dinner. That s because of our previous "not so great" experience with the menu. However, the team at the club lounge insisted we give La Maison another shot and promised it would be different this time. They took the liberty to secure a reservation for our special day before we agreed to go. They went as far as to arrange for La Maison Manager Florian Dabezies and Head Sommelier Jimmy Chang to personally meet us and present a menu they thought we would like. They asked what we wished to see on the menu, as we don t eat beef, we suggested some lamb or fish, namely Dover Sole, which would be lovely to have as a main. However, we wanted to cancel the reservation after Florian presented the set menu for the evening and when fusion Vietnamese dishes popped up. We didn t want to be disappointed for the fourth time. Our preference was quite simple for a fine dining restaurant featuring a celebrity, Michelin Starred chef Pierre Gagnaire. We wanted authentic classic french cuisine. On my first visit to La Maison in 2015, I wrote about my experience with Pierre Gagnaire s French fusion (confusion) cooking style, which incorporates many local flavours and ingredients. It would be great if the flavour profile worked and the presentation didn t look like it came from a food cart? I argue that if I wanted fine dining Vietnamese food, I would go to an excellent Vietnamese restaurant that specialises in the local dishes, not a famous french chef s version of the same thing. But, of course, he s renowned for a reason. Plenty of people love Chef Gagnaire s food, and he doesn t need to prove that to anyone at this stage in life.

After three tries, we were somewhat sceptical that La Maison could not create the taste of France we were dying for or couldn t convince Chef Gagnaire to allow them to create a menu that suited us? But Florian and his team persisted, pulled no punches, and completely changed our minds. From the excellent service, we got from Toan, Florian to Chef Pierre Emmanuel s interpretation of the classic French meal he prepared and served tableside. Not to mention the beautiful bouquet they gave us to celebrate our special night. It was what we wanted, simple and elegant in both flavours and presentation. He told us that he enjoyed the challenge presented. Was it like Chef Pierre Emmanuel just cooked from the heart and his childhood memories? To our surprise, Chef Pierre Emmanuel was a pastry chef, but he was a master that night. The evening started with some alcohol-infused canapés, of course. Appetisers was a Terrine of French duck foie gras with a fig sweet onion chutney and toasted brioche. Can you get more French than that? The next dish was a delicious Pan-sautéed Langoustine paired with Paris mushrooms duxelle and white butter sauce with truffle; doesn t that sound sexy? For the star of the night, the mains. We had the Turbot meuniere, the Dover sole was not available, with mashed potatoes, and caviar osciètre, yes caviar! The other main was a double-cut lamb chop with potatoes and garlic croquettes. Can t complete the meal without the chef s specialities, dessert! A duet of soufflés, decadent Chocolate and naughty Grand Marnier. Just describing the dishes made me salivate all over again.

Thank you, Chef Pierre Emmanuel, for taking us on a culinary journey through France. And thank you, Chef Gagnaire, for signing off on our special menu. Finally, we can t forget the great wine recommended by Jimmy. No French cuisine would be complete without a great bottle of wine. He chose a 2014 Margaux for us that paired exquisitely with the Lamb.

After reading my review on TripAdvisor in 2015, Seif Hamdy, who at the time was the F&B Director at the hotel, personally contacted us and expressed his apologies for our experience at La Maison. In addition, he invited us back to try a new menu prepared just for us. Seif is now the hotel s General Manager. If it weren t for Seif convincing us to come back and give it another shot, we probably would ve ended our Intercontinental Danang experience on that first trip in 2015.

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We always try to find one Michelin restaurant when we take a summer break, and Vietnam has little option other than La Maison 1888, which for us meant an hour taxi journey from Hoi An, which only cost £30 for a round trip.

The location of La Maison is beautiful, and the funicular down the hill side to reach the restaurant at night was a pleasant experience.

We opted for the taster menu, as always, to ensure that we experienced a variety of flavours.

Disappointingly, the prices were very similar to those Michelin restaurants in London and New York, and whilst the service and location were of equally high standards, the food was “only” very good which was disappointing.
Many of the dishes have fruit as a component, which I understand given the location, however I prefer more savoury flavours.

The staff were attentive, and took time to explain the dishes, and were very kind to provide an additional unexpected desert to celebrate our wedding anniversary, however we left feeling a little underwhelmed.

It is always good to try new venues and experiences, and whilst I am glad we tried it, I would personally struggle to put La Maison 1888 in my top 20 Michelin restaurants.

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