Hai Au Restaurant Canley Vale, Sydney

User Reviews of Hai Au Restaurant, Canley Vale

Displaying: 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 10 Service 10 Value 9

Went to Hai Au for a late lunch on a Sat. Easy parking in the sidestreet. Loved the ambience downstairs, transporting us back to Vietnam for an hour.

Service was friendly and food arrived fast. While the fried spring rolls were very good I have had better. I couldn't fault the bbq chicken cooked in banana leaves, great flavour and very moist. Likewise with the bbq pork chops. Sticky rice was perfect, also with great flavour. All served with salad and the usual Vietnamese accompaniments. I didn't like the lemon melon in stock, the stock was flavoursome but melon was sour, an acquired taste I suspect.

Four courses, salad, accompaniments, and two softdrinks cost us $44. If the upmarket ambience of the Red Lantern is what you're after you won't like Hai Au. Short of eating street food, Hai Au is an authentic Vietnamese dining experience.

Feb 25, 2012

Doubleshot C.
2

7.8 Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 5 Service 8 Value 9

This place had really great, very authentic Vietnamese food in a very authentic Vietnamese environment. You could almost be in Vietnam. That means the place is reeeeally no-frills. I have heard the upstairs in fancier but we dined in the downstairs which is cafeteria style dining. We were the only two non-Vietnamese there.

Fortunately, we were there with Vietnamese friends who ordered for us. We had a lemon-y beef salad, a caramelised fish dish, fish soup, and some of the bbq-d chicken, all of which were excellent. Prices were good and we had good service. There wasn't a wide range of drinks.

Sep 18, 2011

dw82
13

7.3 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 9 Service 6 Value 7

I've been here a few times since its not too far. Not my choice but it offers a really unique experience in all the smells and atmosphere of the place. They have the outdoor BBQ going on at one side near the window so the place can get a tiny bit smokey and smelly, which I quite enjoyed but may not be to everyone's liking.

If you're into cultural experiences then you'll love this place. The staff are not well versed in western service but if you can see past that then you will find them to be quite friendly and wanting to help if you have the patience of explaining things. They got my friend's order wrong but didn't charge us for it.

I can't emphasise enough how much of a cultural experience this place is, you'll get a flaming pot if you order meats to cook yourself, you roll your own rolls, I imagine the fish takes a while to prepare and the Vietnamese music with interruptions from the staff upstairs cutting into the stereo to make new orders in Vietnamese.

Upstairs is fancier but you're not really visiting this place for fancy, if you come here, be prepared for a trip to Vietnam. I don't like the price tag on things but that's what it is and the food is unique. I recommend their Creme Caramel for 4.50, really perfect fusion of flavours for a dessert.

By the way, zero vegetarian stuff here. And it won't be a place to everyone's liking, if you're looking for a nice place, then this probably isn't it. If you're looking for an authentic Vietnamese feed then this is it.

Jul 12, 2011

Pastif J.
48

3.8 Below Average

Food 1 Ambience 5 Service 8 Value 1

The food wasn't too bad, but not as good as your typical vietnamese place. The spring rolls was split in half which is a good idea, it cools down quicker so its quicker to eat. The broken rice wasn't as good as other vietnamese places, the pork chop was a little small.

Service: the food came out really quick, and without asking they gave take away cutlery. A lot of places don't give or don't even ask.

Ambience: the reason why I have given Food and Value 1, is my concerns for the hygiene here. The air conditioners are dirty and when I started eating my food, there was a bug there, a hair, and something else which I'm sure isn't suppose to be there. This did put me off the food though I still ate it admittedly.

The place is bigger than your usual viet place though.

Aug 13, 2010

SydneyguyRojoe
633

7 Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 5 Service 7 Value 7

One of the best vietnamese restaurants in town. If you want nice food without the ambience then this is the place. Try the sour soup with fish and their salads.

Jul 29, 2009

kane27
5

3.5 Below Average

Food 5 Ambience 3 Service 1 Value 5

I visited this place with my family. I had ordered the sausages. What arrived was not sausages. It was some intestines gluggy 99.9%fat sticks. Literally you can see the fat gleaming back at you. I queried the order after they brought it out and the guy with poor English explained yes that is the sausages that I had ordered. I said I wasn't going to eat it. The waiter left it on the table rushed to serve someone else and had the hide to charge me for it.

This restaurant has really put me off visiting any restaurant with bad service and deceptive menus. Most unhappy about it and will never coming again for sure!!! It saddens me because I am a local that the standards are so bad, I will be detouring to get better.

Sep 27, 2007

mwong2000
2

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 6 Service 5 Value 9

This is a much better restaurant than many listed, but it does have a few problems. Quite often the orders can get mixed up, and sometimes things don't arrive at all. They are usually quite busy, and it can be very difficult attracting staff attention. However, generally the food is very good (although there have been a few occasions where the rice has obviously been reheated several times, and I suspect recycled).

There are some fantastic dishes here, and a wide range. Check out the ones particularly that you cook yourself at the table, especially crocodile, and also the chicken with lemongrass hot pot. The prices are reasonable, and apart from the sometimes indifferent service, I think you will enjoy the tasty food.

Jan 21, 2007