Summer Vacation 2024: Vietnam Da Nang Project Part 1 - Vietnamese Cuisine at LUK LAK the-clo.com is finally going international.
Hello, this is Ohyama. I took advantage of the summer vacation to visit Da Nang, Vietnam. I want to share the charm of Da Nang through ZAKURO. I’ll be introducing the restaurants I visited, carrying my DSLR camera around.
The hotel I stayed at was the Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel. After moving from the airport and arriving at the hotel around 8 PM, I looked at Google Maps reviews to find a good restaurant nearby, and there it was. LUK LAK. It was only about a 5-minute walk away. On the first day of my trip to Da Nang, my first trip to Vietnam, I was about to have my first local meal. This meal would be crucial in shaping my impression of Vietnamese cuisine. There was a reservation form on their website. I thought it must be a popular restaurant locally, used for celebrations and such. But it was already 8 PM. I figured they would have some seats available for walk-in customers, so I decided to go without a reservation.A man dressed like a police officer was standing in front of the store, but he seemed to be one of the employees and invited us in.
Looking at the menu, they offer everything from pho to steak and wine. The price range for pho is around 500-600 yen. Compared to local shops, it might be about 1.5 to 2 times more expensive. In fact, local company employees were holding a welcome and farewell party there. The chef, who is the icon of the restaurant, is said to have 25 years of experience at a famous hotel in Hanoi.
I ordered pho, spring rolls, grilled pork, braised mustard greens with shiitake mushrooms, and dessert.
Everything was carefully prepared and delicious. In Vietnamese restaurants, it seems that when you order a main dish, like the grilled pork this time, it comes with rice. This rice is sticky rice, which pairs very well with the dishes.
Especially noteworthy were the grilled pork (Luk Lak’s signature grilled pork with special herbs dipping, 330k VND) and the braised mustard greens with shiitake mushrooms (Sauteed seasonal mustard greens with garlic and wild shiitake, 160k VND), which showcased the restaurant’s dedication to herbs and broth.
Luk Lak is a great choice when you want to enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine in a slightly casual but refined setting. Located conveniently along the Han River, it’s a place worth visiting with a reservation, even using Grab. The staff are kind, and the restaurant’s atmosphere gives you a true Southeast Asian vibe. It’s a place I would definitely visit first when I return to Da Nang. Finally, the dessert: Sweet soup with pomelo peel & coconut milk