Thiên Kim Restaurant @ Da Nang in Vietnam

We were too lazy to travel far for dinner and when I ran a search on Google Maps, Nhà Hàng Thiên Kim caught my eye for its super high review score of 4.7 from over 4,000 reviewers! Best of all, it's a mere 55 meters away from Haian Riverfront Hotel Da Nang.

Unlike your traditional Vietnamese restaurant setup, Thiên Kim had a more contemporary, high class touch. Interestingly, despite its high review, the place wasn't as crowded as I expected. Maybe locals don't really go for Google Maps for food recommendations.

Anyway, time to order! I had assumed it would be serving maybe fusion Vietnamese cuisine but it turned out to be like those you can find on the streets, albeit with much better plating in a nicer environment. Here's what we had! 

Appetizer - a sampling that consisted of "nugget prawns, fresh spring roll, crab cake and grille beef served with sour sweet fish sauce".

I didn't like the fresh spring roll which had a slice of pork inside that, in my opinion, shouldn't be placed within! Deep fried shrimp with rice cracker appealed to me better with its light wasabi flavor. I didn't see any grilled beef though. 

Pork Lemongrass Skewers - this would be one common dish you can find along many streets in Vietnam and for non-locals, it was a challenge figuring out how to enjoy the dish! 

My first thought, and action was to treat the pork skewers as satay and dip them into the satay-like gravy. That must have drawn a horrible stare from many Vietnamese!

Correct way was as above; using a piece of rice paper as a base, continue to put the rest of the ingredients before placing the skewer in the middle, and pulling the meat out, resulting in a spring roll for the final indulgence.

Do I like it? Not really as I generally dislike deconstructed food and the pork was just savory with a slight tinge of lemongrass. Plus the sauce was just peanutty, not really appetizing. I have had better ones elsewhere. 

Pineapple Fried Rice - this looked promising even though my frown appeared when I saw the use of green peas! Took a bite; yes, have wok hei, loving the squishy, zesty bites from the diced pineapple. Not too bad but honestly, a tad too bland for my liking. 

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Frankly, I didn't understand why the review score was so high; granted it wasn't bad but to the extent of almost 5.0. Or could I have ordered the wrong dishes? Key highlights were said to be the bun cha and banh xeoh, both of which I didn't order. And FYI, this restaurant was showcased on a Korean variety show and hence, would be more popular with Koreans. 

Address

166 Bạch Đằng, Hải Châu 1, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Pricing

Appetizer - 118k dong

Pork Lemongrass Skewers -  98k dong

Pineapple Fried Rice - 118k dong

(Subject to Tax)

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam