Vietnam

Indochine Restaurant pop-up news: Foie gras phở consommé, chargrilled abalone and pan-seared turbot with lotus-seed purée are among highlights of The Anam Mui Ne resort‘s new fine-dining concept, where just eight guests take their seats of an evening.

Launched at The Indochine Restaurant, Pop-Up Fine Dining is staged every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-10pm in a private space adjoining the restaurant’s outdoor terrace. With just four tables accommodating a maximum of eight guests, the intimate experience gives the resort’s chefs a stage for more ambitious and experimental cooking in an unusually intimate alternative to traditional resort dining.

At the helm is Chef Le Huu Nghia, who has crafted two five-course tasting menus, based on seasonal ingredients, by coupling European techniques with Asian influences. The menus unfold as a progression of contrasting flavours, textures and temperatures, with optional curated wine pairings accompanying the journey.

Tuesday’s menu begins with a nori tart with salmon belly tartare, salmon roe, gherkin, shallot, sesame, ginger and wasabi mayonnaise before moving to chargrilled abalone with homemade oyster sauce and pickled kombu. After a daisy soup with vegetable broth and bonito flakes, and pan-seared foie gras is paired with fig, apple purée, pistachio and candied ginger, a grilled filet mignon with red wine sauce, carrot purée, mushrooms and baby broccoli forms the heart of the menu. Petit fours send the dinner on a sweet note.

Thursday’s menu starts out with a shrimp-wrapped scallop with caviar and coriander aioli and pickled shallots before a beef filet mignon tartare accompanied with ginger jam, nori and lemon mayonnaise. Among the menu’s most distinct creations is Chef Nghia’s foie gras phở consommé with shiitake mushrooms and truffle oil, followed by chargrilled hamachi crudo with ponzu reduction, pickled jalapeño and guacamole.

Pan-seared turbot with lemon-ginger sauce, lotus-seed purée, pickled coconut tubers and ikura anchors the Thursday menu before a strawberry mille-feuille with goat’s cheese mousse provides its finale.

For The Anam Mui Ne, the concept is as much about intimacy as gastronomy.

“Keeping the experience deliberately small allows us to be even more creative and more personal,” said Chef Nghia. “With only eight guests, we can give each plate and each table an unsurpassed level of attention.”

“We wanted to create something guests have to seek out rather than simply stumble across,” added The Anam Group GM Laurent Myter. “With four tables and eight seats, it feels closer to being invited to a private dinner than visiting a restaurant. That intimacy gives our chefs the freedom to be adventurous and this results in a very personal experience for our guests.”

For further information or to make a booking at The Anam Mui Ne, email info.mn@theanam.com, or telephone +(84) 252 628 4868.

Pop-Up Fine Dining is available every Tuesday and Thursday from 6pm to 10pm at The Indochine Restaurant, The Anam Mui Ne. The experience is limited to eight guests per evening and reservations must be made at least 12 hours in advance.