Cau Go Vietnamese Cuisine

Well deserving of being on the Michelin guide. Food was delicious! The chao tom, beef in betel leaves and grilled squid were all very good! But the star dish was the grilled leather jacket fish. With a perfectly browned exterior, the characteristic firm textured flesh of this species works so well when grilled. Service was very good. The view of Hoan Kiem lake from the top floor adds to the ambiance. Only downside is it’s quite costly by local standards.

Fantastic dining experience! The food was absolutely delicious. Our server, Dai, was polite and recommended the crab, which turned out to be amazing. Service was quick, making it a perfect dinner before our departure from Vietnam. Highly recommend! Thank you so much, Dai.

We arrived for an early dinner and were lucky to catch the most beautiful sunset. The restaurant, a Michelin-recommended spot, occupies the top two floors of the building, and while we sat on the first floor (indoor seating only), the balcony still offered a lovely view overlooking Ho Hoan Kiem and Den Ngoc Son. The decor is charming, though it has a slightly temporary vibe. The menu features a wide variety of authentic Vietnamese dishes, and we had quite a feast. Our favorites were the deep-fried spring rolls—crispy and flavorful, the clay pot rice—comforting and perfectly seasoned, and the traditional Hanoi grilled fish (cha ca)—a standout with its fragrant local herbs and spices. The fermented shrimp paste served with it was savory and packed with umami. Other dishes like the southern-style grilled unicorn leather jacket fish, soft-shell crab, grilled squid, deep-fried tofu, and sour pork rib soup were solid and enjoyable. However, the Hue-style sautéed baby clams with rice crackers was a letdown—it lacked the smoky "wok hei" and tasted more like the clams were just steamed. Service was attentive and friendly, but one thing to note is that they tend to bring all the dishes out at once, which can feel rushed. It’s hard to savor everything when you’re worried about it cooling down. My advice? Order your starters first and then the mains later to better control the pace of your meal. Overall, a great spot for authentic Vietnamese flavors and stunning views, with just a few small tweaks needed to make the experience even better.

We had a wonderful experience at this restaurant. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was relaxing. Special thanks to Dai for the excellent service very friendly, attentive, and always smiling. You made our meal even more enjoyable

Restaurant does not live up to the hype and reviews I have read about it. Decided to try fine dining in Hanoi (this restaurant was mentioned in the Michelin Guide). In a nutshell it was disappointing experience - nice view of Hoe Kiem Lake but the food and service was disappointing. The table setting for 2 is really small. The irony was the head waitress was try to push us to order more dishes. I was looking forward to experience Vietnamese cooking in an upmarket restaurant. What I saw on the menu were versions of Hanoi street food such as Cha Ca (fried fish with chives and spring onions) or Bun Cha (deep fried pork rolls). My view is that it is to better experience these dishes at other restaurants around Hanoi which are famous for these dishes. I opted for recommended Vietnamese dishes which turned out to be very ordinary and similar to middle of the road offerings of Asian cooking in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Service was average at best. Head waitress was keen to push us to order as many dishes as possible. I felt five dishes for 2 persons was more than sufficient! Waiter serving our table was inexperieced and had problems placing the dishes on our small table. What bothered me most was the rush to deliver all the food ordered at the same time. The serving team does not appreciate that I was there to enjoy the experience the nice view and would like to enjoy each dish properly. It felt like I was been rushed in a very popular Pho restaurant in Hanoi with many customers waiting for a table. I could not see the rush as restaurant was not busy that evening. Pricing was okay. Not at Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore level. But food was very ordinary given all the expectations.

This was easily the most expensive yet most disappointing meal I had in Vietnam. Most of the dishes tasted bland and relied heavily on dipping sauces for flavour. Unfortunately, the sauces did not help; especially the sauce served with the traditional Hanoi grilled fish, which had an unpleasant smell and taste that I found very off-putting. I genuinely don’t understand how this restaurant earned a Michelin star, as the overall experience did not match the expectations set by the price or the recognition. I would not recommend this restaurant.

Very difficult place to find, especially since it is Michelin-recommended, but totally worth it. The restaurant is quaint, with a nice view of the lake. The service was excellent with friendly staff. The food was worth the effort it took to find.

Very tasty food and a lot of different dishes from Vietnam. Staff were very friendly and the food tasted great! Be aware that it’s more on the premium side regarding the prices. Also a reservation is highly recommended.