Eating and chatting at (Làng Ngói Đá) Stone Village.

When you come to Làng Ngói Đá, you will surely be impressed by the rich and distinctive flavors of the menu featuring grilled dishes served on salt stone platters.

Price range: 69,000 VND – 290,000 VND

Address: 18A/39 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai – Telephone: (08) 62918525- 098 2107 303 – 093 554 53 37.

Throughout the city streets, barbecue stalls mushroom up, from charcoal grills, electric grills, to stone grills. But now, it’s all about the salt stone grilling, a new sensation.

Upon receiving a phone call from friends inviting to explore salt stone grilling, intrigued by the novelty, I readily agreed. Keeping time with the clock, I swiftly wrapped up work at the office and followed the address my friend had sent via text message.

Nestled in the bustling alley 18A, amidst a small Western-style neighborhood bustling with many delicious eateries, Stone Village emerges with a serene rural atmosphere, simple thatched roofs, and bamboo furniture, perfect for unwinding after a stressful day’s work.

After settling in, perusing the diverse menu offerings, I believed this was truly an exciting choice for food enthusiasts like us.

First, we indulged in the appetizer, Mango and Fish Skin Salad. The freshness and tanginess of mango, combined with the crispiness of fish skin, and the slightly sweet, spicy taste of fish sauce made the salad refreshing and delightful.

The Lime Marinated Shrimp dish was divided into 2 parts: Shrimp tails marinated in lime, and shrimp heads seasoned with crispy salt. The lime-marinated shrimp featured a tangy flavor of lime, banana vinegar, chili garlic, and fresh coriander complementing the freshness of the shrimp. When eaten, remember to pair it with coriander leaves and green chili salt dipping sauce to enhance the sweet and savory taste of the shrimp.

According to the owner, selecting shrimp for this dish is quite meticulous, choosing shrimp of size 35 pcs/kg, so that when marinated in lime, the shrimp retains its freshness, and when fried, the shrimp heads become crispy.

The next dish was the assorted stone-grilled set, including beef, fish, and goat pork already placed on the table, accompanied by grilled vegetables and a sweet-sour passion fruit sauce. The grilled items were marinated with rich spices, the sweetness of the meat and vegetables blended together, making us unable to stop eating.

The salt stone grilled dish is the “soul” of the restaurant. The freshness and deliciousness of pork, beef, and seafood combined with the salty flavor emitted from the hot salt stone sourced from distant mountains bring out a natural salty taste when cooked, providing a truly satisfying experience.

To serve this dish promptly to guests, preparing the salt stone grills is quite laborious. The stones are heated for 2 hours, releasing just the right amount of saltiness. Each salt stone grill serves 15 plates of food, equivalent to 450g.

The cooked grilled dish is served with 2 types of dipping sauce: tomato sauce and passion fruit sauce, accompanied by rice paper rolls, herbs, pickled vegetables, fragrant herbs, and noodles. The sour-sweet flavor with a hint of saltiness from the stone blends together, creating a unique flavor for the dish.

Additionally, the serving staff were very enthusiastic and energetic, with hardly any waiting time for customers.