The Restaurant
Tales by Chapter is not a restaurant that happens to be plant-based. It is a plant-based restaurant, and the distinction matters: this is not a hotel kitchen running a token vegan menu, nor a trendy wellness project. It is the first zero-waste fine-dining concept in Vietnam, full stop, run from a discreet townhouse on Nguyen Thanh Y in Da Kao by a chef — Truòng Quang Dung — who trained on the Sustainable Food course at the University of Cambridge before returning home to argue the case in plates.
The menu is called, simply, ZERO. Every part of every ingredient appears somewhere on the plate or somewhere in the room. Corn kernels are grilled over charcoal — the cobs are burned to fuel the next service. Carrot roots are fermented with koji; the tops return as a highland-style chá̂m chéo dipping sauce. Vegetable trim becomes stock, sauce, ferment, or compost for the rooftop garden. A glass of hibiscus comes in a tumbler made of 100% recycled glass; the coaster under it is woven from hemp.
None of this would matter if the food were worthy. It is more than worthy. Produce arrives from a single partner farm in the Da Lat highlands, grown without chemicals and picked late. The tasting menus change seasonally and read like short stories: a course for the root, a course for the leaf, a course for the bloom. Desserts work in cacao grown in the Mekong Delta, treated like the rare fine-dining ingredient it actually is.
The room is pale, modest, serious. There is no attempt at luxurious distraction. A counter of eight seats faces the open kitchen — this is where solo diners and committed eaters end up, and it is the best seat in the house. Service is quiet, informed, and entirely unbothered by the fact that you may not have ordered a tasting menu like this before. Trust them. They are right about more than they let on.
Best For: Solo Dining
The eight-seat chef’s counter at Tales is the most intelligent solo-dining table in the city. The tasting menu unfolds as a conversation — between the chef, the farm, and whoever has taken a stool at the bar that night. Bring a notebook. Stay for the post-dessert tea flight, which is usually paired with conversation.
Also Consider: First Date
For a first date that signals curiosity without showing off, Tales is an unusually good choice. The counter format keeps things unpretentious, the food gives you hours of material, and the price is honest for the quality.
Planning the Evening
See the full Ho Chi Minh City restaurant guide for the top 20 ranked rooms, or narrow the shortlist by the Solo Dining filter. Travellers routing through the region can also compare with Bangkok, Singapore, and Hanoi — all covered in detail. For a wider read on dining in Vietnam, our editorial team maintains the RFK Blog.