Tủ Bar x Arrow Project

A little bit about the two main characters of this collaboration, Tủ is a hidden bar on Ngo Tat To, Binh Thanh. By the name of it, the bar is hidden behind a closet- to get to the bar, the customer has to walk into a closet, pass the clothes, and then into another door, then there is the bar. Surprisingly, this is the first collaboration that Tu has ever done since opening. 

Arrow Project is a fine dining restaurant, owned by Khoa, a young chef who just moved back to Vietnam 8 months ago. The restaurant itself is located in an apartment building in District 2, only takes 4 customers a day, and it takes up to 2 weeks to make a reservation.

The entire menu concluded with 6 different courses, paired with a cocktail that was created by the co-founder of Tủ, Toan Pham, to complement and enhance the flavor of the dishes. Before the dinner started, no one could order any drinks, mostly because the bartenders didn't want the customers to taste anything that could affect this collaboration's menu.

When the bartender served the first drink to the table, the appetizers were also served at the same time, the first bite was crunchy chicken skin with a creamy paste in the middle, creating a unique texture and a mouthful of flavor from such a small bite. Then the second appetizer was beef tartar, it was creamy, full of flavor, and didn’t have any raw beef smell; lastly, to clean the palette was a refreshing bite with a little sourness from citrus and clean fresh coconut, it was recommended to have it in one bite, and it popped when you first bite it, it was a great way to clean up all the greasy taste from the first two bites. The cocktail pairing with three dishes was light, clean, and perfect for the first dishes. 

The second dish was raw fish, the fish was very fresh, chewy, and well seasoned with the sauce underneath the fish; even the decoration of this dish was eatable and it was a hint of surprise that brought the dish. The third one was hidden fried rice underneath a bed of foam. Honestly, the rice was still kinda wet, but it was good seasoning. And it was paired with another refreshing drink until this dish was finished. The main course was wagyu steak with the chef's special sauce, paired with this dish was a someone heavy drink, base cognac, it was very strong, not my favorite. The steak was juicy, soft, and well-seasoned but not as special as the other dishes. And to end the night, dinner was a piece of watermelon on the stick. 

The food and drinks were perfectly paired together. My favorite has to be the beef tartar, and the most surprising was the raw fish. My least favorite was the dessert, it was simple, with nothing special about it. The chef tried to add kaffir lime on it, try to make it stand out and be different, it’s refreshing but the fact is it’s just simply watermelon. 

Overall, it was a great dinner, everything was not perfect, but it was their first project together, Tủ first collaboration, I could tell they put in a lot of work for two nights. I made some new friends and caught up with some old ones. I would recommend Arrow Project to my friends and make a reservation to try it at the restaurant itself.