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We just ate dinner here on our last evening in Da Lat and are feeling regretful about all the delicious meals we could've eaten if only we'd gotten ourselves to Hoa Sen sooner. The restaurant was pumping early on a Saturday evening. Other reviewers have mentioned that no English is spoken here but the waitress who took out order spoke English well. Having read about the fresh spring rolls so was keen to try those but they were out so they recommended the glutenous rice flour dumpling. Wrapped in pandan leaves, it's translated on the menu as "pyramidal" dumpling. The dumpling itself is not as rubbery as it looks, it's actually quite tender and has a slightly salty flavour of its own, although the filling of mushrooms, root veggies, and tofu julienned is the star here. We also shared one of the bao to start which had a similar filling to the dumpling but with a peppery seasoning. The bun was fluffy, slightly sweet and tasted a bit coconutty to me as well. We ordered two main dishes which, while small, were plenty for the two of us with steamed rice. The chilli tofu was three big chunks of perfectly puffy fried tofu with a chilli and lemongrass seasoning. We also ordered "spicy vegetables" or something like that, thinking some greens would be a good balance to the tofu. The dish that arrived was very thinly sliced onions, quickly stir fried with a fake chicken type protein with similar seasoning to the tofu. Not what we expected but still delicious...just made for a pretty unbalanced meal in the end. When ordering vegetable dishes, I recommend choosing those where the actual name of the vegetable is translated if you want a better idea of what you're getting! Unlike other reviewers, we found the service efficient and not unfriendly. What more can you expect? It's not fine dining. Ditto to the decor. The lighting is fluorescent, the floor is tiled but there are some nice touches like small indoor water features with steam and coloured lights. I think there's another seating area upstairs where it looked like the lighting might have been warmer and lower. Still, it's not the place to linger over dinner. Just enjoy your meal and get on with your life!


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