Good Evening Vietnam!

Valencian chef Javier Gómez is winning the hearts and minds of Vietnamese diners in his restaurant Shri Restaurant & Lounge in Ho Chi Minh city centre. Shri opened in 2010; the word Shri means ‘to be surrounded by light’ in Sanskrit,

The rooftop restaurant in the business sector brings the demanding palates of the country’s expanding middle classes and international clients every evening to try international cuisine with a Valencian touch.

Javier is a truly international Valencian. His career began at the Escuela de Hostelería de Guipúzcoa, and he worked in Hotel Bulli and Hacienda de Benazuza, before trying his luck in Colombia, where he ran his own Spanish food restaurant.

Later he worked in the UK with TV chef, Rajinder Tony Singh Kusbia MBE, who hails from Scotland…….

His next stop was Vietnam, where western food combines with oriental touches, and where he has a tapas section called ‘Tapas 23’, with all the typical dishes such as bravas and shrimps in garlic, a task that was uphill at first, as many customers felt that, for example, the socarrat of his paella was simply a mistake, and that he’d burnt it.