Food was enjoyable. Hai Au Lang Nuong is a Vietnamese restaurant located in Canley Vale, serving a range of authentic Vietnamese dishes ranging from grilled meat to clay pot fish. Ample seating inside and outside the restaurant. High chairs available. I have been wanting to eat here for some time but never had the chance. I came on 2 separate occasions, lunch and dinner as my friend did not eat fish and all I craved for was the clay pot fish.

When we came for lunch, I didn't know what I was walking into as it felt overwhelming. The decor was excessive and the restaurant was in desperate need of a renovation. The tables felt sticky and the staff members were difficult to wave down as they were not around. There were so much decorations either hanging, stuck on the walls, or as part of the table numbers that there didn't seem to be an area not covered. Throughout my dining experience, my eyes were wondering all over the restaurant, it was very distracting.

After we settled and decided, we ordered for lunch salt and pepper tofu and combination fried rice noodles.

The food took a while to arrive but the noodles were worth the wait. The serving size was decent. The dish was yummy. It had the smokey 'wok' flavour. The meat and seafood were cooked well. I love lots of sauce and this dish had more than enough.

The salt and pepper tofu however, was a disappointment. It was crispy on the outside but lacked flavour. The type of tofu they used was also the firm tofu which was not smooth. I was hoping the garnish of onion and capsicum had flavour but that too lacked flavour. A real disappointment as s&p tofu is one of my favourite dishes in general.

We came back for dinner with my family instead and dinner was much more enjoyable. Customer service was still lacking. I could not tell who was staff or a customer as they were wearing black t-shirts and because they were sitting with the customers, I could not tell who was who. After we figured who the staff were, we were ready to order. I wanted to order the noodles again as they were so good but unfortunately it was a lunch menu item, shame as I was looking forward to it. Instead we ordered half a dozen of steamed oysters with ginger, shallots, in XO sauce, stewed silver perch in clay pot, and sour soup with silver perch fish, and steamed rice.

The food was packed with flavour and so yummy. The decor did not bother me this time around as I was overwhelmed by the flavours.

The steamed oysters with ginger, shallot, in XO sauce was yummy. It had a nice balance of flavours but it was not spicy, a bit of a let down. Otherwise a good dish with the added vermicilli. Very moreish. Even my kids ate it which was very uncommon.

The stewed silver perch in clay pot was nicely caramelized. It was salty, slightly sweet, and a little peppery but it did get a bit salty towards the end, you definitely need steamed rice to balance out the flavours. The fried pork fat was a nice added texture to the dish but a bit oily.

The sour soup with silver perch was yummy. It was packed with lots of ingredients - tomatoes, bean sprouts, ba kha (vegetable), pineapple. The soup was sour, sweet, and salty - satisfyingly good. The fish was fresh and the flesh was soft.

I did notice however, there was someone singing karaoke at the restaurant and the ?manager talking on the microphone in Vietnamese. Both which were distracting and unnecessary.

Verdict: Food is packed with flavour and very satisfying. Decor needs updating. Customer service needs improvement. Staff probably should wear another coloured top to stand out.