Saigon Restaurant

Even if you're a neophyte when it comes to Vietnamese Restaurants in San Diego, I think you'd know of Saigon Restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard. In fact, other then Phuong Trang, Saigon is the Vietnamese Restaurant that is most often mentioned to me in conversations.

Over the years we've visited Saigon quite a few times. Mostly because of the huge menu and reasonable prices. Don't ask me to have the Pho' here though! The two times I've had the Pho', the dark broth had an extremely strong anise flavor, and the noodles were terrible.

The interior of Saigon is not huge, but very cavernous, with murals lining the walls near the ceiling.

I need to warn you, though. That if you suffer from "Vietnamese Menu Overload Syndrome", the 340+ items on the menu will send you into immediate convulsions, or at least a severe case of indecision.

On this visit we started with the usual Cha Gio(Vietnamese Egg Rolls - $4.95):

Interestingly enough, in our previous visits here, I'd never ordered these. The Cha gio were served with the usual plate of lettuce and mint. These innocuous looking egg rolls, felt rather cool to the touch, but were molten hot inside, and almost burnt my lips off. In fact I saved one till the end of the meal, and it was still super hot inside! These Egg Rolls were more like Chinese Style Egg Rolls, in that there was mostly stringy shredded vegetables, and almost no meat, or bean thread. The Nuoc Mam(Fish sauce) was really good though, nice and spicy, and not overly sweet.

I was also curious about the "Spicy, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, with Garlic Hot Sauce"($9.95). Sounds great doesn't it? Well here it is:

This dish tasted exactly like a bland Chinese Sweet and Sour Shrimp, except for some nice julienned strips of ginger. The one thing that saved the dish from being a total loss, were the perfectly cooked, plump, and soft shrimp.

Clams with Basil($8.95):

A bubbling hot pot of clams were delivered to the table. The clams were very plump and fresh, and not overcooked, and falling out of their shells. In fact, the clams passed the Missus's "clam inventory". The Missus claims that we often get served more shells then clam meat in our dishes, and has now started to keep a "mental count" of clam meat versus shells! Back to the dish. There was a good amount of basil in the "brown sauce". The sliced Jalapeno added some nice "middle-tongue" heat, that is, a non-numbing, quick "burn". The Missus thought the sauce wasn't salty enough, but I though that there was a nice balance of salty and mild sweetness in the dish. Pretty darn good.

This past Saturday was a very cold(by San Diego standards), and rainy(ditto) day. So we decided to drop by Saigon again.

Of course we got clams again. But this time it was the Clams with Ginger and (Green) Onion($8.95):

Same dish as the basil, except with green onions and the flavor of ginger. This dish also used dried red chilies instead of Jalapenos, which provided heat at the back of my throat(slow burn). I also detected garlic in the sauce today as well. Otherwise, same brown sauce. Again, pretty good.

Earlier in the morning I went to pick up a cup of coffee from Sandwich Emporium, and of course got into a conversation about....guess what? Food of course, with one of the "Twins" (I still can't tell them apart). I told Him we were probably going to drop by Saigon, and was told to give one of the "Banh Tam" dishes a try. So I ordered the Banh Tam Bo Nuong("Round Rice Noodle" with Char Grilled Beef - $6.50):

What arrived was a bowl overflowing with "stuff", there were seven pieces of beef, rolled tightly around a scallion to create a sausage effect. The beef though maybe a bit on the chewy side, was well marinated with herbs, fish sauce, and the like, and nicely grilled. The Missus kept saying, "Man I wonder what the pork must taste like!". In the bowl was a variety of julienned vegetables, like cucumber and carrots, as well as bean sprouts.

Also provided were bowls of Coconut Milk and the really good Nuoc Mam:

You are supposed to pour the coconut milk and nuoc mam over the bowl, mix it together, and dig in. The Missus however, didn't care for the coconut milk, so I poured the bowl of nuoc mam(and asked for another bowl, which I proceeded to pour over as well) over the ingredients, and mixed them. I used the coconut milk for dipping. During the mixing process a layer of lettuce and wonderfully palate cleansing mint was revealed.

The noodles though, were very disappointing. They were simply cold vermicelli rice noodles, stuck together to form a "cake". Tasteless and brittle, they brought nothing to the dish. I'd have this dish again though, in spite of the noodles.

On our previous visit, an odd thing happened. Our Server actually struck up a conversation with us. Something that had never occurred to me in a Vietnamese Restaurant before. He recommended this dish:

Can you figure out what it is? In that bubbling sauce is the Sauteed Catfish($6.95). 

In the brown sauce (a recurring theme?), were green onions, garlic and lot's of black pepper, which made this sauce really stand out. I'd have rather had fillets then cross cut fish, where bones can make the eating process messy and somewhat ponderous. The flesh of the fish had a nice buttery texture, but was a bit too muddy for my tastes, but that didn't bother the Missus at all, who loved it. I just enjoyed the sauce on my rice, which was delici-yoso!!!

Apparently there's some good eats on that menu of 300+ items. You just gotta keep "digging away" at it.

Saigon Restaurant
4455 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Sun-Thurs 8am - 10pm
Fri-Sat 8am - 11pm

Comments

[Rachel]

hehe kirk if you ever run out of restaurants in San diego, here is another place you could keep visiting. Start and 1 and work your way down ;) we have a similar yet different version of the noodles salad here. Its got the nouc mam but no coconut milk and its more grilled pork slices in yummy secret vietnamese grilling spices. Sometimes with spring rolls as well. It goes down a real treat in summer. Noodle quality varies from place to place. Great review though... really makes me hungry for some good vietnamese!

[Roger]

Hi there, nice blog you got. Found it by accident but love all the reviews. Especially the vietnamese ones. Which brings me to my question/request. Any chance you can get a recipe for the nuoc cham dipping sauce from one of those restaurants? All the recipes I've tried have been from the internet and while they are decent, I'd really like to know how to make the restaurant style ones. If you can get your hands on one please share with us! Keep up the great blogging.

[ed]

Try something with the char grilled pork next time. Amazingly flavorful stuff.

You've made me too hungry for 7:40 in the morning.

Good review

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - I think your talking about those "Bun" type cold vermicelli dishes - many times served with grilled shrimp or pork, and some Cha Gio, and you pour the nuoc mam all over it. It is really good during those hot summer days.

Hi Roger - Thanks for stopping by and comenting. I do have a few recipes, and have tried one or two, so I'll see what I can dig up.

Hi ed - We were lamenting the fact that we didn't order the pork with the noodle dish.

[stacey]

what about a good place for com tom (vietnamese broken rice dishes)? So far, the best I've had is at pho pasteur on linda vista next to K sandwiches. Any other suggestions? :)

[Kirk]

Hi Stacey - I've never had really great Com Tam - mainly because I always order the Com Tam Bo 7 Mon - and it's really hard to get 7 great "meats". I enjoyed the version at Convoy Noodle House, and we saw someone ordering it at Saigon, and it looked pretty good as well.

[elmomonster]

I've never seen most of the dishes you had before...Vietnamese food is certainly more than just pho and com tam!

Thanks for the post.

[Joan]

Kirk,
Saigon is our "local" Vietnamese restaurant, but since I tend to suffer from the overload you mentioned, I usually stick to 3 or 4 of the same dishes :) I do like the chargrilled pork there- it freaks my husband out b/c he isn't a pork fan and he thinks it's weird that there's a "surprise" onion in the middle, but I love it!

[Kirk]

Hi Elmo - I think many of the dishes are based on Chinese Food. But there's so much Vietnamese food I haven't tried yet.

Hi Joan - The prices are pretty reasonable, and the food pretty good. And yes, that green onion is quite a surprise.....

[Marc]

Be sure to try Saigon's Hazelnut Coffee shake!

[howie]

The pictures here look great! My favorite dish at Saigon is Shrimp Tossed in Butter. It's shrimp seasoned and fried shell-on/head-on then tossed with butter and fried garlic. I guess it's the Vietnamese equiavalent of the Chinese Salt Pepper Shrimp. Saigon also makes a good On Choy with stinky tofu. Mmm!

[Kirk]

Hi Marc - Thanks for the rec'. The Missus enjoys those type of drinks - espcially Durian. Her favorite place of the moment is Y' Nhu and their shakes.

Hi Howie - I did see that on the menu and was wondering what the heck it was. I asked the Missus to read the Chinese description, and she said, "It says shrimp with butter". I also noticed that they also have Salt and Pepper Shrimp on the menu as well. Among the other 340 items!!!

[Jo]

Hey Kirk! I think you are just being picky!!! ;o) Those beef rolls look outstanding. Being the wierdo I am, I like them when they are a bit chewy. Never saw the coconut milk/nuac mam combo before. It doesn't sound delicious to me.. But I sure wouldn't mind having the opportunity to try it!

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - Moi' picky?

[Jack]

Hi Kirk, Great pics! For some reason, I haven't been here in quite awhile. Thanks for the reminder. I just noticed the hours...8am? Have you ever been there that early?

[Kirk]

Hey Jack - Haven't been there at 8am, but our second visit was at about 10am. Many of the Vitnamese Restaurants in the area open early, it's a pretty good breakfast option!

[Marc]

I like to pour the nuac mam into the bowl and then just dip the meat into the coconut milk with chopsticks before eating.

Both the grilled pork and the grilled beef are top shelf at Saigon.

Try the Chinese Sausage Rolls too!

[Kirk]

Hi Marc - Actually, that's exactly how I ate it. Sounds like you're a real regular at Saigon.

[Marc]

Hi Kirk - Yes, I've been to Saigon many, many times.

I love the warm coconut milk served with the "round noodle" bun at Saigon. Their different buns, rolls, awesome shakes and drinks are all favorites. I hope you'll try their bun again and have better luck with the noodles next time because I think they are usually quite good. I'd also say that Saigon's grilled pork is the best in SD.

For pho dac biet, I go to Pho Hoa on Linda Vista Rd. and for pho bo ka and pho ga I go to Pho T Cali off Claremont Mesa Blvd, although I'm a little worried about "T" since the name change.

I think Pho Hoa in LV also serves superior cha gio and the best cafe su da in SD. They actually custom-blend their coffee!

I'm a regular lurker here, so hello and thanks to all involved.

Keep up the great work!

[Kirk]

Hi Marc - Wow, quite a list. I like the broth at Pho Hoa-Huang on Linda Vista Road, though the noodles have mushy a few times. I have been to the former Pho Hoa Cali only once since it bacame the 'T', and thought the food was pretty much the same. I'll make sure to get the grilled pork from Saigon the next time. Thanks for the recommendations.