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

[SK]

The round rice noodles with coconut milk is one of my favorite dishes at Saigon. I usually get it with the crispy tofu skin. I'm surprised you had a bad experience with the noodles, I have always found them to have a very satisfying texture.

I also like their frog with lemongrass, and they do a very nice rendition of fish porridge. The durian shake is also not bad. Come to think of it I haven't been there in months... I'll have to go try the clams, they look tasty.

[Kirk]

Hi SK - The Banh Tam, was really good, except for those noodles, so i'll probably be having them again. Looks like you need to mae a visit to Saigon soon.

[Larry]

Kirk,
Try the Vietnamese restaurant "Lucky Seafood" at the corner of Mira Mesa and Blackmountain Rd. They serve pho, bun and "com tam" dirt cheap. It mostly packs with local Vietnamese in the area. For more adventurers at heart, read Mr. Graham Holliday's daily blog at http://www.noodlepie.com about Vietnamese street food in Saigon. It's just awesome!!!

[Kirk]

Hi Larry - Thanks for the rec', but I've already been there several times....

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2006/03/lucky_pho.html

And yes, Noodlepie is really well done.

[Larry]

Oops, Hi Kirk
Ya do know your stuff :) I just happened to read your blog today. Sorry for kinda underestimate ya :). I really enjoy reading food blog. Two places if I may recommend when you travel, Singapore and Saigon... You'll be in food heaven :). You'll find travelers speaking different accents of English, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and whatever in between that all enjoy eating and slurping the same foods... Amazing experience!!!

[Kirk]

Hi Larry - Oh no, no offense taken....We're trying to plan an extended vacation next year to maybe Thailand and Vietnam....hopefully it'll happen.

[Larry]

Hi Kirk,
Have you tried Như Ý Restaurant at 4712 El Cajon Blvd # A San Diego CA 92115 (619) 282-4545
If you'd like to try, they have "bún mắm" and "bún chả hà nội" which are pretty good. The only thing I'd say that they're not 100% like Saigon food stalls, just because they don't have all of the right green stuffs (I'm sure they make do of whatever they find locally) :(. However, the bún mắm broth (just a tad on the sweet side for me but my wife still likes it), the meats and fish are very fresh and tender.

Bún chả Hà Nội is really good. I think it's pretty much on a par with saigon food though.

I still crave for Saigon street foods and its atmosphere :( . I guess I'll plan another trip soon. Sigh...

[Kirk]

Hi Larry - I see that you need another trip very soon! We've been to Nhu Y - the Missus likes the drinks there - but I've never ordered food. If I in that mall I usually end up at Kim Chan for Banh Mi. I've quite a list of places to visit in the area(inlcuding Da Nang, among 20 others) - including a kind of hidden Bun Bo Hue place in the area. So keep those rec's coming!

[Johnny H]

Hey Kirk, in regards the the sauteed catfish dish it is traditionally made with cross sectional cuts of the fish. This way, you get the most of out the fish. Saigon (the restaurant) is one of our family favorites in San Diego because of their variety. Thanks for the review!

[KIrk]

Hi Johnny - Thanks for taking the time out to comment. Saigon is a good "bang for the buck" restaurant.

[lela]

i noticed since you and your wife enjoy fried appetizers you might want to try BANH XEO at saigon it is pretty good. I also thought bo 7 moung (7 course beef) was very tasty not too sweet. remember to get mam nam for dipping sauce to eat with the 7 course since you can handle the taste of shrimp paste.

[Tommylovebottom]

The little lady and myself actually were driving home tonight and just chose this place ..well for no reason at all..other than I was in the mood for Pho.I had my heart set on a bowl of Pho..until... I opened the menu...Holy Ho Chi Min..When the waiter..FINALLY got around to noticing us..I just panicked and forgot what I had come there for and chose three things that I had no idea about. No Pho! Anywho, I thought the portions and prices were more than fair and the food was delicious. I must say that the service was abysmal.. Even by Asian restaurant standards.. Just really bad across the board..But for the price and quality I shall return on a slower day. P.S. I had that weird pork bbq..mystery meat with the coconut milk noodle thing. Tasty "Stuff" BTW,Whats the name of that Mung Bean omelet like thing. I wanted that but I didn't have 5 hours to scan the menu in search of it.

[Kirk]

Hi TLB - Are you thinking about Banh Xeo? We call the menu situation, "Vietnamese menu overload." BTW, Saigon has Pho, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Tommylovebottom]

Yeah Banh Xeo!! Thats the ticket. I used to get it in PDX all the time. It's one of my favorite things in the world. Does Saigon have it? I was happy to read after the fact that their Pho isn't so good. I was very close to getting it but I just...forgot what I had come there for because of the menu size..It reminded me of when I was a big record buyer..I had a million and one ideas of what I was going to buy but at a good recored store...I'd just freeze up.Vietnamese Menu Overload (Good band name)indeedlydoo.

[yas]

One of my favorite things to eat here is the 7 course beef. It serves 2. Food is served in courses, and you roll the meat with variety of vegetables in a rice paper. Its fun, and delicious, try it if your feeling adventurous. yas

[Kirk]

Hi Yes - I think that Phuong Trang's Bo 7 Mon is better......and I'm not a big fan of Phuong Trang. You need to get out to Little Saigon.