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Saigon Bistro
Aug. 14th, 2006 09:55 pmCitysearch info for hours, phone number, and address.
I went for the third time today, and can sum up my experience easily: just don't order the bun. They serve theirs wet and with few herbs, so there's no appeal when 7 other restaurants in the neighborhood do it better.
THE MEAL
Today I had a nice helping of bun mang vit, which is duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots served with a vinegary cabbage salad with duck and onions, topped off with a side of amazing ginger sauce. The soup doesn't actually have duck in it, so I usually add the duck from the salad, along with hoisin sauce, Sri-Racha, and the ginger sauce for flavor. Not all at once, though. I add in stages in order to try different tastes throughout the meal. All throughout my walk down Jackson to the bus stop, I could still taste the ginger. Amazing.
The last time I went, I ordered the pork and seafood pho, and was very impressed with the variety and amount of seafood as well as the presentation. Most places just give you a bowl of soup, but they arranged the ingredients in a lovely way. In the soup. It was cool. I'm always saying I need to carry my camera all the time, and stuff like that is the reason why.
With both of these meals, I had a spring roll as an appetizer. I like that you can order just one there, so even though there's plenty of other food on the way, they're quite tempting. They also serve theirs with the peanut sauce heated, which is a nice touch I haven't seen anywhere else.
CONDIMENTS ON THE TABLE
Soy sauce, chili sauce, chili oil, Sri-Racha, sugar, salt, pepper, hoisin sauce, and the fishy brown sauce a lot of places keep in soy sauce bottles. Anyone know what that is? Nice selection, there's only one place I've been to that has anything more than they do.
BEVERAGES
I only had the usual complimentary tea and water today. I only drink cafe sua da on weekdays if I'm really tired or in a foul mood. They also serve beer and wine, and probably more beverages that I would have thought to jot down if I was good at this. I asked for a takeaway menu, but they don't have them.
The space looks like it has been kept very clean and well-maintained since the '80s, or at least decorated with materials from the era. I never spend much time looking at the inside because Saigon Bistro has something no other vietnamese restaurant I've been to has: an amazing view. They're in a second-floor space above the Viet-Wah grocery, and their large windows look out over Amazon's headquarters, Beacon Hill, West Seattle, the port's cargo area, the stadiums, and Chinatown.
The smaller location in the food court at Uwajimaya is a nice spot if you're down there, and they have the nicest disposable chopsticks I have ever seen. Be careful, though; the disposable plastic soup spoons have an extremely sharp edge. Their sandwiches are edible but dead last on my (extensive) list.
I went for the third time today, and can sum up my experience easily: just don't order the bun. They serve theirs wet and with few herbs, so there's no appeal when 7 other restaurants in the neighborhood do it better.
THE MEAL
Today I had a nice helping of bun mang vit, which is duck noodle soup with bamboo shoots served with a vinegary cabbage salad with duck and onions, topped off with a side of amazing ginger sauce. The soup doesn't actually have duck in it, so I usually add the duck from the salad, along with hoisin sauce, Sri-Racha, and the ginger sauce for flavor. Not all at once, though. I add in stages in order to try different tastes throughout the meal. All throughout my walk down Jackson to the bus stop, I could still taste the ginger. Amazing.
The last time I went, I ordered the pork and seafood pho, and was very impressed with the variety and amount of seafood as well as the presentation. Most places just give you a bowl of soup, but they arranged the ingredients in a lovely way. In the soup. It was cool. I'm always saying I need to carry my camera all the time, and stuff like that is the reason why.
With both of these meals, I had a spring roll as an appetizer. I like that you can order just one there, so even though there's plenty of other food on the way, they're quite tempting. They also serve theirs with the peanut sauce heated, which is a nice touch I haven't seen anywhere else.
CONDIMENTS ON THE TABLE
Soy sauce, chili sauce, chili oil, Sri-Racha, sugar, salt, pepper, hoisin sauce, and the fishy brown sauce a lot of places keep in soy sauce bottles. Anyone know what that is? Nice selection, there's only one place I've been to that has anything more than they do.
BEVERAGES
I only had the usual complimentary tea and water today. I only drink cafe sua da on weekdays if I'm really tired or in a foul mood. They also serve beer and wine, and probably more beverages that I would have thought to jot down if I was good at this. I asked for a takeaway menu, but they don't have them.
The space looks like it has been kept very clean and well-maintained since the '80s, or at least decorated with materials from the era. I never spend much time looking at the inside because Saigon Bistro has something no other vietnamese restaurant I've been to has: an amazing view. They're in a second-floor space above the Viet-Wah grocery, and their large windows look out over Amazon's headquarters, Beacon Hill, West Seattle, the port's cargo area, the stadiums, and Chinatown.
The smaller location in the food court at Uwajimaya is a nice spot if you're down there, and they have the nicest disposable chopsticks I have ever seen. Be careful, though; the disposable plastic soup spoons have an extremely sharp edge. Their sandwiches are edible but dead last on my (extensive) list.
