At its best, Vietnamese food is fresh and delicate, with raw and cooked ingredients meeting at the table -- like petals of rare beef cooking in a bowl of pho -- or even in the mouth, as when a crunchy slice of spring roll is wrapped in lettuce with cucumber and basil.
A minute's walk from the MRT's Wanfang Hospital station, Saigon, Saigon delivers a long and authentic menu of Vietnamese favorites. The prices too are refreshing, with substantial dishes starting from NT$80 and plenty of side dishes, salads and desserts all under NT$100. Diners would be hard-pressed to spend more than NT$500 for a lavish lunch for two. Also, the set lunch is a special bargain, with strong Vietnamese coffee, choice of beef or wonton soup, and barbecued pork with rice noodles and vegetables for only NT$150.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAIGON SAIGON
A favorite snack is ban xeo, a pancake of rice flour and coconut milk, stuffed with vegetables, sliced shrimp and pork for NT$80. It's lacy and light in this restaurant's version, so it's better to dip bites in the sauce so it doesn't dissolve into mush on the plate.
The spring rolls (NT$60) are unusual, spongy and crumbly with meat rather than the usual chewy stuffing of clear noodles and shredded carrots. They're served with lettuce, cucumbers and rice noodles to be wrapped together and dipped in sauce. More unusual are the "fresh warm rolls" stuffed with pork for NT$60 (or shrimp for NT$70), slippery parcels of rice noodles with oily but savory chopped pork.
The raw "salad rolls" for NT$55 are a healthier item, though the rice-paper skin was slightly tough. A sinus-clearing green papaya salad for NT$80 and chicken salad for NT$50 and NT$80 were both excellent.
These items were only a sampling of the first two menu pages, followed by pages of rice, noodles and soups. All the soups I tried were great except for the bun rieu or seafood with vermicelli, a strangely crimson broth of too-soft noodles in a bland broth with small fishcake balls for NT$80. The pho (beef soup with rice noodles) was fragrant with cinnamon and ranged from NT$80 to NT$150. Fresh coconut juice is NT$60, and there's salty lemon drink and Vietnamese beer for traditionalists. Desserts are various fruits (NT$45) or mung beans ($35) served over rice with coconut milk.
Owner Ted Yeh says his place is offers authentic Vietnamese food because it's a family enterprise. A trip to the city's south side is a lot cheaper than a ticket to Ho Chi Min City, and Saigon, Saigon delivers its exotica in unpretentious comfort.
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