We Tried a Thai-Vietnamese Restaurant Today
The food was good and we’d definitely go back
Yeah, you read that title correctly. It was a Southeast Asian restaurant with cuisines specializing in Thai and Vietnamese food. The place is literally called Saigon Bangkok. It’s definitely a cool concept. Getting the best of both Thai cuisine and Vietnamese cuisine.
The Thai menu was heavy on curries and the stir fry noodle. The Vietnamese had noodles too but I feel like the phở was the main attraction along with the spring rolls. I didn’t check to see if there were bánh mì sandwiches but I didn’t recall seeing them.
Nevertheless, the place still had a decent selection, simple yet elegant decor, and fancy-looking menus. There was also Thai iced milk tea and a decent wine selection. The wine selection definitely threw me for a loop but because they had it, we definitely had to try it. Mike tried a plum wine from Japan of all places.
It was very delicious with amazingly refreshing plum undertones. I had to order the Thai iced milk tea. Back to the decor, it was simple yet elegant. The place looks like it used to be more of a fine dining experience and I was correct. I asked our server about it and she said that the pandemic made it impossible to keep up with the cleaning of the tablecloths so after the remodel, they made the seating and tables more simple.
The place still looks great but the advantage of downgrading the restaurant from fine dining is that it can attract more of an audience without having to brand itself as fine dining. The prices certainly didn’t warrant it either. Our dinner when all was said and done was just over 50 dollars for two people. Mike had the red Thai chicken curry because he really likes curry. I like curry too but I have been craving an amazing and delicious phở.
I ordered it with the rare beef and meatballs with all of the proper fixings, including the sweet chili sauce and the fish sauce on the side. I took all of the bean sprouts and the mint leaves and put them into the soup gradually. I also know from my previous times with this dish that just pouring sauce into the broth is not the proper way to eat it.
You have to enjoy the sauces in light moderation in the broth so as not to muddy it and to eat the broth and noodles separately. I would dab the chili and fish sauce on the vermicelli noodles as they came up, making sure not to get much of the sauce into the actual broth. I also ordered a side of brown rice.
I know that phở isn’t normally served with rice and noodles together but one or the other but I really like brown rice to serve at the end of the bowl so that it can soak up any remaining broth and make it easier to eat after I’ve already finished the rest of the bites.
I put it in at the end after all of the ingredients have been eaten up. I went ahead and slurped the soup up until there was just wet brown rice left. Then I just ate the remainder with a spoon. I would’ve preferred some chopsticks but I used what I was given. We had one metal spoon and a couple of forks.
Mike also ended up mixing his brown rice with his meal of chicken red curry. Unlike me, Mike saved about half of his food for later tonight. My food was so delicious, I couldn’t really stop. I finished an entire large bowl of phở and didn’t even think twice about it.
Anyway, after having such a traumatic experience happen on the way to the city, the restaurant was a nice break from having to go back into our truck and drive back to the country after and address the aftermath immediately.
