Friday, July 17, 2009

Lunch #79: New Saigon Deli

New Saigon Deli Expectations were low today as the MSG150 crew headed out to meet up with Michael and Veggie Roberto at the New Saigon Deli. Having scoped out this Bahn Mi only joint on a previous venture up Jackson, we were put on guard by the run-down storefront and cluttered interior, even though we are all fans of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches. Michael met us there and Rob showed up on his bike a short time after. We scoped out the menu and then stepped up to the counter to order.

New Saigon Deli, Seattle
Address: 1034 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Average rating: 3.3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 7/7/2009 @ 11:50:00
Time taken to be seated: N/A minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 20 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Plastic Fork
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Saigon?
Number of tables: 1
Number of occupied tables: 0 (0%)
Number of business lunch tables: 0
Number of "local" tables: 0
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon
New Saigon Deli

Luncher: Geary

BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Sardine Bahn Mi + Mystery Dessert + Bubble TeaLunch: BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Sardine Bahn Mi + Mystery Dessert + Bubble Tea - $2 + $2 + $1.50 + $2.50
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

I gave Yelp a peek before heading out and was intrigued/terrified by a reviewer who recommended the sardine Bahn Mi. I imagined a baguette with a dozen tiny fish heads poking out. However, having overdosed recently on Andrew Zimmern, I resolved to give it a try.

I can't imagine what the Old Saigon Deli was like. This place is a pit. There are a couple of chairs and a stool in one corner, food and snacks on tables in the middle and at the counter, and an old cake display refrigerator in another corner with only a couple of lonely items in it. The food menu lists Bahn Mi sandwiches exclusively but there is also a large picture menu of bubble tea offerings as well.

I went with the Sardine Bahn Mi that I had previously committed to and the BBQ Pork. There are two prices for Bahn Mi and mine were both the expensive price at $2 each. The cheaper sandwiches are $1.75. How do they make any money on these? Maybe they are just the loss leader and they get you on the phone cards and cigarettes that are also for sale behind the counter. Since I was still far from my spending limit, and worried about the sardines, I grabbed a colorful dessert-looking concoction from the table and ordered a bubble tea.

Since there is essentially no eating room in the deli, we decided to walk down to the Kobe Terrace hillside park and p-patch and look for a spot for a picnic. Having secured a picnic table I unwrapped my sandwiches and dug in. I decided to start with the Sardine Bahn Mi using the logic that this would optimize the amount of other food I had left to wash away any horrible Sardine Bahn Mi taste. To my utter surprise the Sardine Bahn Mi was not only edible, it was great. Not only was the crisp baguette stuffed with tons of tasty pickled daikon, pickled carrots, onions, and cilantro, the sardines themselves were delicious. Plus, no head! It wasn't whole sardines at all but sort of a sardine salad similar to tuna salad. In fact if you like tangy tuna salad you would like this. It wasn't mayo based, but it had onions and some sort of chili sauce. I really can't say enough about this sandwich. I was even regretting I hadn't ordered two until I started in on my BBQ pork Bahn Mi. It too was delicious. The pork was tangy and tender with very little of the gristle you might expect for $2. While the sandwich was not as substantial as Sub Sand, the BBQ pork was better.

I made it through both sandwiches, the bubble tea, and bites of the delicious mystery dessert but I was stuffed. One and a half Bahn Bi is the right number. Go with a friend and split three, just make sure you get a whole sardine one to yourself.

Luncher: Emmett

BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Banana RiceLunch: BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Banana Rice - $2 + $2
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

This place has the potential to scare off every female I've ever met. Mental note, don't bring a date here. The entrance is basic enough. When you enter there are tables covered with to-go sweets and foods. There's a counter where you order. A total of two places where you could sit. Two dollar sandwiches. Hells yes.

I grabbed a BBQ Pork Bahn Mi, a banana rice, and a diet coke for the grand total of $5 I think. They are SLOW. They offered to heat my bun. Seriously? Yes please! I patiently waited outside for the others so we could proceed to the nearby park to eat our food.

The sandwich was fantastic. It's definitely on par with the best Bahn Mi from the nearby bakeries and delis. It falls a bit short of Sub-Sand, but then again, for $2, it comes in at less than half the price. The banana rice was a little bit gross to look at, and was cold, but in spite of that, was tasty.

The food quality and price merit this Deli a 4, but the lack of space and slow service brings it down to a 3. I'll definitely come back but I like a place to sit.

Luncher: Adam

Cha Lua Chay Bahn Mi (vegetarian ham) + Chinese Sausage and RiceLunch: Cha Lua Chay Bahn Mi (vegetarian ham) + Chinese Sausage and Rice - $2 + $1.50
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

New Saigon Deli has a Maxang-style interior. It's dumpy. Although, this place doesn't have tables.

The food here was actually pretty good, I just ordered the wrong sandwich. I am now 100% anti-Vegetarian-"Ham". The other stuff in the sandwich was actually quite good. Pickled vegetables on a sandwich always throw a nice pick up on it. I ordered mine to be "warm"... which means they toasted it first. Definitely recommended if you have the time.

For a little bahn mi sandwich shop, these take a surprising amount of time to make. To get all 8 of us in-and-out... it took at least 20 minutes. I know this isn't the world's most complicated sandwich, but if it's the only kind of sandwich you make... you should be able to get it down to only a minute. Jimmy John's can do it in about 30 seconds.

Next time I'll be ordering one of the other sandwiches... but the important thing to note is that I'm definitely heading back to this place.

Luncher: Rob

Tofu Bahn Mi + Ginger CandyLunch: Tofu Bahn Mi + Ginger Candy - $1.75 + $1.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Rob's Review

Well, I'm back in Seattle, and back to the MSG150. Traveling around and about South America was fun, but now I've returned, and I'm hungry for lunch. And it's good to see everyone again.

Speaking of lunch, my "welcome home" outing was to this curious establishment. The decor lends itself more to the practical than to the aesthetic, but the bahn mi prep time surprisingly lacked the efficiency I expected when I walked in. At least I had good company while waiting for the sandwich.

So yeah, the tofu bahn mi. I liked it. It wasn't the best bahn mi I've had, but I liked it, and it had a good spicy jalapeño edge. Would I eat here again? $1.75 for the sandwich = you certainly bet I will. If I'm craving something tastier and have more coin in my pocket, though, I would probably venture elsewhere, such as Sub Sand or Baguette Box.

What else? While I was munching away, I was thinking that one sandwich wouldn't be quite enough, but after I'd finished and had a brief walk, it felt just right. Maybe all the various and sundry GI problems I had in Bolivia and Peru actually had a beneficial effect of helping shrink my stomach a bit. I'll see how long that lasts...

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Chicken Bahn Mi - $2 + $2
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Michael's Review

Very nice and simple Bahn Mi priced just right for the unemployed. You really can't find a tastier cheaper lunch than this. The only down side is there isn't a place to sit down and enjoy it.

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: Meatball Banh Mi + Chicken Teriyaki Banh Mi - $2 + $2
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Dave's Review

Well, this isn't the place to take a big crowd. It took forever to get all the sandwiches made and cycled through. Next time I won't bother getting it heated; it was cold by the time we got around to eating. Still, the banh mis were pretty good, especially at $2 a pop. 2 was too much food, 1 probably not enough. Bring a friend and split 3. The meatball was more like cooked ground flavored mystery meat (probably pork) spread in a layer; tasty. The chicken teriyaki was unremarkable but good. Still, for $4, go to Sub Sand and get one salt-and-pepper tofu banh mi instead.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Special Bahn Mi + Almond Bubble Tea - $2 + $2.50
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Al's Review

Bahn Mi -- Good; Price -- Fantastic! Almond Bubble Milk Tea was extra sweet too.

New Saigon Deli Photos

New Saigon Deli
New Saigon Deli

Not so new New Saigon Deli sign
Not so new New Saigon Deli sign

New Saigon Deli Menu
New Saigon Deli Menu

Backup Menu
Backup Menu

Bubble Tea Mennu
Bubble Tea Mennu

The Eye is watching
The Eye is watching

Table of assorted treats
Table of assorted treats

More treats
More treats

BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Banana Rice
BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Banana Rice

Cha Lua Chay Bahn Mi (vegetarian ham)
Cha Lua Chay Bahn Mi (vegetarian ham)

BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Sardine Bahn Mi
BBQ Pork Bahn Mi + Sardine Bahn Mi

Tofu Bahn Mi + Ginger Candy
Tofu Bahn Mi + Ginger Candy

Mystery Dessert
Mystery Dessert

Adam's Sticky Rice & Chinese Sausage
Adam's Sticky Rice & Chinese Sausage

Emmett's Banana Rice
Emmett's Banana Rice

MSG150 Crew Picnic
MSG150 Crew Picnic

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Lunch #78: Saigon Bistro

Saigon Bistro Another day, another hidden ID restaurant. Today's trek took us to the back side of the Viet Wah grocery store to Saigon Bistro. Apparently this Saigon Bistro is in no way related to the other Saigon Bistro in the Uwajimaya food court. Once we navigated the parking lot and swung around Viet Wah's loading bay and dumpsters we found the somewhat quaint entrance to today's lunch spot.

Saigon Bistro, Seattle
Address: 1032 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Average rating: 3.3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 6/3/2009 @ 12:15:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 7 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 18 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Saigon?
Number of tables: 14
Number of occupied tables: 6 (42%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (16%)
Number of "local" tables: 5 (83%)
Healthcode Score: 10
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon
Saigon Bistro

Luncher: Adam

Bun Chay (with Tofu)Lunch: Bun Chay (with Tofu) - $7.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

It's always so hard when you put a restaurant head-to-head with Pho Bac. But I ordered the Bun noodles knowing that that was exactly what I was doing to this restaurant.

We should really start with the approach to this restaurant. Unless you know where you're going, you're going to have a tough time finding the front door. Why? Because it doesn't actually have a front door, the restaurant's door is actually on the back of the building. And as you're searching for it, you may notice some not-so-nice aromas coming from some nearby dumpsters. Although, as soon as you walk in, you're presented with a quite nice looking interior. Once you sit down and figure out what you want, it'll take a few minutes for them to take your order... and in this time you'll notice that the interior isn't nice, it's just almost nice. Lots of cut corners.

Anyway, the Bun noodles were good. Nothing special. The appetizer was good. Nothing special. With prices higher than Pho Bac, the only reason you'd come here is if you were skittish about how the interior of a restaurant looked (and hence, didn't want to go to Pho Bac).

Not a bad place to try out... but nothing special

Luncher: Emmett

Bun with Lemongrass ChickenLunch: Bun with Lemongrass Chicken - $7.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

The first problem with this place is it's hard to find even if you're looking for it. Find the Viet Wah sign, turn into the parking lot, head around back. You'll see the entrance.

Inside this place is fairly nice. White tablecloths abound; we chose a nice table by the window. The menu, though inconsistent, has a lot of good choices. I really wanted Bun, but their lemongrass chicken also looked good, so I asked if they could do a Bun with Lemongrass. Certainly they said.

We split the Bo la lot and they were delicious. I had just eaten at Monsoon East, whose waiter prided them on their Bo La Lot, and these were as good if not better. The main course was great. The Lemongrass chicken had a nice flavor. There were a good mix of greens, veggies, noodles, and meat. For $7, the price compares favorably to nearby Pho Bac.

The service was average, but I liked the atmosphere. This may make a good dinner place. I'll definitely come back at some point.

Luncher: Geary

Bun with Grilled PorkLunch: Bun with Grilled Pork - $7.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Saigon Bistro is attempting to be in the fine dining category and fails. They have granite along the counters and copper accents above the kitchen, but the tables and chairs are old and mismatched. I ordered the BBQ Pork Bun noodles and we shared Grilled La Lot Leaf Wrapped Beef appetizer. The beef was tough and chewy. I know gristly and chewy is expected to some degree, but I have my limits. The BBQ Pork Bun noodles was presented nicely but the pork was dry and gristly. Although the price was reasonable, for the same price I am assured a better meal at either Pho Bak or Green Leaf.

Saigon Bistro Photos

Saigon Bistro
Saigon Bistro

Fine Dining?
Fine Dining?

Saigon Bistro Menu Cover
Saigon Bistro Menu Cover

Saigon Bistro Lunch Menu
Saigon Bistro Lunch Menu

Lunch Menu Page 2
Lunch Menu Page 2

Saigon Bistro Menu
Saigon Bistro Menu

Entry Way
Entry Way

La Lot Beef Rolls
La Lot Beef Rolls

Bun with Lemongrass Chicken
Bun with Lemongrass Chicken

Bun with Grilled Pork
Bun with Grilled Pork

Bun Chay (with Tofu)
Bun Chay (with Tofu)

The view
The view