nerd’s eye view

The Jackson Street Crawl VI

May 28, 2005 – 7:48 am | by nerd's eye view

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Let’s get the most critical information out of the way first: The waiter at Saigon Bistro is totally hot. Whew, what a looker. Okay then? Okay. Now, the food.

Saigon Bistro is a favorite of Bill and Nia’s. They swear by the crepes and you can’t beat the price, we came in at 11 dollars each, including tip. Okay, there wasn’t much beer on the table, but we did order a handful of specialty drinks. Bill, always brave when it comes to the beverage section, ordered the pickled plum drink. Salty and weird, I found it near undrinkable, but Bill seemed to take to it as the dinner progressed. Terry and I each had coconut juice, icy and sweet with chunks of white coconut meat in the glass, a good call for a warm evening.

Vietnamese food is just the thing when it’s hot out – and yesterday we had a high of 90. The food is light, though not everyone finds it filling enough. “I feel like I should go home and eat lasagna,” said Terry. I was plenty satisfied with my meal, the grilled lemon grass chicken skewers served with all the stuff to make roll-ups: wrappers, lettuce, basil, veggies, rice noodles, lettuce, and dipping sauce. Bill and Nia both had the crepe, Bill’s was served roll up style, Nia’s with lettuce. Terry and Julius had the shrimp, Terry’s with rice, Julius’ with noodles. They were both a little underwhelmed by their food though Julius did say he’d order it again.

There’s so much Vietnamese food on Jackson Street that we’re starting to learn our way around it. Terry’s beginning to conclude that he just doesn’t like Vietnamese food that much, saying he finds it insubstantial and too much work. “I just want to eat my dinner; I don’t want to have to prepare it also.” Fair enough.

Saigon Bistro gets a 3.5 out of 5 from the Jackson Street Eaters. It’s worth noting that the three of us that like Vietnamese food REALLY like Saigon Bistro, we’d recommend it highly. It’s a friendly place, too. The staff are helpful and the menu is simple and completely translated. (We’ve been to some places where there are whole sections that are in Vietnamese so who knows what we’re missing.) It’s totally charmless; it’s a bit like a workplace cafeteria, but no matter, the food is fresh and good and cheap. They’ve got big tables, go with friends.

Saigon Bistro is at 1032 S Jackson St, just west of 12th in the upper part of the Viet Wah complex. The parking lot is a bit of a challenge, be warned.