UPSCALE VIETNAMESE RERSTAURANTS
I love Vietnamese food! I saw a coupon for 20% off my entire food bill at ‘Saigon on 5th’ restaurant in my uptown coupon book so I decided to give them a try. They are located in Hillcrest and I went there for dinner from work; Screg couldn’t join me because he had martial arts. The décor was nice, but I should have known that I was going to be disappointed. As their logo said “Fine Vietnamese Cuisine” which means it’s an upscale gourmet restaurant and it was going to be Americanized and not authentic.
Of all the Vietnamese restaurants that I have gone too on El Cajon Blvd, University Ave, Linda Vista, Mira Mesa and Clairemont/Kearny Mesa, I think I’ve tried them all and for the most part I’ve never been too disappointed. At these restaurants I’m use to the squirt bottle of plum and hot sauces on the table so that they are within reach; this way I can put as little or as much as I want in my Pho. I love the rich beef broth flavor that these restaurants provide in Pho.
At Saigon on 5th, I ordered a chicken broth Pho and they served it with a small amount of plum and hot sauce in a little dish on the side. I wasn’t too crazy about the taste of the chicken base broth. I also ordered the fried spring rolls and the fish sauce that it came with was watered down. Out of curiosity, I also wanted to try their peanut sauce to see how it tastes and that too was a let down. The last time I was this disappointed was when I went to ‘Rice Jones’ another upscale Vietnamese restaurant in Hillcrest, same concept as ‘Saigon on 5th’,Canine told me that Rice Jones folded. What the hell was I thinking, upscale Vietnamese food; never again!
Of all the Vietnamese restaurants that I have gone too on El Cajon Blvd, University Ave, Linda Vista, Mira Mesa and Clairemont/Kearny Mesa, I think I’ve tried them all and for the most part I’ve never been too disappointed. At these restaurants I’m use to the squirt bottle of plum and hot sauces on the table so that they are within reach; this way I can put as little or as much as I want in my Pho. I love the rich beef broth flavor that these restaurants provide in Pho.
At Saigon on 5th, I ordered a chicken broth Pho and they served it with a small amount of plum and hot sauce in a little dish on the side. I wasn’t too crazy about the taste of the chicken base broth. I also ordered the fried spring rolls and the fish sauce that it came with was watered down. Out of curiosity, I also wanted to try their peanut sauce to see how it tastes and that too was a let down. The last time I was this disappointed was when I went to ‘Rice Jones’ another upscale Vietnamese restaurant in Hillcrest, same concept as ‘Saigon on 5th’,Canine told me that Rice Jones folded. What the hell was I thinking, upscale Vietnamese food; never again!
posted by HotFudge | 3:21 PM
19 Comments:
thanks for the tip about saigon on 5th. yeah, i thought the same thing too...watered down vietnamese food for the white folk...
you know, i love hillcrest and all, but the best "ethnic" anything is usually going to be far from where it's happening...in the original hoods.
i'm starting to feel a lack of love for the gaslamp restaurants, most of which seem to cater to out of towners who just want italian food or steak. all very pretty places to look at; all style but no substance. maybe to someone from podunk, u.s.a., but i just want good food at a reasonable price.
we first ate at rice jones when it was located near kaiser zion. in fact, we ate there the day after TC was born. (and at pho pasteur in linda vista) the day before). that location closed several years ago so the owner could pursue her new "rice jones" place on 5th in hillcrest. apparently, that place just closed as well and i never got a chance to eat there.
any other good spots to recommend? we just went to an indian buffet. i'll be posting that eventually.
When I was at Saigon on 5th not enjoying the chicken pho for a moment I thought maybe it would have made a difference if I would have ordered the beef pho.
But, after glancing over at other peoples beef pho which didn't look to appetizing either I realize it wouldn't have mattered.
Their beef pho had a clear watered down look and it was the same with the sauces. The fish sauce was a clear white than usual and the peanut sauce was light instead of dark brown.
I think the basic issue is 'ambience' as substitute for 'good food.' Tourists . . . Americans for that matter . . . are suckers for ambience and will pay through the nose for it, even though the food will more than likely be substandard.
The best places, ethnic or otherwise, tend to be these run down, hole in the wall types that focus mainly on THE FOOD!!!!! Unfortunately (of fortnately for us snobs) these holes in the wall usually scares off the general hoi poliol (sp?)
I think, in general, that Americans want their restaurants to entertain them. They go for the experience; they want to feel like they're going somewhere special. It's not just the decor, it's the staff dressing up in funny little outfits or gathering around en masse to sing you their silly company 'happy birthday' song. It's the animatronic rat with the video game room disgusing how crappy the pizza actually is.
Sometimes of course, you get good ambience with good food. I like Macaroni Grill. Jasmine comes to mind. What comes to mind to y'all about restaurants that have good combinations of ambience and food?
to answer you kilatzin, there are not a lot of restaurants i like that have that perfect combination of good ambience and food. i guess we all have different standards.
you are so right about restaurants being gimmicky to attract customers. case in point, the gaslamp quarter. thanks to gentrification, the gaslamp is home to dozens of high end restaurants that cater to tourists. the food is mediocre but hey, isn't the decor to die for?
okay, i admit, i enjoyed rama (thai) whose chef/owner was formerly of celadon in hillcrest. but...most of the stuff i like are in the 'not-so-shiny' parts of town. take asia cafe on 47th and market, or the african place that hotfudge took me to over the summer (in el cajon). i like my restaurants to be real and not cater to tourists. it's a good sign (to me) when i don't see a lot of diversity in a restaurant. man, does that sound bad or what. what i mean is, when the restaurant caters to a certain clientele (ethnic group or otherwise), they will tend to flock there because it reminds them of home/it's authentic or whatever. they're not going to bend to please some pussy customer who hates spices.
entertainment in a restaurant is not very important to me. i refuse to take tc to those crappy children's themed restaurants.
i like my food to be good. presentation is not a big factor when it comes to restaurants that are in the hoods. they're not trying to impress anyone fancy. yet, there's that part of me that doesn't want to find hair in my food or roaches crawling on the floor either.
uh...sorry i've gone on too long. if i think of any good places, i'll definitely let you know!
K,
I’m one of those kinds of diners where presentation and ambience isn’t really important to me if the food doesn’t taste like anything. Usually when you dine upscale you’re going to get nice presentation & decor, small portions and a big, fat check at the end. I love ethnic food and do prefer the smaller, hole-in-the-wall joints to eat at. I have a friend in her early 60’s, like a 2nd mom to me and we do dinner once a month. She prefers the upscale restaurants with the nice ambience and as I have suggested hole-in-the-wall places she refuse to go; oh and by the way she doesn’t like ethnic food (boring).
We usually go to places out of the “Entertainment” book, I like new adventures as with her she likes going to the same place and she always orders the same thing “Salmon,” how many frickin ways can you cook salmon? She’s very picky about the service, whether or not they happened to bring the salad out before the main entrée. I don’t give a shit about those things; I just want them to bring it out whenever it’s ready. I recall her leaving a penny on the table as a tip one time because she didn’t like the service; what can I say, set in her ways I guess.
I like Macaroni Grill and Jasmine’s too, Screg and I drove way out to North County to try Macaroni Grill when they first opened; Jasmine’s have good Dim Sum and Honey Walnut Shrimp. We’re getting a Macaroni Gill in South Bay and I can’t wait to try their fried pickles.
fried pickles? that's...interesting!
is the macaroni grille going to be in that new mall near you and ronin? that opens this friday! i'll wait til the crowds die down. i want to finish my holiday shopping.
hole in the wall places rule!!!!
i don't mind paying through the nose for good food, as long as it's very good food. It's like spending BMW money for a Hyundai. Why do that when it makes more sense to pay Hyundai money for a Hyundai?
my ultimate contempt is held for p.f. changs. the level of awe it inspires in my coworker sickens me, especially when there's real good chinese food restaurants out there.
not that every dish there sucks. i like the lettuce wraps and the lemongrass shrimp.
another thing that irks me is the insistence that people want to eat fish that's smothered in other flavor and ends up NOT TASTING LIKE FISH.
You wanna know what some people said to me after making both comments?
"Then I must not like real chinese" or "Then I must not like fish."
ugh.
i get so angry, i wanna call up screg again from my booty call 818 area code cell phone and yell at him for not being my girlfriend on the down low!!
oh and just to be forewarned. my last couple of times at macaroni grille has sucked. although to be fair, i didn't have my favorite dish: the portobello mushroom and chicken in demi-glace sauce and orzo pasta.
pf changs sucks big throbbing hairy hemmoroids.
it's dumbed down chinese food. the real chinese joints are on university and convoy, etc.! it's prettified chinese/fusion for the scared pussy masses. ever seen any real chinese people there? it's all yuppies.
i went there a few times with friends. not my choice. was not really impressed. sure the decor looks pretty, but the food was not that great. everything was way too salty.
i'd pick a dumpy reall chinese place over a shiny new fake chinese place anytime.
but then again, i'm not a big fan of chinese food. i just know that there's better more authentic places than p.f. f---kn changs.
C,
Yes, Romano's Macaroni Grill along with P.F. Changs will be opening in the mall near our home.
K & C,
Screg and I have boycotted P.F. Changs when we went there 2 or 3 years ago. The food was awful and we haven't been back since. Funny thing is that it wasn't our first visit, we've gone there a couple times before; but just that particular time it didn't taste all that great. We like their Lettuce Wraps though.
K,
Speaking of Hyundai's they really have improved their cars over the past years. They don't break down as often as they use to and you can't beat their warranty of '100,000 miles or 10 years, which ever one comes first.' When purchasing a new car, I usually stay in that "No More Than $7,000-$10,000 Price Range" which Hyundai's use to sell for a couple of years ago. I went to their car lot and saw that they have really skyrocket in price do to the fact that they have improved their cars significantly. Now, they are selling for $13,000 and my exact thoughts were "Why pay $13,000 for a new Hyundai when I can pay $13,000 for a new Toyota." So, what I ended up doing was buying the Toyota. I must admit though I really like the Hyundai Sonata.
I don't know fudge . . . a waranty like '100,000 miles or 10 years, which ever one comes first' is kinda like saying 'if we break your leg or arm, we'll fix it free of charge.' I'm kinda left thinking, 'well if your product is that good, why have such a waranty? you're practically telling me there's a good chance your product will suck.'
i know it can also be interpreted as we stand by our product unconditionally, but i'd rather hear our product will never break or your money back.
oh and toyotas ROCK!!!!!
K, remember Yugo's for $3,995? We'll, I almost bought one until a family member talked me out of it.
those yugos were literally held together by, like, one bolt...thank goodness you didn't buy one. you're better off driving a tin can with wheels than a yugo.
If you want entertainment while eating, try dinner theatre. HotFudge and I have done a couple and were pleasantly entertained.
I despise it when restaurants compromise their menu items just because people say it's too hot or too spicy or too salty or too fatty or too oily. Talk about assimilating and watering down other cultures. Makes me sick.
When Screg is hungry, all Screg cares about is the food. Not the friggin' presentation. HOw much parsley being used as garnish is wasted per year? If I order a steak, I don't need a bunch of greenery around it. Just the damn steak will do.
Oh yeah... Pho with RARE steak totally rules!!!
dinner theater sounds interesting.
Ronin,
aaah, if only i wouldn't have to interact with the singing waiters/waitresses etc...
i'm kind of suprised that you would go for that since you're way more anti-social than me.
i just hate having to deal with other people who want to force me to engage in their "murder mystery" or "Joey and Maria's Italian Wedding". but hey, i can't knock it until i've tried it.
if i want dinner, i don't want to be entertained by some theatre reject or wanna be actor.
yes, parsley is a wasted garnish.
Ronin??!!??
"antisocial"?!
what an odd observation...
hhhmmmmmmmm...
nope, can't see it at all.
The rock that had been blocking the cave for decades suddenly moved... dust and pebbles that hadn't been disturbed in years slid off the boulder.
Ronin squinted. He hadn't seen the sun in so long. Since his self-imposed exile, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had human contact.
Ronin poked his head out of the cave and said:
Who? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
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