At last month's OC food bloggers meet-up for dim sum at Dragon Phoenix Palace Chinese Seafood Restaurant, Chubby Panda said he wanted to meet Henry Chan, video food blogger extraordinaire. So today we finally got our chance. Lunch included Henry, of course, me, Chubby Panda, and Elmo of Monster Munching. Henry requested French-Vietnamese, so I decided to revisit one of my favorite restaurants, Saigon Bistro.
And really, in the presence of Henry Chan, what else could we do except record the event? So this is me recording Elmo recording Henry as he comments on the food. More food pictures and prices below.
Complimentary hot French bread with herbed butter.
Ca phe sua da (Vietnamese milk coffee iced) $2.75.
Escargots $5.65. It was still good underneath but the herbed breadcrumb topping was a bit burnt. I usually like to slather the buttery breadcrumbs on my bread and eat it all up.
Frog legs fried in butter with white wine and garlic $11.75. Looks like chicken, eh? Sort of tastes like it too, except "spongier." :) These were very tender and juicy.
Chubbypanda ordered the soft turtle and Chinese herbs soup $5.95. Henry said, "It tastes like what it smells like."
Bo luc lac (Vietnamese shaking beef) $10.25. Came with a side of saffron rice.
Duck a l'orange $10.95. The menu lists this with a bread or rice option. But when we asked for more bread, they actually charged us $1 a loaf! Now, I know those foot-long loaves are 4 for $1 now at the bakeries in Little Saigon but that's a huge markup. Besides, this dish was supposed to include that bread for free. Hmph!
Cornish game hen with saffron rice $6.75. The bird was a bit burnt. It was much better last time. I didn't see the owner in the restaurant this day so I think quality suffered a bit because of that.
Bo luc lac (Vietnamese shaking beef) $10.25. Came with a side of saffron rice.
Duck a l'orange $10.95. The menu lists this with a bread or rice option. But when we asked for more bread, they actually charged us $1 a loaf! Now, I know those foot-long loaves are 4 for $1 now at the bakeries in Little Saigon but that's a huge markup. Besides, this dish was supposed to include that bread for free. Hmph!
Cornish game hen with saffron rice $6.75. The bird was a bit burnt. It was much better last time. I didn't see the owner in the restaurant this day so I think quality suffered a bit because of that.
This is two orders of the bananas flambe with ice cream. One order is $3.25, ice cream is $2.75. I think we ended up being charged $9.50 for all of this. So I guess it was slightly cheaper ordered as a combo? Or maybe it was less ice cream because it was a side?
Saigon Bistro
15470 Magnolia Street
Westminster, CA 92683
714-895-2120
Saigon Bistro
15470 Magnolia Street
Westminster, CA 92683
714-895-2120
Closed Wednesdays
(The entrance is really on the McFadden side.)
(The entrance is really on the McFadden side.)
Mmmm sounds delish! Though I must ask....did I hear someone in the video call the snail dish "Es-car-gott"?
ReplyDeleteyums how was the bananas flambe?
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Food looks wonderful (burnt crumbs and all)!
ReplyDeleteI hardly see frog legs and turtle soup being served in US restaurants.
ReplyDeleteThe frog legs must be fresh to taste good. In Sg, they consider fresh frog as live frogs in tanks :O
And the turtle soup, what does it smell like? Then I would know how it taste like :O
And the ice cream flambe, what a way to end that wonderful meal!
I had fun! Thanks for inviting me WC.
ReplyDeleteTigerfish, the turtle soup, to me, smelled like, well, a turtle. Mossy, almost like the inside of a moldy aquarium. It tasted kinda like that too, but only if I squinted.
Hi Smerky,
ReplyDeleteYes. But it was tongue-in-cheek. :P
BC,
I love their bananas flambe. The fried bananas are really crisp. There's syrup drizzled over. And the flames melt the ice cream just enough. Plus, there's flames! Can't beat that! :)
Hi Freya and Paul,
Thanks. I was sad though that the food wasn't up to their usual standard that day.
Tigerfish,
I did not go near that turtle soup. And after reading Elmo's description, I'm glad I didn't.
Elmo,
Moldy aquarium? I shudder just thinking of your description. Henry's look was priceless!
I had fun too. Next time, someone else pick a place. :P
I'm not sure if the "mossy" smell Elmo described was supposed to be there. The turtle meat did really bad things to me later that evening. However, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you guys.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill,
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen you around for a while. I'm surprised you've never eaten here before.
CP,
I wonder if it's the Chinese herbs?
Wow, this place looks like tons of fun! The escargot and frog legs look great, even though I'd hesitate (only for half a second, really) to eat either of those.
ReplyDeleteHi Kev,
ReplyDeleteI know how much you love exotic meats. :) I'd stay away from the turtle soup though.