Le Petit Saigon

Le Petit Saigon
2783 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC

Let me put this one out right away: the fact that my last post prior to my trip to Florida happens to be Vietnamese and the first post afterwards is also Vietnamese, not to mention they are located a block or so away from each other is pure coincidence. I just happened to be in the same area for the same reason and, rather than go to the same place again, I though “hey, let’s go somewhere else!”. So, there you go, that’s why I ended up in Le Petit Saigon.

Actually, I wanted something “light”, as in something that you could eat but do not necessarily feel gloated afterwards. Sure, I could have gone to Subway but would have easily meant ordering a foot long and you know how it goes. Either that or my “guilty” feeling after coming back from all those humongous servings in the US! Anyway the fact there were families eating there was a good sign. I was seated on a table on a corner and quickly given a menu plus…

Again, I have the feeling this is becoming a trend. Whereas in the past I was served only ice water, now they serve the tea and drop some ice cubes in it. Wonder if this trend will continue in a couple of months (read: winter)… After I made my order, I was reminded of a small detail that Sherman (of Sherman’s Food Adventures) wrote about this place: is the A/C MIA? That day was sunny (as seen in the first picture) and the sun was hitting my back. While the iced tea did help a little bit, I am sure if the A/C was working (assuming there is one, that is), it would have done wonders…

As for the food, if there is something I can be accused of when going to Vietnamese restaurants is that I almost always end up ordering pho. Minor exceptions have been for banh mi but that is because they don’t have pho in their menu or it would have been a hassle. So, without further ado, my bowl of pho with rare steak, well done brisket and tripe bowl of pho.

And, of course, it comes with the “usual” side of bean sprout, thai basil, lime wedge and jalapeño peppers. On the topic of hot peppers, come to think about it, I seldom had these, specially not when they use thai chili rather than jalapeño. It is just, when they serve thai chili, you can more easily “bite” into the seeds and, as a result, that burning sensation. While the jalapeño peppers did not pack as much punch, it did not really help my situation (hot, having a bowl of soup and eating spicy food that would make me sweat bullets???). Well, after sweating it out a little bit, I started to get refreshed… ^_^;;;

Despite I said I wanted something “light”, I ended up ordering their spring rolls. Head to head competition against Bao Chau? In this case, the roll serving size is skewed as one order in Bao Chau are two spring rolls which would be cut into four (each roll). Here, a single order is one roll which is cut into six pieces. However, this one roll was about 1.5 roll of Bao Chau’s. But size aside, they pretty much taste the same so it is a tie…

Now, going back to the pho, I will admit I quite enjoy it. There was a good balance between all the ingredients. In the case of the rare beef, it was there with it slight chewiness; the well done brisket was also there but with a different, slightly drier texture. On the other hand, the tripe provided some “bite”, where the noodles was “slippery” and slightly past that al-dente texture (which, in this case, didn’t really bother me). The broth had a mild, savoury flavour and, fortunately, it was not overloaded with salt. And, oh, the peppers gave it a really good “kick”.

Overall, aside from the A/C aside, I will have to say I quite enjoyed the meal. Service provided is basic but, then again, that is not something I worry to much about. If I had to compare between this place and Bao Chau, I think I am more inclined to come here, though both are still good alternatives. But, but, but… In their sandwich board outside, they make mention of “3 Flavoured Beef” and that is something I might want to come back for…

Tagged under: Lunch • Noodles • Soup • Vancouver • Vietnamese