Madam Saigon: No wonder the Vietnamese are so slim!
Starter Sampler $29.90 (6pax)
This is a wild guess, but I reckon that more women like Vietnamese food than men. We are talking about Singaporeans of course. The reason I say this is because Vietnamese food is pretty healthy and low in oil and coconut milk. I think if we did a survey, the number of women putting up their hands should at least be twice the number of men.
I have been to Vietnam only once, but the place that I ate Vietnamese food most was in Australia and Thailand. It's funny, but in Thailand, Vietnamese food is regarded as a higher class of cuisine than the local fare. It's very much like how we compare Thai food to our local hawker food.
When you feel that you have had a little too much rich food, than going to Vietnamese restaurant to eat something light and satisfying like the salads and summer rolls might just be the way to go. For starters, we had the sampler which had three different types of salads and they were all refreshingly good. It's the combination of fish sauce, vinegar and palm sugar that gives the salad that kick. 4/5
Summer Rolls with prawns (Guoi Cuon) $8.90 (2 rolls)
Summer rolls might seem like a very simple dish to do since it really is just rice skin, vermicilli, prawns and mint leaves. However, it is a bit of a challenge to rehydrate the rice skin to just the right texture so that it has that nice gummy bite to it. For me this dish always epitomizes healthy eating. Having tasted this dish quite a few times, I am confident to say that the summer rolls here is almost as good as it gets. 4.25/5.
Stir Fry Beef Vermicilli (Bun Bo Xao) $10.50
The dish of the day for me though, was the dry beef vermicelli. The fragrant lemongrass marinated beef combined beautifully with the vermicelli, ground peanuts and other condiments. It's tasty, yet contains very little oil so you go away with a satisfied tummy and a clear conscience. 4.25/5
Vietanmese Pancake (Banh Xeo) $10.90
Vietnamese pancake is a sort of rice flour pancake filled with bean sprouts, prawn, chicken and mung beans which I surmise must have been a Vietnamese adaptation of the French crepe. I have had this many times in Thailand before and all the crepes always came very thin and crispy. The version here has got a thick chewy pancake which I felt was a tad too heavy. Would have preferred it thin like a Thosai. Then again they have thin and crispy as well as pan pizza to cater to different types of people, don't they? 3.5/5
Beef Pho $8.90 (Special)
How to blog a Vietnamese joint without the Pho? This is as Vietnamese as Hokkien Mee is Singapore. To have good Pho, you need lots of good quality beef bones. The Pho that they sell in Cabramatta, Sydney are really good because they have lots of cows in Australia, so bones are cheap which explains how they get their soup to be really robust and sweet. I guess in Singapore, it is harder to do the same. Despite that, they did managed to produce a pretty good Pho here which is good enough to satisfy a Pho craving. 4/5
Conclusion
If you feel a need to eat something light and tasty, Vietnamese cuisine is a good bet. Madam Saigon is a comfortable little eatery with friendly service and several items which are worth trying.
So, am I right is saying that there are more women than men who enjoy Vietnamese food?
Carlene introduces us to Madam Saigon!
Just trying out some new things with my Creative Vado. Let me know what else you think might be interesting for short clips.
Madam Saigon
30 Liang Seah Street
Tel: 6333 9798
Mon-Fri 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm to 11pm
Weekends, PH, 12pm-4pm, 6pm to 11pm
Disclaimer: This was an invited review.jpg)
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20 comments:
Yes, hands-UP for a lady in me especially for Beef Pho with added taugeh and mints. There are two kinds of beef added just like our local beef noodles, the cooked and the freshly cooked beef.
Vietnamese eateries start sprouting in Singapore not long back; Have not tried Miss Saigon tho'.
the starter sampler looks good!, whats in it besides the salads?
Tried this one.. not too impressed sorry!
The one around the back of boat quay is much more to my taste. Not to mention ALL the staff are Vietnamese which seems to give it a psychological boost with the authenticity factor.
bro....u have one of the most beatiful,well informed blog here,and kudos to u... now we can really go to good places to eat
I read somewhere that this eatery has been around for the past 5 or 6 years? And it's only very recent that it has got some media and publicity of it. I personally like the rice paper rolls cuz fresh and very healthy. another good place to have that is at Lotus Viet Thai Stall at the newer food court at Bugis Junction :)
Madam Saigon has open for awhile along Lian Seah Street. Never really tried it though.
I enjoy my Vietnamese Pho @ Orange Lantern at Killiney Road.
There's another authentic Vietnam place @ Grandlink Square at Geylang. :)
have tried the summer roll before. yes, the skin was really soft and nice.
also liked the soup of the beef pho.
Had the sampler too but can't really remember anything about it except for the wings and summer roll
The starter sampler comes with fried chicken wings, summer rolls, fried spring rolls, special fishballs, 3 types of salads.
thanks. I remembered another dish I had. It's fried taukwa with, I think, lemongrass. It was good too.
The one at Grandlink Square is called Little Vietnam Restaurant & Cafe.
Pretty authentic dishes and very near Ya Kwang too :)
Had the Pho, rice rolls and fried spring rolls and all are pretty good.
But my current favourite is Pho Lan at Prinsep. Love the pork cutlet with rice (topped with a nicely fried egg of course).
Another place for good Pho is Pho Hoa at Suntec. The portion for the $14+ Pho (which include all the cuts)can be shared by two. Not forgetting the nicely fried spring rolls too :)
I normally walk past Vietnamese restaurant without stopping and look at its menu. After reading your article, I may want to try it out.
Phil
philliang.blogspot.com
how's e avocado shake? =p
Ate here a couple of weeks back. The pho is nice but so are many other Vietnamese restaurants. I agree that 4/5 is a reasonable rating. Pretty restaurant to hang out for a meal if you are in the area.
Pho being the standard dish where a Viet restaurant is being rated must be of a certain standard or the outlet risks being sidelined. I believe pho also outsells all other staples combined in a typical viet restaurant.
i heard abt madam saigon and passed by it before but wasn't in the mood for vietnanese food. haha
The stir fry beef vermicilli looks like a must try. Hope to make it to Mdm Saigon one day.
Are the owners Vietnamese?
I think Carlene's grandmother is Vietnamese and the Chef is Vietnamese
Heh - strangely enough I had my fair share of Viet food in Australia as well but not much in Singapore. I look forward to their Pho as well with the nice & strong flavour of the mint leaves and a wrench of the lemon.
I reckon in Singapore, Viet food will not usually come to mind esp since we have so many local delights as well as the other more popularise ones like Japanese and Korean cuisine.
Must say I enjoyed eating at Madam Saigon. Another dish that we ate was the fish soup "steamboat". The fish did not have the fishy smell and the stock was flavoursome.
We also had one of the best chendol where the coconut was surprisingly light. For someone who don't like to eat the red beans in chendol, I actually enjoyed the red beans which were cooked to perfect softness.
This is probably one of the only meals where we ate a lot but came out without that bloated feeling.
The first time i had vietnamese cuisine, it was at this restaurant. Maybe it's my own opinion, but the food was not even so-so. ESP the rice skin roll. But i guess that's acquired taste.
Anyone else tried PHO House at Suntec? Across foyer from Toys R Us third level? Very decent portions at what I think are relatively authentic taste.
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