Saigon Kitchen Launceston — Restaurant in Launceston

Ordered a pho with brisket and spicy noodles, which i am going to assume is a bun bo hue. First warning signal was that pho dac biet was not on the menu, which is a staple of pho restaurants everywhere. The pho was small and had very few toppings. I have had instant noodles from costco with more meat, no joke. I had two mouthfuls of noodles and it was over. Thai basil was either missing or insufficient. I really couldn't tell. The noodles came with bean sprouts already in the soup which was uncharacteristic. The soup was unfiltered or insufficiently filtered. No one likes a pho with bits of cooked blood floating around. The beef brisket was cut extremely thing, and cooked for an insufficient period of time. This ruined the texture of brisket you normally get in pho. The bun bo hue didn't taste anything like a bun bo hue. It was called a spicy noodle soup but I couldn't taste any chilli in it. I mean thai sweet chilli sauce is even spicier than this. Normally you see banana blossom or red cabbage in it. But no... cabbage too hard to get apparently. No blood jelly or pork trotters you normally see either. The soup was pretty much identical to that of their pho except with the addition of shrimp paste. It was also insufficiently tart. Something of this quality would be worth $6-$8 per bowl in Sydney or Melbourne but instead they charged $16 per bowl. If you're used to eating pho gives this place a skip. Nothing authentic...

I don’t know where to start. Wow… just wow… As a longtime culinary expert of Vietnamese food and enthusiast of food in general, I can genuinely say this was beyond spectacular.

The menu itself, being full of variety and tasty dishes was enough for me to give this restaurant a 5 star review by itself, but the service is what really stood out to me. On the 24th of August it was a rainy, dark and gloomy Saturday. Me and my dear friend (who we’ll call Daniel) were quite famished and looking for a succulent meal to replenish our spirits and our bodies. Some would say fate struck that blissful day as we came into Saigon Kitchen on Brisbane street. We were greeted by a tall, slender, white man lurking behind the counter. He looked us in the eyes and kindly asked how he could help us. Something about his voice made us feel at home. It felt comforting and reassuring. I ordered Bahn Mi, and in the quickest of flashes it was sent to our table by the same slender, man. The smell was unlike anything I’d smelt before and as I tried it I knew why. It was beautiful, a glorious sensation of flavour and freshness in my mouth. Far, far better than anything I’d consumed before. And that my dear readers is why the astonishing review. Saigon kitchen is unlike anything I’ve eaten before. Bravo...

Beautiful and rather large premises, with many tables for dining in, also a couple of baby highchairs, around a dozen dining when I arrived, at around 12.15 on a Friday afternoon, also several walk-ins ordering takeaway. Lengthy wait for my food order, which wasn't cheap, it was okay, although certainly nothing special, and I wouldn't race back there! I dont think my "prawn & avo" rice paper roll had one single prawn in it, came with a sauce container, a runny peanut satay sauce (didn't quite suit the supposed prawn & avo aka salad paper roll, lucky i dont have an allergy to nuts, as I was neither asked, offered or advised of the peanut sauce!the Banh Mi roll very little meat, loaded with grated carrot, bread roll delicious & fresh (much better value at Bento & Subway tbh), and the Bao Bun, hmmm rather small, lacking meat as per other items, and loaded with cheap grated carrot. The very ordinary, plain and basic, service, no smiles, thanks, kindness or care shown in this place. Within half an hour, the place was packed, customers lined up to the front door, and 5 people left upon seeing this, after opening the door. $22.50 total for my 3 items above. Needs...