Saigon Summer Newtown — Restaurant in Sydney

I visited Saigon Summer, Newtown, today - on the 20th day of July in the year of our Lord two thousand and nineteen.

The weather was superb: a crisp 14 C, completely sunny/not a hint of cloud, (and for those interested: 55% humidity, 11 km h-1 wind and 0% chance of precipitation predicted).

I ordered a Mixed Grill, rice option (the other option is vermicelli) for $15. What follows are my findings:

Pros: Polite staff. Fast service. Decent ambience.

Cons: The takeaway container used was a large square polystyrene container. 
It was not able to be packed into my backpack in its flat/upright orientation as it was too large.
In addition, it was also far too flimsy and would break up under any pressure in the backpack.

And, for obvious reasons, I could not turn it sideways to fit into the backpack. 
You may say ~ this is no big deal, but most take away places I buy from give you two/three smaller plastic containers that seal well, and which can be stacked vertically so that they can fit easily into a backpack (which is helpful because you have chosen the ‘takeaway’ option, so you should be able to take it away with ease).

It is the equivalent of having to carry a cake around - not convenient.

The rice and the meat were lukewarm - I’ve read that in Asian culture, lukewarm food conditions are considered to be the healthiest because they most closely mimic the body’s own natural temperature (although I think this is mostly a teaching of Chinese medicine) - that’s all well and good but… with respect, I don’t really care, I like hot food.

And, furthermore, I was unable to reheat the food because it was in a polystyrene container, and reheating in polystyrene - unlike microwave safe plastic containers - causes the polystyrene to partially disintegrate and leech toxic chems into the food.

The portion size was small - and even taking into account that many food options in Newtown will cost you $15+, what you get for the $15 mixed grill option at Saigon Summer is, imho, not good value for money.

The polystyrene container is divided into four sections.
In the back left section was lettuce and a few cucumber slices. In the back right section was basically coleslaw (grated carrot + sweet watery mayo). In the front left section was a solid clump of rice. In the front right section was the “grill” - the meat - a bit of pork, a bit of beef, possibly some lamb.

To say that the meal consisted of 1/4 meat would be an overstatement, because there were gaps in between the four sections of the container which, by design, could not be used. (They were food rejecting humps, as opposed to food receiving troughs).

A more accurate estimation would be that the meat contributed 1/5th (or, 20%) of the meal.

I do not think that this is good value for money for your $15.

—

Disclaimer: I do not want to unfairly evaluate any place - so it’s fair for me to point out that I bought this food at 10 am on a Saturday morning. The store was open, obviously, but they were still in the process of setting up for the day. Perhaps if I had bought the food at 7 pm on a Saturday night it would have been hot, and the rice a little less of a solid clump.

In addition, Saigon Summer has only recently opened in Newtown, (hence, this is their first review), so they are likely in the process of fine tuning their operations (…although, on the flip side of the coin, they do already have other branches in...

The horror! The worst Viet food I've had. It started when the server charged my friend for her food, then charged me for my food and her food. Luckily she was still standing next to me and noticed. We had to show our banking apps to prove to the guy that he had double charged me. It's very difficult to think how this could have been an accident, given he had literally just charged her. The next horror was when a large cockroach dropped from a cupboard above my head (on the right, as you walk in, check it out!) onto my shoulder. I flicked it off and it went on its merry way across the tables and floor. The next problem was when my food arrived and I realised I'd been given chicken, not pork, which I ordered. It was replaced. The final issue was simply the quality of the food. Everything was old. No actual cooking took place. Both our food arrived in about 2 minutes and had clearly just been heating in a microwave, having been cooked at some earlier point. It wasn't even the requisite 60 degrees that such food should be when reheated. The only consolation is that it is now the following morning and I' have not yet begun vomiting. I'm feeling pretty lucky to get away with this with my stomach lining in tact. There are sooooo many amazing places in Newtown....

Small little shop attracted by their shop layout along this busy eatery road. I guess no one will come to Newtown to find Vietnamese food, but I have it a try.

Environment 4/5 Small little shop looks old kinda design, which suits Vietnamese style.

Beef pho 4/5 Savoury broth with their rice noodles, perfectly cooked sliced beef at the right portion.

Prawn roll 4/5 Quite generous number of prawns wrapped inside, blended well with their authentic peanut sauce, my wife prefer it with their chilli sauce. Will say is a must try!

Iced Vietnamese coffee 3/5 After getting used to the coffee in vietnam, quite tough to find authentic Vietnamese coffee in Australia. Quite strong but too sweet for me. Rated 3/5 is based on the comparison with the coffee I had in vietnam.

Will I come back again? 3/5 Maybe a yes if I need some quick bites. Saw a few restaurants with long queue, this is a good solution if I don’t...