Saigon Star Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Came to check this place out with a group of friends after seeing a video about their Value Combo Specials on social media.

First observation is how crowded the dining area is and how tight the entrance and hallways are. There is not much space to move around, especially when waiting for a table or getting to a table. The flow of traffic to get in and out the place is horrible since the entrance area is literally so small, and the aquarium is located beside the doors and hallway to the washroom. The cash register is right in front of a few large tables and to get into the rest of the the dining area you will have to walk in between it. Atmosphere: 1 out of 5

There was no greeters when we walked in and a worker coming out the kitchen just gave us a side eye. It seemed like we walked in during a busy Sunday lunch hour, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt that the workers were just occupied (looked like they were under staffed as well). We tried to get the attention of one of the workers and he completely just ignored us, later finding out that he barely spoke any english and did not understand us. Finally a worker sho spoke English was able to attend to us but we had to wait for a table since a few needed to be cleaned up. Our friends had to wait outside due to the limited space. We were finally seated after another 10 minutes. The server who came to take our order was very nice and accomodating. He did however missed 2 of our orders but was able to correct it before the end of our visit, which I commend. Service 2 out of 5

The food was the only saving grace for our dine-in lunch experience. My wife and I ordered 2 combo specials, I got the Spicy beef hue noodle soup with Vietnamese spring roll & calamari as sides. While, my wife got the House special beef pho with the thai mango salad & veggie spring roll as her sides. The broth forbthe Spicy Beef Hue was very hearty with the right amlunt of spice and the meat portions and meal sizes were perfect. However, we did feel the sides are bit too small and the pho did not come with any other condiments (like basil leaves, lime, or been sprouts that you usually get in any pho places) other than the onions in the soup, and the hoisin sauce and sriracha on the table. My wife also mentioned that the broth tasted very greasy / fatty, compared to other pho broth she has tasted. For these reasons I rate the food a 3 out of 5.

I rate our overall visit experience...

It's sometimes hard to find decent seafood, so I was intrigued by Saigon Star. It's a long-standing establishment that's been open for well over 25 years in Richmond Hill, and even years before that in downtown Toronto. Vietnamese/Chinese cuisine on offer, with hot takes on curry crab and other seafood beyond pho and rice. It's usually quite packed for dinner, and it was the same even on a weekday evening. We came to taste their recipe for success.

Started with their pho which was a bit more intense than the soup elsewhere but on the saltier side. Next came the Chilli Paste Fresh Clams that had great balance of sweet & spicy flavour, and was popular with the whole fam. Crab Curry then landed and took up center stage. This is the dish to get down right dirty with gloves, with rich creamy curry sauce, and fresh BC crab meat. I followed the advice of others to order roti to scoop the curry, delicious!

Rack of Lambs that then arrived was well-seasoned and grilled to medium rare; it was a bit too tough for the others so I enjoyed it on my own. Last but not least, a plate of Grilled Jumbo Prawns filled what little space was left at our table; all that head butter and succulent prawn meat was perfect with the vermicelli. For dessert, piping hot taro sago pudding wrapped up a great meal.

Seafood was reasonably priced for the quality of dishes, including seasonal price for the crab. Now I understand why one of the popular chefs in the city rated the Crab Curry at Saigon Star as his favourite meal. The owner seemed disappointed when we didn't finish the large crab portion upon asking for the bill! Not to worry him, we packed the rest of the curry which was...

I ordered ahead to pick up takeout. Normally we eat in but we weren't all comfortable just yet so take out it is. Tables were setup for indoor seating and there were a couple of tents outside for a makeshift patio. We ordered a bunch of our family favorite items and a few of these items are also featured on their top picks menu. The pineapple fried rice was ok but I believe it was better last time we ate inside the restaurant. This time it lacked flavor as it was a bit bland tasting. On the other hand, the Thai tom yum shrimp soup was slightly sweeter tasting and was different than what I remembered from my last experience. The sautéed purple eggplant was excellent and is always very good choice. The pork neck was so tender and the vegetable dish we ordered was very tasty. However, the highlight was still the house famous specialty curry crab. This dish is always delicious and even taking it home didn't disappoint. Although we didn't properly prepare ourselves as we didn't have the tools to crack the hard shells which for some pieces were harder to dig the crab meat out. This didn't take away from the dish. It's still my favorite and the best I've had when compared to other places I've been to. Almost forgot but we also ordered some bread and roti which is best dipped in the curry sauce - yum!!! If you're ordering takeout, you can ask that the bread not be heated up. We didn't want the bread to harden from the transport so we got home we quickly heated it up just before we were ready to eat the curry crab. Looking forward to my next meal there and we're definitely going to order the curry crab and may even try the other...