Restaurant Saigon — Restaurant in Utrecht

A friend who had previously visited Saigon in Utrecht had told us that it was well worth a visit, as they are one of the best Asian restaurants in the city and cater very well to vegetarians and vegans. We were impressed when we arrived, the decor managed to give an authentic Vietnamese vibe while remaining minimalist and cosy. We were immediately seated and given a menu despite the restaurant already being almost full.

We decided to get some wine while we tried to choose from the extensive menu - we ordered the house white wine which was one of the best wines we have tasted, especially when paired with Vietnamese cuisine. For our starters we went for vegetarian deep fried egg rolls and shrimp spring rolls. The shrimp rolls were served with fish sauce and peanut sauce - we were hesitant about the shrimp/peanut sauce combination but this chef is apparently a master of flavour pairings! The servings were very generous for starters, and we were already pretty well satisfied even before our main dishes came.

For the mains, we ordered the rice paper with fried tofu and the fried egg noodles with vegetarian meat, tofu and vegetables. The rice paper dish was by far the most exciting, with the filling served on a plate next to a bowl of water and sheets of rice paper separate. The waitress must have seen our panic upon seeing the dish served like this, and was more than happy to demonstrate how to prepare the rolls. Our attempts at making noodle dishes at home were put to shame by this chef - the vegetarian meat and vegetables were cooked to perfection, and the sauce was made in such a way as to blend harmoniously with the fillings...as I said, any attempt we have made at home was nothing compared to this.

The portions for the mains were just as generous as for the starters, but this was not reflected in the price. For how much food you get and how delicious it is, we feel like we got a great deal. If you enjoy Vietnamese food and happen to be in Utrecht, it would be a shame to miss out...

The restaurant is cute and cosy and the food delicious, the have a great vegetarian and vegan choice, but the service we experienced was terrible. We arrived with four people in total at 20.45 and the first thing we were told from a worried waitress was “we close at 22”. There were two other tables with people who were still ordering and we were only there for a quick bite, we all had horeca experience and know how annoying it could be when customers arrive last minute and stay too long, so we had no intention of causing any distress, just wanted to eat something and go. Two of the people that were seating with me could not speak very well english so we had to translate the menu for them, which was made EXTREMELY DIFFICULT by the waitress coming to the table literally every minute to ask if we were ready to order. After telling her for the fourth time that we needed just two more seconds, I pointed at something random on the menu because I was very stressed by her behaviour and wanted to make things fast for her. The food came out very quickly and was very good, but the behaviour of the waitress was really annoying throughout the whole dinner, she kept collecting dishes that were not quite finished from the table, creating a very unpleasant dining experience for us. We felt like running against time and ingurgitating food before she would “steal the dish” away from us. I found that very unprofessional, considered that it was not even 21.30 and we were almost done eating. Last but not least, a friend of mine was finishing up his soup, and the waitress took everything from the table around him, even his cutlery, leaving the guy literally only with the soup bowl in his hands. It was 21.35 and there was another table with two people finishing their drinks next to us. We all enjoyed the food in this restaurant but will definitely not come back because, it is unacceptable to be forced to eat in such a rush and stressful...

Went here with friends. We had a reservation, but we were not greeted at the door. Having a difficult time talking to the servers would be a theme throughout the night.

I asked for a recommendation, if my combination of mock duck and vegan eggrolls were good on a certain dish, not having any experience with the food or restaurant (and kind of wanting to establish a polite conversation between us and the staff after the unfortunate start). The muttered answer was something along the lines of "If there is a star next to it, it's good". I could have guessed that myself.

Fortunately I caught my mock duck looking eerily much like the dead duck of one of my friends. Hard time reaching a server about this (who sighed before moving over) she took away the wrong plate (that of my friend) and returned later to pick up mine and return theirs. The kitchen would remake it. (Mistakes can happen, of course: but what if I was allergic? This lack of care is shocking.)

It arrived when my friends had nearly finished. I hadn't gone for an appetiser, planning to go for a dessert, but my friends had, so I was quite hungry at that point. We were all disappointed by the quality and service, so we didn't stay...