Saigonese Eatery — Restaurant in Phú Quốc

I went there twice, and both times were great!

The place has an open kitchen and a very nice, classy vibe—especially for Phu Quoc. Service is fast and excellent. They check in about the dishes, and if you don’t finish your food, they make sure it’s just because you’re full—not because you didn’t like it, which is a nice touch.

Here’s what we got: Seafood sashimi platter: Super fresh and tasty. The sauce that came with it was also great. Charred herring with paper sauce: Just amazing—we ordered it three times! The sauce is rich and pairs beautifully with the herring. Raw marcel with muscat grape in ponzu: For me, the cuts of marcel were a bit too thick, but that’s the only downside. It was a very fresh dish with a nice citrus flavor. Uni pâté: Absolutely the best dish. I highly recommend trying it—it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve ever had. The pâté is packed with umami, served with a great sauce and pickles. I never imagined that combo could taste so good. Crispy potato pavé: This is one dish I wouldn’t repeat. The potatoes were a bit soggy and lacked seasoning. I honestly can’t even remember the taste clearly—that’s how bland it was. Grilled dry-aged mackerel: Super tender and full of flavor. A must-try if you’re a fish lover. The skin was perfectly crispy. Pork belly: A bit too fatty for my taste—I prefer something with more rendered fat—but the flavor was still good.

We also had gin and tonics (just the standard ones), and they were okay—nothing special.

Prices are incredibly reasonable in my opinion for such high-quality food. Both times, we paid around 1.5 million VND for a huge dinner with drinks.

I’ll definitely keep coming back. If you’re a fan of bold, well-balanced flavors and good cuisine, this place is...

Hits and misses but overall a pretty good experience. Chef seems to have really good ideas but misses details on execution and some concepts.

Glazed beef tongue with soy: Tongue cooked beautifully, soy glaze delicious, but too much of it and egg yolk was unnecessary as it brought more richness to the dish. Would have loved some pickled cucumber or carrot, or something acidic in that dish, maybe even orange or dragon fruit.

Spring rolls with pork and peanut sauce: Again, overall a great spring roll with mint running through it. But going on details, the peanut sauce was more like peanut butter so it felt to me like the whole thing just needed something fresh and juicy running through it.

Fish with tomato sauce and bread: This was disappointingn sadly, fish was well overcooked, had a lovely crispy skin but meat was dry, you always need to send the fish out a bit under as residual heat will keep cooking it for another 2/3 minutes. The dish didn't state that it was spicy, and it really was, my wife ordered the dish and she couldn't handle the sauce. The bread was outstanding, a proper sourdough, light, sour, crunchy... Just perfect.

Sesame cake and coconut ice cream: 10 out of 10, one of the best desserts I've ever had. The sesame cake was a work of art, spungy, fluffy and full of flavour. The coconut ice cream light and yet flavorful. The crunchy honey peanuts gave a great texture to the dish. Loved it all the way.

Coffee: Delicious and well executed, had Americano and Latte.

590k for all of that plus 3 orange juices, a bit more of what you pay other places, worth it? If they correct those details, every last dong, if not, they just miss the target...

Eight years later and we've been back. The restaurant has moved to a much bigger space, although it was very quiet on the day we visited. The menu isn't as exciting as it was and it feels just like a higher-end restaurant, of which there are a lot more these days. The food was still good though, but the place has lost most of its charm. It's still worth a visit, but it's no longer something unique and the prices have gone up, just like most restaurants on the island

Original review from 2017: A very different eating experience with an interesting fusion take on the food served. We liked most of the dishes we had, but some where a bit strange combinations. The Taiwan style Gua bao were tasty, but a bit on the small side, the avocado cream with the squid was an interesting condiment. The main courses were not quite up there with the starters and for me, the popcorn with the banana cake didn't add anything, but overall it was good meal. Yes, it's expensive by local standards, but we had what you see in the pictures, plus five non alcoholic drinks for about US$35, which is hardly crazy money for what we had. Good attentive service, although it was very quiet on a Monday evening. The menu changes monthly, so you might not end up eating the same...