| Locality | Church Street |
|---|---|
| Place Type | Restaurant |
| Food Type | Pan-Asian |
| Price |
|
first reviewed by shefalish
Oct 07, 2007
Things could improve here. The ambience and music was good. Food can be improved a lot. Service is just OK. The waiters seemed a little confused.This place cant be frequented more than once a quarter.
Apr 10, 2007
And when I say "good", I mean just good. So let me begin by saying what else is good. For starters, they have extremely polite valets doing the parking - always manages to score with me. The restaurant is on the third level and they have an elevator that takes you there - another plus with me, especially now that I am nursing a sprained ankle. The decor is tastefully done in East Asian styles. The food is definitely Pan-Asian with influences of China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, unlike some other restaurants that serve Chinese food claiming it is Pan-Asian. Each day of the week, they have a buffet featuring cuisine from a different East Asian country. So Mondays is Indonesia, Tuesdays is Thai, etc. On weekends, they have the Pan-Asian buffet, which offers a chance to sample food from all regions. Apart from this, they have an extensive à la carte menu. The service is exceptional - the servers are knowledgeable, polite, efficient, and quick to respond to your needs.
Now on to what stops this place from moving to "excellent" in my book. The space is too constricted - tables are rather close to each other. We went on a Saturday afternoon without reservations, so we had to make do with a seat near the door. (There are no tables for two - only for fours and bigger groups.) We opted for the buffet in which we had a choice of soup (not the best option on a hot day), six starters (all rather average, except for the prawn), main course comprising some six-eight dishes (the papaya salad was refreshing), and four dessert choices. None of the items, save for the prawn starter and the papaya salad, was worth writing home about; yet, they were all very authentic.
The one serious grievance I have with Saigon is that they serve only mineral water and charge outrageously for it. One bottle of Bisleri costs Rs. 45! (Their menu says Rs.40, but when we checked with our server, he informed us that the menus haven't been updated with the new price!)
All in all, the experience was just good, but definitely Pan-Asian!