#22 Saigon Rose (86 Victoria St)

Attendees: Beata, Steph, Craig

A newspaper article announces “laminate gone” and indeed Saigon Rose gives an upmarket impression. Tables are a dark wood, the back of the restaurant is carefully decorated with patterns of wine bottles and a large marble counter. Clean lines and strategically positioned lighting. Waiters take up their position and are ready to serve.

It’s all very clean, crisp and precise. But there’s a lack of atmosphere. One of the joys ChChCh has been the chaotic, no frills restaurants with their haphazard, bustling service. A few strains of contemporary music can be heard but no one in Saigon Rose seems very excited.

The specials board has rather floral descriptions. The soft shell crab is ‘flash fried’, the pork belly ‘comes on a bed’. The menu itself takes a minimalist approach, utilising white space and neatly categorising dishes, with a limited number in each category. I’m not sure what cuisine this is. Saigon implies Vietnamese but there is no pho and there are dishes on the menu with Cantonese sauce. I can only deduce it is Vietnamese/Chinese.

There are no numbers so we count down to 27 and come upon spinach soup with a choice of chicken or seafood. It comes out in a small Saigon Rose bowl (it’s all branded here) and seems to wobble. “Gelatinous”, I declare. But upon tasting it turns out to be better than expected. There are generous chunks of soft squid and scallops. It has a faintly grassy flavour but I find it’s gone before I know it.

The rice paper rolls are good, moist enough and slightly warmed. However the dipping sauce is rather bland.

From the specials we take the soft shell crab. It doesn’t have the crispness I would have liked and it lacking any distinctive seasoning. At entrée size, for $18, you only get two big pieces.

Intrigued by the banana chicken we order another entrée. Breaded, fried chicken is stuffed with melty banana and comes with a red dipping sauce. It looks great but on tasting I am again left wanting more seasoning. I don’t know if there is some aversion here to strong flavoured dishes in order to attract the Western audience.

Pick of the night is the sizzling duck with peking sauce from the house specialities section of the menu. It is a generous serve and the duck is tender, complemented by a sweet and spicy sauce that makes me want to keep eating.

While Saigon Rose is carefully manufactured and difficult to fault, its precision left me slightly cold.

Ratings

Rice paper rolls (pork and prawn) 7.6/10

#27 (spinach soup with seafood) 8/10

Daily special (soft shell crab) 7.2/10

Banana chicken 7.7/10
Sizzling duck 7.9/10