On a tip off from one the girls in Sam’s Vietnamese language class, we went west to Chiswick/Hammersmith to Saigon Saigon as part of our ongoing quest to find a decent Vietnamese restaurant in London. The place was full a good sign, though other than the staff didn’t really spy many other asians in the place. Decor has the indochine colonial vibe lots of dark wood which also results in rather noisy dining rooms.

Menu is reasonably comprehensive featuring everything I’d expect, i was happy to see quail, frog legs and a variety of bowls of Bun (vermicelli noodles) and Pho. After a bit of deliberation we settled on

Pork meatballs (Nem Nuong)
Vegetarian pancake (Banh Xeo Chay)
Prawn on sugarcane (Chao Tom)
Vegetarian spring rolls (Chai Gio Chay)
Steamed sea bass
Chicken in coconut juice
Beef fillet
Braised Tofu
Morning glory with garlic

It was all rather tasty and best we’ve had in London so far. The Nem Nuong was a little too lean so i thought they were a touch dry. Banh Xeo was thin and crisp and i like the yellow beans in the mix, the bass was nicely cooked with a nice mix of wood ear mushrooms, ginger and shallots. The chicken was a little on the sweet side though. We had a bit of room for desert and there was a lovely rice pudding with yam in coconut milk, a tiramisu icecream and another icecream ‘cake’ that kind of looked like an egg.

Adequate greenery on the sides of the plates though where it loses points is the lack of variety of herbage, there’s more to it than mint! Otherwise a really nice meal, good food and much easier for us to reach than we thought so we’ll be heading back to check out their Pho and Bun selections for lunch or something soon. Not the cheapest but decent considering the location, also a bar downstairs which was hosting a private party the night visited.

Saigon Saigon
313-317 King Street
W6 9NH
Hammersmith
0870 220 1398