Whilst I have been going around with Adam to eat all the delicious foods in Brisbane, apparently my parents had gone on quite a few gastronomical adventures of their own. One place which they had recently been to and they cannot get enough of is Saigon Eats, which they have been constantly talking about since first trying it out, which is why they decided to take me there to try it out last weekend.
Situated in the extremely busy Underwood Marketplace, it is super easy to miss the store which is often unnoticed next to Yuens Farmer's Market. There are only five tables inside and a handful of tables outside. We went early because she insisted that it would be packed and had a seat inside.
For such a small venue and only two staff cooking and serving, the menu was very diverse including noodle and rice options along with banh mi, rice paper rolls snacks and drinks. We ordered at the counter and awaited our food.
I had the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. The cup fairly large and good value for money. Although it was still fairly sweet, it was still considerably less than the others I've tried before. It was also very strong, which is always great.
Having had the benefit of reading some reviews beforehand, I knew for sure to try the crunchy potato prawns and crab net spring rolls. At $8 a serve with six pieces each, these were excellent value. Both were freshly fried and extremely hot. I liked the starchy texture of potato which contrasted with the fresh prawn. The light crab net wrapping around the spring rolls were also very crisp and delicate. I liked the meat and mushroom filling, but would have preferred both snacks to have come with a different dipping sauce as the sweet chilli wasn't very compatible in my opinion.
To share, we had a serve of beef pho with additional noodles for an extra dollar. The extra noodles were extremely generous and the portion we had was close to two normal sized bowls of pho we could get from other places. The beef was tender and fresh, albeit a little overcooked for it to be considered rare. The noodles were smooth and silky. I found the soup to be comforting but not as flavourful or complex as I would have liked.
Having converted my mum to a banh mi fan, she really likes the offerings at Saigon Eats so we shared a Honey Grilled Pork roll. The bun was toasted and crispy outside and the honey pork was definitely well marinated and tender.
Wanting a variety of dishes we also had the Saigon Eats Bowl. It was a little expensive for Vietnamese food but it contained so much goodness, it was worth the extra. Topped with crab net spring rolls, lemongrass chicken, honey pork and garlic beef there was no lack in proteins in the rice noodle salad. Ingredients were crisp and fresh, we liked the fish sauce and our favourite of the toppings was the super fragrant garlic beef.
Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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