By: Ninh Pham
The wonderful mother of my roommate visited us lately and
got me think about online reviews. She always checks out reviews of hotels,
restaurants, etc. whenever she wants to go somewhere. That is when I decided on
the topic of one of my blog entries: Reviews of Vietnamese restaurants in
Columbia, downtown Columbia to be exact: Saigon Bistro and (more or less
Vietnamese) Chinese Wok Express.
Now, for disclaimer, I am not affiliated with those two
restaurants. I know through friends that Saigon Bistro is owned by a Vietnamese
American professor at MU, Henry Nguyen whom I never met. I have no idea who
owns Chinese Wok Express.
Judging by their names, Saigon Bistro sounds more Vietnamese
than Chinese Wok Express but names don’t really reflect the quality of food
they serve or how authentic the food is. Several online reviews gave more
generous comments for Chinese Wok Express, especially for their pho (Vietnamese
signature noodle), like this reviewer on Urban Spoon:
I’ve had one dish here, the Pho Tai (aka #9), and I had it
two days in a row. If you want Pho in Columbia this is the only place to go.
Well, two days in a row is a bit hard core. She/he might
turn into a Vietnamese in no time as we (can) eat pho three times a day:
breakfast, lunch and dinner, well even supper. Yes, many of us love pho, thank
you very much!
Hieu Nguyen, who came to Missouri 10 months ago, though pho
in Chinese Wok Express, even though is not as good as pho in Vietnam, but it is
close enough. Other food that served with broth such as bun bo Hue (Hue
vermicelli with beef) are “absolutely the best in Como.” This might sound
ironic to some people as the name of the restaurant has a “Chinese” in it.
Now we have to understand that Hieu is still very fresh and
if I can make any assumption here, he still very much remembers and misses
Vietnamese food at home. Having said that, many other old-timers share the same
opinions. Thong Thai, who finished his master’s in architecture at MU last
semester, was so sure that the owner of Saigon Bistro, who he knows, can cook
pho very well. However, the fact that they don’t have the exact required
ingredients is a bit of a disadvantage.
What Saigon Bistro lacks in the “pho department”, it
compensates with let’s just say “non-broth” food. Huy Nguyen, a PhD student in
Environmental Engineering at MU, said his favorite in Saigon Bistro is
Vietnamese sandwich with pork (banh my kep thit). Speaking of which, it cost
only a quarter to have banh my in Vietnam and here we have to pay at least $7.
Spring rolls (goi cuon), dish with grill porks are recommended by Hieu Nguyen
at Saigon Bistro.
For Mai Vu, who is famous among Vietnamese community for her
cooking, Saigon Bistro and Chinese Wok Express are too Americanized. Mai is
from the north of Vietnam and for her food in those too restaurants are more
similar to Southern Vietnamese cuisine.
Speaking of the vibe of both restaurants, Saigon Bistro,
which is nicely decorated, is more of a date-type dinner kind of place while
Chinese Wok Express is more relaxed, lunch type of thing, Hieu Nguyen
said. (Culture note: Lunch for
Vietnamese is more of a friend thing, while if you’re invited to a dinner, that
can be considered a date. But it’s good to be invited to eat anywhere anyway,
right?).
Overall, Thong Thai gave Saigon Bistro an 8 on the scale of
10. Thong has been to many Vietnamese restaurants across the U.S. including
Houston, St. Louis, Kansas and California. The blogger forgot to ask him to
rate Chinese Wok Express.
Have you eaten at either of these restaurants? What do you
think?
No comments:
Post a Comment