Pho Saigon

Pho Saigon is my top choice for Vietnamese Noodle soup or "Pho". However, it's been in the triple digits over the weekend and I wasn't ready for a big bowl of soup. The menu here has a great variety, in addition to the noodle soup they also serve vermicelli bowls with many different meat options to choose from, as well as a full complement of appetizers and rice dishes.

My objective today is to go outside my comfort zone. Already ruled out was the soup, and I've had vermicelli bows before (usually tasty but not my first choice). In trying to keep cost down and being slightly healthy, I ordered a grilled chicken rice plate and a shredded pork spring roll.


Included inside the shredded pork spring roll was yes, shredded pork, mint, and lettuce, all wrapped inside rice paper. These are very refreshing, and can be served with either a peanut sauce or in this case a vinegar based sauce with pickled carrots. Spring rolls are popular because they are not deep fried like egg rolls and are served cold or at room temperature.

Spring roll or Vietnamese Cigar?

This is my first time trying the shredded pork, normally I order the shrimp or BBQ pork. The shredded pork tasted dry and crumbly. There was almost no flavor at all. Perhaps if I knew anything about knitting, I could have created some very nice and quite durable shredded pork shoe laces out of this stuff. Sure the rice paper and mint/lettuce combo tasted fine, but shucks that would be hard to mess up.

A nice surprise showed up with the grilled chicken rice plate. A small bowl of their Pho soup broth. The Pho soup broth is made by simmering either beef and/or chicken bones along with other "interesting" goodies and spices together for several hours. We will talk more about Pho, but that's another blog.


Next I sampled the Grilled Chicken. Not much to talk about here folks, the chicken was sliced so thin it tasted more like an overcooked pork chop. I did notice a hint of lemongrass, that was a nice flavor addition but not enough to rehydrate this bird. The rice was really sticky as well, perhaps yesterday's batch?


Overall, I always ask my friends to get out there and try something new. But I guess sometimes, it's best to stick to what you know. I'll do a review on Pho Saigon for their fantastic Wonton Soup when the weather gets cooler.

You can visit Pho Saigon at:

7300 San Ramon Rd
Dublin, CA