My Trips: Feel the Vietnam! At Saigon Cafe, Taman Gaya

Monday, September 09, 2013

Feel the Vietnam! At Saigon Cafe, Taman Gaya - Johor Bahru.

Xin chào buổi tối !

Are you a Việt Nam Cuisine lover? If yes, now you can enjoy the Vietnamese dishes in Taman Gaya of Ulu Tiram, Johor Bahru. The restaurant named Saigon Cafe (N1.56275 E103.80035) which located along Jalan Sasa 1, Taman Gaya.

Saigon Cafe at Taman Gaya

It has a simple and comfort setup in the cafe and serve varieties of Vietnam dishes. The cafe is operating by a couple where the owner is local and his wife is originally from Vietnam.

The simple and comfort setting of the cafe

I heard about the popular Vietnam beef noodle long time ago and till now only has the chance to try it out, I'm excited!

The lady boss took our order in a polite way...
Our the order below...
* Cao lầu 凉拌麵 (Vietnamese rice noodle)
* Pho (Vietnam beef/chicken soup noodle)
* Bánh mì (French Loaf with braised pork)
* Cà phê nâu đá (Vietnamese Coffee)

Cao lầu 凉拌麵 (Vietnamese rice noodle)

"Cao lầu is a regional Vietnamese dish made with noodles, pork, and greens and is only found in the town of Hội An, in the Quang Nam Province of central Vietnam. Its unique taste is rumoured to be contributed by the water from an undisclosed ancient Cham well just outside of the town."

The Cao lầu 凉拌麵 (Vietnamese rice noodle) was served in cold, that was the First surprise! It had an unique taste and we felt the crunchy-ness while in our mouth. It has peanuts, bean sprout, green vege, fried bean curd, rice noodles and others ingredients.

Pho (Vietnam beef/chicken soup noodle)

"Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat. It is a popular street food in Vietnam and the specialty of a number of restaurant chains around the world. Pho is primarily served with either beef or chicken. The Hanoi and Saigon styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs."

We had a the 'Beef' Pho, the broth cooked with few type of spices which produced a special taste of it and the beef was tender and succulent. The Vietnamese soup noodle might not suit everyone taste bud because of the different feeling of beef soup compare with local version. For me, I like it!

Bánh mì (French Loaf with braised pork)

"Bánh mì is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread. Bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during its colonial period. The bread most commonly found in Vietnam is a single serving baguette, therefore the term bánh mì is synonymous with this type of bread. The bánh mì is usually more airy than its western counterpart, so as a result, has a thinner crust."

Their 'homemade' French loaf was tender and nice! It provided the different texture once you bite on it, the tasty braised pork went well with the fresh vegetables and the loaf. We love this "Bánh mì" very much!

Cà phê nâu đá (Vietnamese Coffee)

"Vietnamese iced coffee, also known as Ca phe da or cafe da (Vietnamese: cà phê đá, literally "ice coffee") is a traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe. At its simplest, Ca phe da is made with finely ground Vietnamese-grown dark roast coffee individually brewed with a small metal French drip filter (cà phê phin) into a cup containing about a quarter to a half as much sweetened condensed milk, stirred and poured over ice."

As usual, we will order the Vietnamese coffee when visit a Vietnamese restaurant. We had a hot and black coffee that day. The coffee was thick with a pure perfect aroma and everyone of us like it! The only disadvantage was...you have to be 'patient' while it dripping drop-by-drop...:)

Overall the meals were "thơm ngon!" ("Delicious" in Vietnamese). The services was good with the polite staffs, the prices are reasonable. There are still many dishes that we cannot finish by one visit, that means we have to come back for few more times to enjoy the Delicious Vietnamese Cuisine from Saigon Cafe!

Tôi sẽ được trở lại!
("i will be back" in Vietnamese)