The Saigon Cafe is truly great. It is located in a tucked-away-enough location so as to "hide" and stay small and quaint. It is family-owned, and they are pretty much the sweetest couple-with-son team in Charlottesville. It is directly behind Cville Coffee, so afterwards you can pop over for a quick espresso. And it's totally affordable! Tonight Linds and I dined out and our budgets are TIGHT. In this economy, splurging on dinner is just not ok. But Saigon is like the only Vietnamese in Cville so what are two hungry twenty somethings to do?
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
Monday, July 27, 2009
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Monday, July 27, 2009
I heart Saigon (Cafe)
The Saigon Cafe is truly great. It is located in a tucked-away-enough location so as to "hide" and stay small and quaint. It is family-owned, and they are pretty much the sweetest couple-with-son team in Charlottesville. It is directly behind Cville Coffee, so afterwards you can pop over for a quick espresso. And it's totally affordable! Tonight Linds and I dined out and our budgets are TIGHT. In this economy, splurging on dinner is just not ok. But Saigon is like the only Vietnamese in Cville so what are two hungry twenty somethings to do?
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
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