Saigon Restaurant & Bar | Palmerston North
I am a huge fan of Vietnamese cuisine. Palmerston North has a few Vietnamese joints which I frequent regularly (mainly for beef pho, particularly in Winter), however, all are quite casual dining, whereas Saigon Restaurant & Bar in Terrace End has more of a restaurant vibe to it with a fantastic outdoor dining area.
This spot is quite new, maybe a year or 18 months old. The most alluring part for me is that there’s an outdoor dining area. Originally I loved this purely because it meant I could sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. But now I love it more due to the pandemic and being able to have more space and fresh air!
I’ve dined here a number of times and have each time enjoyed the food.
On this particular evening, we sipped beer (can’t beat Vietnam’s own Saigon Lager to pair) with our dishes, before moving on to chardonnay to finish off the evening. They have a decent wine list to choose a beverage from, which puts them well ahead of most of the other Vietnamese restaurants in town.
We kicked off with a Vietnamese Pancake (Bánh xèo), which was way more appetizing than I expected it to be. Crunchy on the outside with lots of fillings for flavor. This was followed by fresh spring rolls (rice paper rolls), with shrimp and pork. Perfect and refreshing in the Summer sun. Lastly for the starters, we shared grilled King Prawns in garlic butter – yum!
For my main, I thought I would try something a little different. I usually go with beef pho, but this time I went for the Saigon vermicelli salad, with grilled pork. Delicious! So refreshing in the heat. I mix mine all up and devour it from there.
A good spot for some nibbles and a drink after work in the sunshine or to have dinner with a group.
