Happy New Year everyone!
First post of 2013 and I’m a little over a week away from my one year anniversary with this blog, every Monday for a full year (minus one Monday) there was a brand new review. I am very close to having done every Vietnamese restaurant that has Satay Beef Noodle Soup in Edmonton and surrounding area. Coming up for the first review of the new year, Saigon Garden in Chinatown (9711 107 Ave). I actually thought I hit every Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown (that has Satay Beef Noodle Soup) but Saigon Garden was closed for renovations and just opened about a month ago.
I ordered the ‘Satay Noodle with Beef‘ for $8.95, the meal is topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, green and white onions, there is a little bit of lettuce in the orangey creamy broth as well. There is a good amount of sliced beef that look roast beef like, a nice cut of beef is used in here. The meal looks really good but unfortunately there’s an overpowering scent to the broth, one that has eluded me for the past, well, year. I could be off base here, but I believe it’s shrimp paste and Saigon Garden uses a lot of it. For those that know me, I am not a fan of seafood and this really affects how I perceived this meal. There is just way too much shrimp paste in this meal, it’s all I taste in this meal. For some other person, this might be an awesome meal, but unfortunately for me, I’m having a hard time putting this down. The only other complaint I had about this meal was the noodles were all small strands, made it a bit difficult to pick it up with chopsticks. So I’m going to add a little disclaimer on this review. I didn’t enjoy this meal because of the overly shrimp flavor but I’m sure if someone else who enjoys shrimp tried this, they would like this.
Review
Broth: 2.5/5 Portion: 3/5 Overall Taste: 1/5* Value: 3/5
Overall Satisfaction: 2/5*
*I didn’t enjoy this meal because there’s a lot of shrimp in the broth*
Hi WonderPho – have you considered making a list of all the restaurants you reviewed (or installing a search engine)? I was trying to see if you have reviewed two of my fav pho restaurants in Edmonton – Pho Tau Bay and Lan’s Grill
Yes I have, but since I am computer illiterate, my attempts to make something like a custom table keep failing. I’ve been trying to outsource the work to no avail, but yes, I will get something on the go similar to what you have suggested.
Thanks for reading!