When we lived at the Greenstone at Poplar and Waldran, we used to go to Saigon Le frequently, because it was just down Poplar and around the corner on Cleveland. After we moved out east, though, we lost touch with the place and its great, inventive Vietnamese cuisine. Venturing downtown recently, however, and needing an early dinner, we stopped at Saigon Le and were really glad that we did.
The restaurant, which opened in April 1993, is owned by its unassuming chef, Hoa Nguyen (known as “Mama”) and operated by the expansive Le family. My first review ran in The Commercial Appeal on May 28, 1993, and while we didn’t use a star rating system in those days, my reaction was more than just enthusiastic; I thought the food was remarkably fresh, delicious and creative. I wrote a brief “Second Helping” on June 24, 1994. Then in March 1995, Saigon Le burned to the ground. Hoa Nguyen was determined to rebuild the exact building in the same spot, and that’s what the family did. The restaurant reopened in October that year, and I wrote another rave review. From that time until the early 21st century, I always included Saigon Le on my annual list of the city’s best restaurants and mentioned Hoa Nguyen as one of our best chefs.
Anyway, when we went into Saigon Le recently, everyone welcomed us with “Long time no see!” (there was none of the brusqueness that has occasionally soured patrons’ experiences at the restaurant) and our waiter immediately brought us a new salad in Mama’s repertoire, a small platter holding finely shredded seaweed, sliced cucumber, sliced onions, basil leaves and boiled shrimp, all bathed with a light, slightly sweet, slightly vinegary dressing. If any dish on earth were fresher, cleaner and tastier than this, with its blending of mild and piquant flavors and its lovely combination of shades of green and white with the pink shrimp — well, I can’t think of it, so never mind.
We ordered the appetizer pancake, which is actually an omelet (of sorts) folded around mushrooms, onions and bean sprouts. This comes with a plate of various salad greens — opal basil, romaine and such — that you wrap around a piece of the “pancake,” dip in a savory sauce (mixed with red chili paste) and happily devour.
For entree we asked for the curry chicken soup. Mama’s genius reveals itself here in a dense, mustard-yellow color broth of amazing complexity and subtle heat. This holds only pieces of chicken, white potatoes and sweet potatoes with a few bits of onion, and believe me, it needs nothing more to be completely satisfying. Oh, heck, let’s just say it: It’s awesome! The chicken you can dip in another multi-layered sauce, heavy on the black pepper, that contains slices of red chilies.
What a great meal, aided in its compelling nature by the fact that even with a couple of Tsingtao beers, the tab was about $30.
Saigon Le is at 51 North Cleveland and is open for lunch and dinner every day except Sunday. Call 276-5326.
Eating adventures
Responses to “Dinner at Saigon Le”
November 20th, 2007 at 2:34 am
Sounds yummy, I’ve been wanting to try Vietnamese food. I love Korean, Japanese, and Thai, but so far I haven’t tried Vietnamese.
Anyone else have recommendations for Vietnamese places? My favorite places are usually the ones where most of the people who eat there are from the country of origin.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Allie, I like Pho Vietnam at 1411 Poplar just east of Cleveland, not far from Saigon Le. The lunch specials are about half of what you pay at dinner, so they are real bargains.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Fred,
Nice review for a restaurant that deserves another update considering the quality of work they do there. We’re lucky to have something like Saigon Le here in Memphis with it’s amazing menu that far outpaces the typical Pho joint most cities have in every suburban strip shopping center.
I’ve always felt that lumping Saigon Le in with the Pho joints does the family and menu a huge deservice. On the other hand, lumping Saigon Le in with the lesser establishments offers the Le family a softball when it comes to a real comparison. Too easy! So much better!
Every year (sometimes twice) I get on a plane with a frozen container of their Vegetarian Hot and Sour soup and ferry it across the country to a Saigon Le starved friend of mine in Los Angeles County. Yes … Los Angeles. I introduced him to Saigon Le years ago and he’s spent the better part of a decade trying to find something close to Saigon Le on the West Coast to no avail. Turns out those Pho joints rule the roost in SoCal!
I would imagine there isn’t anything like Saigon Le in the US outside of the typical Vietnamese power metro areas of Houston or Dallas. Don’t say Atlanta … don’t even try. I’ve been to them all up and down Buford Highway and the best they can do is a nice pork Bun every once in a while!
The legions of diners who descend on Saigon Le every day for lunch never see the real beauty of the Le family cooking. I’ve more than once winced as the Le family dutifully tromps out of the kitchen with trough after trough of fried rice and sweet and sour pork. Everyone has to make a dime … but I think they might be doing themselves a deservice catering towards the Mu Shu dining set.
Okay, here’s my list of foods you MUST try: lemongrass tofu (my deserted island food), steamed fish (can tilapia be this good?), Vegetarian Curry Soup (see Fred’s article to get the idea), Saigon Le rolls (these are oxygen for S.L. regulars), and Green Bean Tofu with ginger (trust me).
Okay, there are a few others … but two or three are secret and not on the menu. Part of the beauty of the Le family is forging a relationship with them as a regular and getting a peek inside their heads with special one-off dishes every once in a while. They are the kinds of dishes you try, cannot explain, and never replicate in your own kitchen!
As for the service: yes, it might get a bit rushed at times. However, do yourself and psyche a favor and ask them about their personal missions back to Vietnam every year where they feed hundreds of in need families. They give back …all the way back to Vietnam and it puts a hurried evening all into perspective for me.
So, to sum it up: Saigon Le represents a dying breed in this town (or any US town for that matter). It’s a restaurant organically built on a family that represents what they eat and even more importantly who they are.
November 20th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
wow, Michael, thanks for a great tribute to one of the city’s culinary treasures. And I didn’t mention that when they go back to Vietnam, Hoa Nguyen spends time in other restaurants and with other chefs learning new recipes to bring home.
November 20th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Thanks Micheal, sounds definitely worth the trip. I’m generally not a “Mu Shu” person; usually I get good results by asking the servers what they would choose for themselves.
November 20th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Saigon Le is definitely a treasure…especially good are the birds nest egg rolls, served with fresh greens and their sprightly sauce. And try the Vietnamese barbecue, because it is delicious. And that’s really saying something in this barbecue Mecca!
November 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I didn’t know you were a former Greenstone resident, Fredric. I’m very sad to be moving out now that it’s going condo—it really was the apartment building of my dreams.
I wish I could remember the name of the dish I had at my first Saigon Lee dinner—it was a seafood mixture with celery and mild peppers, very tasty.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Matt, LL and I lived at the Greenstone from (to be exact)June 1992 to April 2000, two years in the second floor southeast corner apartment facing Poplar and the rest of the time in the second floor (northwest) apartment facing Waldran. it was a great place to live (and that aprtment was wonderful), but it went downhill after Jim Murray sold it. I drove by there recently and noticed work going on; I didn’t realize the place was going condo.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Ah, I was on the northeast 3rd floor apartment in the east-facing building from April 2004 until yesterday. I loved the place far more than anywhere else I’ve lived (brimming with character, and morning sunlight through those big living room windows was great for drawing!), but couldn’t swing the asking price in the absence of a lottery win. I hope the new owners do right by it and it gets new residents that appreciate what a gem of a building it is.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 am
For Allie: definitely try Pho Vietnam (old Pho Pastuer) on Poplar first. I find the staff at Saigon Le to be rude, indifferent to service and, in some cases, downright nasty. Eggrolls are better at Pho too! Good luck!
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