Saigon Star

Hello hello! It's been awhile since I've last updated my blog hasn't it...my sincere apologies!

But, without further ado, let me introduce you to a recent food adventure!

Every week, my parents, siblings, and I go and have lunch or breakfast at a restaurant. Like any other family, we have a small set of restaurants that we go to when we eat, or just can't think of any other place to go. For us, one of  the default restaurants is Saigon Star. Located  in Richmond Hill along Highway 7, Saigon Star specializes in fusion cuisine and is hailed for their seafood, particularly their curry crab (their chef won an award for it!). For those not used to the term "fusion cuisine", it's basically a combination of elements of various culinary traditions, and in the case of Saigon Star, it is between Vietnamese and Thai.

Whenever my family and I eat at Saigon Star, I usually alternate between their lunch combo or Tom Yum Noodle soup. This time, craving for some Pad Thai, I ordered one of the 3 lunch combinations.

the cool looking wall. please ignore my finger on the left corner...hahaha

 Thai Combo ($7.99)

This was one of the 3 lunch combos that Saigon Star offered. It consisted of a daily soup, chicken and shrimp pad thai, two Thai springrolls accompanied with spicy fish oil sauce, and two curry-chicken skewers. With much on the plate, I am actually quite unsure where to start writing...I guess I'll start with what I usually eat first. From what I've experienced, the type of soup varies day-to-day, alternating from  sweet and sour, a vegetable medley, and sweet corn and egg drop. Luckily for me, on this particular day I received my favourite out of the trio; the sweet corn and egg drop soup. The soup isn't as viscous as you would expect it to be, but the viscosity doesn't affect the flavours in any way for the soup is actually quite delicious and possesses a very natural and fresh sweet 'corny' taste. What I particularly like, is that the corn pieces aren't soft or soggy, but rather still slightly crisp. The Thai springrolls are probably the only things that I don't enjoy from this dish. The springrolls consisted of only vegetables (such as lettuce, sliced carrots, etc..) that seem to be slightly soaked in a thick juice, wrapped in rice-paper, and deep-fried. There was a slight herby taste to it, making it seem very generic. The springrolls honestly reminded me of something you'd find at any "Chinese" buffet under the label of "Vegetarian Springrolls". Moving onto the entree of the dish; the pad thai. The Pad Thai is a delicious dish, but there are times where the noodles are too soft and sticky, a problem that arises from prolonged stir-frying. The dish though, has a very savoury and slightly tangy taste, and it really feels as if the flavour has seeped into the noodles. The noodles are served with egg pieces, shrimp, and chicken slices, all of which are cooked wonderfully. I really enjoy the egg pieces because it's the most absorbant compared to the shrimp and chicken and since it absorbs a lot of Pad Thai sauce, the eggs are overall very juicy. Now, you may cringe at the thought of "juicy eggs" and probably wonder what the hell they are, but honestly, they are nothing more than soft egg pieces literally soaked in the sauce they are immersed in and is something you've at least tried once, whether you knew it or not. But, be sure not to confuse juicy eggs with soggy eggs... Last but not least of the dish are the curry-chicken skewers. The skewers probably contribute to 60% of the reason why I always order the Pad Thai combo. Though slightly on the burnt side, the skewers are grilled very well and have that very distinctive 'ashy' taste to it. The chicken on the skewers are always tender, and have a wonderful tendency to separate into nice thin strips when you bite into it. The curry used is very unique, as I have never tasted any other like it. Slightly rich in taste, the curry is very savoury and has little chunks of what seems to be little pieces of lemongrass inside. I honestly cannot describe the curry taste of it, all I can say though, is for you to just go and try it yourself. It really is unique and UBER delicious!

Spicy Red Curry($7.50)

This was the dish that my mother ordered that day. The dish was also served with the soup-of-the-day, 2 Thai springrolls, a big bowl of chicken curry, and a French-influenced Vietnamese bun (called bánh mì  in Vietnamese). Seeing that I've reviewed both the soup and the Thai springrolls in the very large paragraph above, I will only talk about the spicy chicken curry and the bun. Many people who've bought "Vietnamese Buns" at their local Asian supermarket (such as TnT, Foody Mart...), should be familiar with the type of bun used for the curry dish, but there are actually quite a few different types of banh mi-s that vary in size. I personally find that this particular type is a hit or miss; it can either be crispy and fluffy, or soggy. The perfect type would have a crunchy shell housing fluffy bread inside. As for the one served at Saigon Star, I would say they nailed the bread. The bun was clearly kept inside a freezer and reheated because it possessed that 'defrosted' taste, but it still tasted quite good. The shell of the bun was very crunchy, whereas the middle, though slightly too thick, was fluffy and warm and retained the curry very well when dipped. The curry had a deep and rich coconut taste and was slightly tangy, but it wasn't very spicy. The texture of the curry, though, wasn't as creamy as you'd expect from a Thai curry, and actually was quite oily. Inside the bowl were chicken pieces, fried-tofu, parsley garnish, portobello mushrooms, and bean sprouts.

Thai Green Curry ($6.50)
This was the dish that my father ordered. It was basically green Thai curry served with thick rice-noodles, and an assortment of additions ranging from fried-tofu, mushrooms, red peppers, bean sprouts, all topped with fresh basil leaves. I wish I could give you an honest opinion on this dish, but I sadly did not try it (my dad looked really famished).

  

 

Hong Kong Style Milk Tea

I never really order drinks with my meals, partially because I don't drink beverages as I eat and partially because I'm..frugal. There is only one drink I ever make an exception to and that would be Hong Kong milk tea, called lai cha in Cantonese （奶茶）。 Usually my family and I would each get a hot cup of milk tea at the end of our meal, but seeing that it was a hot day, I opted on getting the cold version. For those unfamiliar with what milk tea is, it's basically a mix of several types of black tea, evaporated milk, and sugar (which you add yourself, depending on your preference). Sometimes, a tablespoon of condensed milk is used alongside the evaporated milk to give the tea a richer feel. What I like about milk tea is that it has a very distinctive and truly unique taste, as it is both sweet and bitter,  yet is also capable of maintaining a very silky texture. Though I've tried better milk tea, I must say that Saigon Star's milk tea beats a lot of places that serve milk tea in their afternoon tea menus, for example those HK cafes (cha chaang teng; 茶餐廳）。It maintained a deep creamy taste, that always manages to sit at the back of my tongue regardless of what I eat, while at the same time, is able to possess a deep and soft bitter taste that keeps my tongue smacking for more (literally smacking haha).Though the beverage has an ever so slight grainy texture, it is overall still very good, and is very refreshing for hot days.

their pretty chandelier arrangement on the ceiling

     Conclusively.  .   .. ...

food: 8/10
atmosphere: 9/10
service: 7/10 (slow and inattentive at times)
portion: moderate
 price: reasonable (< $10/dish)

Located at: 330 Hwy 7, Richmond Hill
Phone Number: (905) 731-7221

happy eating!

 xoxo,
-A