Restaurant Review: Saigon #1 Vietnamese Restaurant Fairfield, California

Many Happy Returns for Vermicelli and Service

Location: 1972C N. Texas Street
Fairfield, California

Type: Vietnamese Cuisine

Avg Cost: $5-$10 per meal

Description: We were very new to Vietnamese cuisine, and so I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the Saigon restaurant. Basically, 1/3^rd the main dish menu was different versions of Vermicelli which consisted of bean sprouts, raw veggies like spinach, rice noodles, and different meats like pork, prawns, beef, or chicken. Another third were soup bowls with briskets, meatballs, and tripe. The last third of the main menu was made of broken rice plates with the same meats. There were also different types of spring rolls for appetizers and "smoothies" for desert.

Décor and Service: The restaurant itself was very clean and basically decorated, but the plasma television on the wall stood out for some reason. I guess when you walk into an Asian-themed restaurant you expect a lot of stereotypical items like pictures of waterfalls, character writings and lamps. Not this place. Very few decorations could be seen. The service was tip-top, despite not having much staff around. Everyone was friendly, extremely attentive and always wearing genuine smiles.

How was the food? Excellent, excellent, excellent.

There aren't any real appetizers to offer other than Fried pork and veggie rolls and a summer roll. However, both were tasty and could be a meal if you order 3 servings. The summer roll was more impressive because of the sliced shrimp and the peanut-based dipping sauce that accompanied it.