Tucked between a mattress store and a Jenny Craig weight loss outlet is Saigon Noodle House, arguably the best Vietnamese restaurant in the Birmingham metropolitan area. At one point there were three Vietnamese restaurants in town, but Phở Hoàng threw in the towel sometime last year, so these days it’s just Saigon Noodle House and Phở Quê Hương meeting the needs of Birmingham’s Vietnamese food seekers.
I’ve always been a little curious about how Vietnamese food is translated down south, but with so many mouthwatering barbecue shacks to explore, not to mention Frank Stitt’s various haute little eateries, seeking out a cuisine readily available in California was low on my list of priorities.
During our most recent trip to Birmingham, The Astronomer made a lunch date with his high school friends at Saigon Noodle House. I tried to persuade my dear husband to reconsider, but everyone was in the noodling mood, so off to the Noodle House we went.
To start, our group ordered a variety of fresh and fried rolls. The fresh ones were served with hoisin sauce topped with crushed peanuts, while the fried ones were served with a goopy nước chấm.
I liked how both the nem nướng and gỏi cuốn tasted freshly made and contained fried shards of Chinese egg roll wrappers through the center, a la Brodard. My only wish was that the rolls had less iceberg filler and more fresh herbs.
According to The Astronomer, the fried chả giò (not pictured) were “a typical unspectacular American specimen.” Truth be told though, we’ve only had one really outstanding chả giò stateside, and that was at a Cambodian restaurant in Boston.
