Tag: vietnamese

Food Review: Saiwok Vietnamese Street Food in Rogers, AR

All of the ratings online for this place were amazing. It is the #1 restaurant on Yelp in Rogers now. So, I had to check it out. Here’s the breakdown:

ENVIRONMENT

Located in a new shopping center, this place looks like every other business here.

When you walk in, you grab a menu or read it on screen. You order up front, take a number, then find a seat.
There is a bar area with t.v.s to watch or plenty of wooden stools and tables to enjoy.

Overall, it is very modern. Each wall is unique with different modern wallpaper. A large “Saiwok” sign is lit up on one wall. It is very fun.

Where you get your own drinks, you can also pick up sriracha, hoisin, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and sugar or sugar substitutes.

MENU

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Saiwok/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1844062562490958

Their menu can be found on their Facebook page, linked above. However, this menu is a little outdated. The cucumber salad is missing.
Overall, there are a lot of options: fun appetizers such as fried brussel sprouts or street corn, banh mi sandwiches, baos, bowls, soups, salads, and even desserts.

FOOD

Cucumber Salad, $9
Description: Cucumber cubes, heirloom tomatoes, wafu dressing

We started with this beautiful cucumber salad. One of the best veggie dishes I’ve ever tasted was a cucumber salad in Chinatown in NYC. So, I expected flavors of heat, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.
While this was gorgeous, the flavor was lacking. Their “wafu dressing” is tasty, but there’s no heat. There’s not much salt either. So, I added some soy and sriracha and that made it enjoyable.

House Salad, $6 or $2 to add on to a meal
Description: Mixed greens, cucumber ribbons, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, ginger sesame dressing

We also got our add-on house salad for $2 before our entrees, which I requested. This salad was as tasty as it looked. And it was beautiful! Ribbons of carrots and cucumber, heirloom tomatoes, perfect greens. The dressing was just the right amount and very flavorfully sweet. Loved it!

Saiwok Bowl with Grilled Lemongrass Pork, $9.95
Description: Choose your meat, choose your base, add any additional items. All bowls come with pickled veggies, tomato, cucumber, scallion oil, and chili lime vinaigrette.

Our first entree (I make Drew share everything we get so I can taste it all) was the Saiwok bowl. I choose the grilled lemongrass pork, which was amazing! It was large, tender, so flavorful, and juicy. We put it on top of greens, which may have been a mistake as we just ate two salads already. Rice may have been a more satisfying choice. And I topped it off with an over easy egg.
The egg was perfect! The veggies were perfect. I couldn’t tell there was any scallion oil, it was very dry. So, I used the entire small side of chili lime vinaigrette. After it is all mixed up, it was very tasty.
My only issue was there were no knives to cut the pork into smaller pieces. The pork pieces were about 3 bites each, so I ended holding a piece of pork in my hand and taking a bite with every forkful….it didn’t look very graceful.

Pho Au Jus Banh Mi, $9
Description: Sliced brisket, pho broth, hoisin sauce, sriracha, with shrimp chips. All banh mis come with two small ones.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was weary of these banh mis, as they look very bread-heavy. However, I was mistaken. The bread is perfect. The inside is so soft, it is hardly there, just enough to keep your juices in….well, mostly.

This little baby was so flavorful and juicy. I loved every bite. I didn’t even need to dunk it into the pho broth on the side. It was one of the best banh mis I have had…and I’ve had MANY.

The pho broth was delicious on its own, I would definitely suggest trying it!

The problem came with the shrimp chips. I LOVE shrimp chips. I buy them by the bags when I can find them at Asian grocery stores. These, however, were horribly stale and had no flavor. They were left un-eaten.

OVERALL

This is definitely a place to try while in Rogers. It is fun and casual, and can make quite the tasty, healthy meal if you order right…..or it can be as carb-filled and fried as you please. So, really, it’s the perfect place for a group that has varying dietary wants.

While the service is almost missing, you aren’t going to be treated as if you are at a 5 star restaurant. But that’s ok. In fact, I kind of enjoy that. Get what you want, take care of yourself, you’re an adult.

You MUST try the banh mis. Add on the $2 house salad.
Let me know any other must-tries for my next visit.

Food Review: Linhs Vietnamese Cuisine in Russellville

I first heard of Linhs Vietnamese Cuisine from a fellow food blogger who said they had wonderful banh mi sandwiches, so I made a pit stop there on my way out of town and got a couple of the “original” banh mis to go. Honestly, I was not impressed. The original includes sliced steam pork roll, Chinese bbq pork, and pork ear ham (whatever that is) and it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Granted, I ate it about an hour and a half after picking it up.

While I had never planned on going back, we were in the area, starving, and this was the only place that had some options that sounded good. Even a so-so banh mi is better than fast food.  So, I gave it another shot and I am so glad I did! Here’s the breakdown.

ENVIRONMENT

Like many unexpected gems, there’s no glitz nor glam to this place. It is a large, open old restaurant building with clutter pretty much everywhere. There’s even a small grocery section where you can buy some Asian products.

MENU

https://www.facebook.com/LinhsCuisine/menu/

Their menu can be found above, on their Facebook page. It is full of 3 appetizers (2 of which I talk about below), many varieties of pho, many rice dishes, many vermicelli dishes, and a few “specialty” dishes including a hot pot, a couple varieties of fried chicken, and the banh xeo I got. Finally, there are a few options for boba tea and other unique items like fresh lemonade, Thai tea, and Vietnamese coffee.

FOOD

FREE Egg Drop Soup

I was starving when we arrived, so I was very happy to see a small cup of egg drop soup dropped off as a starter after we ordered our meals. It wasn’t amazing. It was a little bland and very thick. The green onion was the star of this show. But nevertheless, I ate it very quickly.

Spring Rolls with Pork Patty, $3.50
Description: Handmade fresh everyday with cermicelli, cabbage, and mint.

This was the most unexpected spring roll I’ve ever tried, or heard of, and it was delicious! It had a cut and seared hot-dog like “pork patty” in it as well as a very crispy fried dough. So, each bite was crunchy and porky and divine! I’d eat this every day if I could.

Banh Xeo, $10.95
Description: Traditional Vietnamese rice battered crepe stuffed with shrimp, pork, onions, and beansprouts, served with fish sauce.

I had never had this dish before, and it sounded like nothing I’d ever tried. The waiter suggested it, so I gave it a shot. The texture of this “rice crepe” was very different from anything I’ve tried before. It was crispy on the outside, but soft in the middle and full of bean sprouts and onions. There were only two shrimp, but plenty of pork bites. I loved it! The side salad that came with it was a nice addition as well, and all of it together, dipped in the side sauce, was very tasty! Also, it was HUGE.

Banh Mi with Grilled Pork, $4.50
Description: 6″ oven baked white hoagie with choice of meat and chicken liver patte, picked carrots, cilantro, and jalapeño.

Side note: even though this is listed as an appetizer, it is a full meal, especially after that huge spring roll.
The main reason I didn’t like the original banh mi I tried before was because of the meat in it. So, since it was so cheap and I can’t say no to a banh mi, I gave them another shot. Though, this time I just got the grilled pork. And we got a winner! This time it was perfection. The bread was perfectly toasted and soft in the middle. The pork was so juicy and tender. There was a lot more sauce on this sandwich than there was on the previous one, so it was not dry in the least. In fact, it dripped juices and sauces and was a little messy, but oh so darn good! Looks like I’ll be dropping by here again for this sandwich.

 

OVERALL

While one bad take-out experience did occur, they shined when we dined in. Maybe the key is to eat your food immediately rather than waiting an hour and a half?  Also, pretty much everyone else in the restaurant ordered pho and when I saw a bowl of it, I regretted my menu choices immediately. These were the biggest bowls of pho I have ever seen, with deep colored broths and tempting aromas. I HAVE to get pho (and a banh mi) next time we go!