Last week I was in the mood for soup. I had a sore throat and the only things which helped were hot liquids. I wasn’t in the mood for your typical soup and and hoped that a nice big bowl of pho would fit the bill much like I had hoped when we hit up Saigon Palace in Burnsville a few weeks prior.
While searching for pho in the South Metro I stumbled across a website which specializes in reviews of pho. The listing for Classic Saigon’s previous location raved about their offering and claimed their soup was, “absolutely the best Pho I’ve found in the states.” Not wanting to miss the best pho in the States, we headed over to Classic Saigon in Eagan.
We arrived fairly early and were the only people in the restaurant. We were seated and waited on promptly. The menu is massive and Classic Saigon offers additional help by placing pictures of their dishes on 8.5×11 sheets of paper (for each item) all over the wall of the restaurant. While this many not sound too crazy, when you consider they have nearly 150 items, it can seem overwhelming either way. After some quick decision making we settled on eggrolls and cream cheese wontons for appetizers (mostly for The Rooster who was also sick), Chicken Fried Rice for The Wife, Pho Classic Saigon Dac Biet, a pickled lime drink and shredded pork spring rolls.
The eggrolls and wontons were out first. The eggrolls had a light and flaky crust but some oil was still leaking from them as I ate. The greasy eggrolls were fine for me, certainly better than those so many restaurants serve but The Wife didn’t like them very much. While they were originally intended for The Rooster, we ended up taking more than half of that one home. At $3.50 for two this wasn’t a bad deal but certainly not something I’d go out of my way to try again.
The wontons were large and also greasy. They were filled to the gills with cheese but were slightly overdone for our liking. I took one bite and passed on the rest but The Wife and The Rooster seemed ok with them and the provided sauce. You get 6 large wontons for $3.50 so if you’re looking for a greasy filler this one may be for you but certainly don’t expect any mind blowing experiences here.
A little while later The Wife’s Chicken Fried Rice came out. What it gave up in looks it made up for in size. For about $9 this would feel two people easily. Unfortunately that’s about all you can say that’s positive about the dish. It’s not that it was off-putting, it just didn’t taste like much of anything at all. The Wife didn’t eat much of it at all and we took it home. I tried it the next day both plain and with some Sriracha but it just wasn’t all that appetizing. This was a big pass for me and made me realize that taking The Wife to Vietnamese restaurants just isn’t something I’m going to do again in the future.
My Pho was a smallish 8-10″ bowl for the price (also around $9). The basil, jalapenos (I asked for extra) and lime were fresh and plentiful but that’s about where my joy of this dish ends. The broth itself, while previously described as the best in the States, was filled with oil and/or fat. While it reflected the taste of the ingredients well (such as the basil), the oil coating my mouth and sliding over my tongue and down the back of my throat was so gross that I just didn’t even want to finish the dish. The noodles were a congealed mass in the center and I really just didn’t care at all for the meats (sliced beef, brisket, tendon and meatballs). While the meats weren’t anything terrible, they couldn’t pull this disgusting mess together. This was a very big disappointment for me and a definite pass. Hey Classic Saigon…this is Minnesota! Stick your pot of broth outside for a few hours and skim that nasty fat before you serve it to people. Yuck.
The pickled lime drink was strong and interesting. While I’d never had it before, I love strong flavors and especially lime. While it reminded me a lot of the salty/sweet taste of lemon-lime Gatorade, I think I’d order this one again if I saw it on a menu elsewhere.
Overall, Classic Saigon in Eagan was, for lack of a better phrase, utterly and completely nasty. The fact that they would serve me pho which clearly had tons of oil/grease/fat floating on top was simply unacceptable. No one would want to have that feeling in their mouth while they eat. It was like eating canned chicken noodle soup and throwing in some vegetable oil for good measure. Yuck.
Have you ever eaten at Classic Saigon in Eagan (at either location)? Was their old location better? If you have eat there what did you order and what did you think? Did you have the pho? Was it a greasy mess or was it the best pho you’d ever had? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Address:
Classic Saigon
1272 Town Centre Dr
Eagan, MN 55123
Phone:
651-675-0564
See all the pictures from Classic Saigon in Eagan on Flickr
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February 17th, 2012 at 9:59 am
I can’t speak to the new location, but I had a few good meals at the old. The owner was always very nice and easy to talk to about the food, etc. Their banh mi used to be a steal at $2, including fresh bread. I don’t think I ever tried the pho there.
But the real nugget to me in your post was this:
Unless that statement is followed by a detailed list of….oh…..50 (MINIMUM) other examples of pho from every state in the Union and specifics about the nature of what made it good, I would pretty much toss it in the pile of meaningless hyperbole/reviews (the container labeled “Mopey”).
Too bad the meal sucked. Better luck next time.
February 17th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Bummer. I really haven’t gotten into Vietnamese food. I usually go for Chinese or Thai for my rice and noodle needs. I’m not real big on soup and Pho just looks unappetizing. It’s a horizon I need to expand, but I haven’t gotten there yet.
February 17th, 2012 at 10:35 am
MSPD, with a statement like that I would expect it to be “not terrible”.
February 17th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
I ate at the old location once. I had the spring rolls and something containing macaroni, of all things, which I ordered because they said it was one of their specialties. It was fine; it didn’t make much of an impression either way though. I have yet to make it over to the new location.
For me, I guess it falls into the “if I’m in the area and it’s what I’m craving” category of restaurants.
February 17th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
I’ve eaten pho there several times, though not in the last couple months, and never experienced the heavy oil or fat like that. Hopefully it is not the way it is now. I noticed last time I was there different employees working than usual so maybe something changed there.
I actually like the pho here better than some places on University that people keep talking up.
I agree the noodles in their pho are sub-par. They often break apart when picking them up with sticks…which happens of course but shouldn’t each time. I like the beef slices they use and think its tastier stuff than many restaurants use.
The non-viet items on the menu are avoid, IMO.
I did do hotpot once with three other people. It was pretty spectacular. Expensive sticker shock but actually reasonable if split up per person.
February 17th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
The wife and I stopped thru there on the way back from Mass last week. We liked it just fine. I’m a fan of pho and in my opinion it was on par with what I’ve had on University. All I had was that and the eggrolls so I can’t speak to the rest of the menu. I guess it comes down to a matter of personal taste.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:34 am
I’m in search of a good pho place, scratch one more… :( Thanks for the great service you offer us South Bay folks.
February 18th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Bill, Sanks – while I am not an authority on pho, I would urge you guys to check out Vina in Richfield. I go there frequently for vietnamese food and I almost always have their pho. It is so effin’ good.
February 19th, 2012 at 7:45 am
Maybe you got them on a bad night? We live near Classic Saigon, so they’re our best choice when we desperately need pho. As it happens, we got carryout a couple nights ago: two different “flavors” of pho. We don’t always finish all the broth, so I poured mine and my daughter’s back into the two carryout containers and put them in the fridge. After chilling 24 hours, I checked: a few specs of grease hardened around the edges of the liquid at the top of each, but not a full layer sealing the top.
For many years that location was Que Viet, remarkable for a Vietnames restaurant in that they didn’t even offer pho. As such, we’re happy to have this new place, and consider it fairly reliable for pho. The few other dishes we’ve had there have been strictly OK.
I second the comment about Vina in Richfield: best pho within reasonable driving distance. My personal vote for best in the Twin Cities is Quang’s on Nicollet.
February 19th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Certainly could have been a bad day. But with 100000000001 restaurants serving pho around town, and far better than what I had at Classic Saigon, I am going to pass on it in the future while I continue my search :)