Little Saigon is located at #10 Euclid not far off Forest Park Parkway (really only about 10 minutes from home although it took us a little longer because of traffic).
We found street parking with no problem (Wendy has a bike rack on the back of her car that limits our parking abilities) and passed a cute gift shop on our brief walk to the cafe. Once we arrived, just behind another woman, we were promptly greeted and seated. There was some conversation about us being a party of three, which neither Wendy or I would have objected to, but the other woman, who had been to the restaraunt before said that she had a cold and that was her reason for being there. She said that she needed the soup and thought we were better off staying away, so we walked past a small, but nice bar area to get to the our table by the window.
The waiter came for our drink order, although it was difficult to determine who our waiter really was as we were served by a variety of people. Wendy stuck with water, but I took advantage of the $5.00 Happy Hour prices and had the Lemon Drop Martini complete with sugar around the rim. It was worth every penny and more. Lemon is one of my favorite flavors and that drink was refreshingly crisp in addition to being beautiful to look at.
Next, we ordered appetizers. We went a little crazy, but we were celebrating Wendy's birthday so we ordered one of her favorites - calamari (I'm not a huge fan, but this was good). The actual name of the dish was Muc Chiên Giòn and the calamari, though a little chewy was served with a sweet basil lime sauce that they could have given me a straw to drink. It was really good!!!
Our second appetizer was Cha Saigòn or crispy spring rolls. They were crispy, but didn't have a whole lot of flavor. We used the sauce that they were served with initially and then I went back to that basil lime sauce.
Third, we had Bánh Chiên, little dumplings of shrimp served with soy sauce. They were good and the reason I had wanted to go to Little Saigon (I am a firm believer that anything wrapped in dough is good). The dough was light and the shrimp was perfect.
For dinner, we split an order of Com Chiên Trái Thom (pineapple fried rice with shrimp and chicken). Although beautiful on the plate, it lacked in flavor. The hot sauce that was brought to the table at our request made up for the blandness of the dish. The shrimp were good, the pineapple was refreshing, but didn't have a lot of flavor, and the chicken tasted like it had been boiled with no seasoning in the water. Overall, the taste matched the paleness of the white rice, white shrimp, white chicken and pale pineapple.
Would I go back to Little Saigon? Maybe, but there are so many other places that I would like to try that it would not be soon. Wendy agreed and while Little Saigon has a limited dessert menu, we left and headed back to the car to try a dessert location that Wendy knew would be good.
On a side note, I convinced Wendy to stop in the little gift shop (it doesn't take much convincing for either of us to shop) where they had really unique items. I bought a beautifully illustrated book about St. Louis for Wendy and a different one for me (Santa Clause is Coming to St. Louis) to add to my collection of Christmas books and a card made by the Good Will. I really was interested in a clock that was made of tin in the shape of a chicken. Her feet moved with each second that passed. Knowing that I didn't really have a place to hang her saved me $32.00. Maybe next time!!!
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