Relish: Miss Saigon misses target

By Luis De Las Cuevas     8/31/11 7:00pm

Miss Saigon Cafe is a small establishment, conveniently located in the heart of Rice Village. While the proximity to school and the promise of warm Vietnamese food make for an appealing combination for those who are sick of the day's servery options, the shoddy atmosphere and overpriced menu are quick to eliminate it from further consideration. The food, while not bad, is decidedly not special.

As a seasoned and savvy consumer to all that the Village offers, I was frankly surprised to find a restaurant that I had neither visited nor heard of from any of my fellow connoisseurs. Miss Saigon is located at 5503 Kelvin  Dr., one of the Village's narrow side-streets that are pretty easy to miss.

The name brings to mind a pageant in which the contestants' beauty is only matched by the delicacy of the croissants they eat. It also hints at a happy meeting between the Vietnamese and French cultures, where beauty and pleasure take center stage without any socio-political distractions to inhibit the experience. And this is certainly how little Miss Saigon sees herself. It even says so on the restaurant's website (www.miss-saigoncafe-houston.com).

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The menu provided the biggest surprise of the evening. Given the general lack of atmosphere, we were surprised that the cheapest appetizer costs $7.95 and that all entrees are over $15. The only item that could count as a substantial choice within a reasonable student-price range was the vermicelli at $10.95. The tofu was crispy and firm and the chicken was juicy. The dish came with an apple cider vinegar instead of the usual fish sauce, which was also okay. We had plenty of chili sauce to accompany it, giving the vermicelli a kick.

The establishment gives a general impression of being kind of nasty without having anything patently wrong with it. The facade is definitely uninteresting, and if it weren't for the awning, it would look perpetually closed. Upon entering, my companion noted that it smelled like a truck station bathroom. He did not mean it in a piss-and-disillusionment sort of way but in a Clorox-disinfecting-wipes-factory sense. And if you, like we did, seem to forget about the smell as the evening wears on, a quick visit to the bathroom will be enough to bring it right back. Not to be missed while in your stay at the bathroom is the charming brown paisley wallpaper.

The decor can most easily be described as frumpy. Though they claim to have been in business for only 12 years, there is a pervasive sense of old. The color-scheme is dominated by peach and walnut, which are unappealing when combined and date the place to the middle-to-late 1980s. A mostly humorous wall mural that might actually be worth the trip dominates the biggest wall and is flanked by vague, gray architectural accents.

The staff at Miss Saigon was friendly enough. Once we entered, a young woman pointed to a table in the corner closest to the bathroom of the mostly empty room as if to suggest that we sit there. After the cold welcome, they were much nicer and eager to talk. They quickly brought cold water and a little bowl full of limes for our consumption at no extra cost.

Vermicelli is seldom worth $11, and Miss Saigon's certainly was not. The flavors were only okay. The ambiance was all wrong, and it is hard to believe that they've been open for so many years. It is not so difficult to see why they are so far under the radar, though. If you are really craving some authentic Vietnamese food, get yourself to Chinatown. You'll be happy you did.

Luis De Las Cuevas is a Wiess College junior.

 

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