San Diego is a city rich in ethnic culture, particularly when it comes to food.  So to the point that we’ve got cuisine from nearly every imaginable country.  Even Canada!  But that’s a little too wild for me, so for tonight we’re sticking with Vietnamese.  I love Vietnamese food, particularly Pho, but as it’s balls-out hot here in SoCal, I was looking forward to exploring other options.  Saigon on Fifth is a staple of the San Diego neighborhood of Hillcrest.  Two things you should immediately know about Saigon on 5th:

-It’s not on Fifth.  It actually faces the other way on University just to confuse you.

-It’s WAY bigger than it looks.

Nestled into a business district block, Saigon on Fifth looks like any number of closet-sized restaurants wedged between each other in this ‘hood.  When we went inside, we were lead into a HUGE dining room with an open space leading outside to courtyard patio dining.  It was like a small Asian female Willy Wonka leading us into the chocolate room but with more fountains and less whimsical music.  Cool digs.  Joining me in this trip to Wonka’s factory were the following rowdy, gold ticket winning children:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Amy-Vegetarian Belle, Author, Event Planner

Chris-Attorney, lifelong food snob, loves good Scotch and gay jeans

Harry-Wise guy, master of the grill, loves camping for some reason

Kevin-Gentle giant, works among the dregs of humanity, probably lived with someone you know.

Some of us needed a good drink, others a good meal. I just needed to pose in front of a brick wall. Everyone won.

Like almost every place in Hillcrest, Saigon on Fifth knows its clientele, so there were plenty of libations to choose from and my group wasted no time in sampling.  Aimee had the Cherry Blossom Cosmo, made with Sake.  She said it was really good with a muted sweetness.  Chris ordered a Bourbon Sweet & Sour but was less a fan of it, as it was prepared a little too sweetly for his taste.  Amy had the Buddah Mai Tai, which she described as “Strong, so YAY!”.  Harry ordered the Lychee Martini, which he was a big fan of.

For appetizers Aimee ordered the Steamed Mussels.  She said they were delicious with crispy toppings.  Amy had the Cream Cheese Wontons, which were good but pretty standard with a “meh-level” sauce.  Kevin and I both ordered the Imperial Spring Rolls with crab meat, delicate shrimp, chicken, and vegetables.  The texture was surprisingly crunchy and hearty but the meat was very tasty with a nice, spicy dipping sauce.

They taste more like egg rolls to me but I’m largely an uncultured savage, so I’ll take them at their word.

For our main courses, Amy ordered the Bun (a classic Vietnamese dish) with Lemongrass Tofu.  It was different from the way she’s had it in the past but said it was good.  She requested the vegetarian dressing in place of the usual fish sauce.  She described the more veggie-friendly dressing as sweeter than expected but delicious, light and fresh; a great dish for Summer.  Harry had the Spicy Lemon Grass Soup – Fresh Chilli-base soup with lime, lemon grass accent, cooked with lemon leaf and mushroom.   He said it was perfect.  A great combination of spicy and tangy.  Chris ordered Vietnamese crepe with pork and shrimp, which he said was good.

Aimee had the Mango Fish (Whole Sea Bass pan-fried to a crisp, served with shredded green mango in chilli garlic sauce).  She said it was delicious, perfectly fried with a great sauce.  She also loved the green papaya salad included on the dish, which was both cooling and refreshing.  Kevin ordered the Orange Duck, which he said was perfectly crisp and not too fatty with an amazing sauce.  I ordered the Spicy Noodle with Shrimp.  As a big lover of Thai food, I was excited to try its Vietnamese counterpart.  It was delicious.  I ordered the heat level at a 5 out of 10, which was pretty much perfect for me.  Also of impressive note were the shrimp.  They were fresh, huge and really well cooked.  Kind of loved this dish.

Panda Express this is not.

The dessert menu is a small one with just two options; sweet sticky rice with mango or fried banana cheesecake (note to self: book a trip to Vietnam ASAP).  Chris, Amy and I split the sticky rice.  I’ve only ever had savory rice but it was okay.  I’m not a big fan of fooling my already profoundly dumbed down palette with savory/sweet trickery.  Plus the presentation was… well…

Not working blue today so draw your own caption.

Overall I have to say I really loved this place.  The decor is lovely, the atmosphere is cool, the patio is quiet and romantic (if I ever have another date again, we’re totally coming here).  The food was great and it didn’t cost a fortune.  Opinions among the group were more mixed as Chris brought up an interesting point.  Vietnamese places tend to be more down-home “hole-in-the-wall” type places with more variety and cheaper prices.  He felt as though we were paying more for the ambiance than anything else.

For me, I like ambiance and while I’m sure there are some kick ass, more elbows-on-the-table-style Vietnamese places, this is a great centrally-located place that I plan to come back to often.

Further reading: http://saigononfifth.menutoeat.com/

To see all of the pictures from this week’s restaurant, be sure to follow The Boy who ate San Diego on Instagram!