A taste of Viet Nam finds home in Millis

Saigon Restaurant

Saigon Restaurant was somewhat of an anomaly when it opened 20 years ago in sleepy Millis, a place where Italian was about as ethnic as restaurants got. But it has built up a loyal following without straying from its original focus on Vietnamese cuisine.

The décor is simple and spare: rose-textured wallpaper above knotty pine paneling; recessed lights; and a few floral prints on the walls. Linen tablecloths and napkins elevate the ambience a bit. The restaurant doesn't have a liquor license, but diners are welcome to bring their own beer and wine, and tables are set with stemware and corkscrews.

We asked the owner, Minh Tran, to recommend some traditional dishes. For an appetizer he suggested we share Vietnamese rice noodles with vegetables and spring rolls ($5.15). The cold noodles arrived atop chopped lettuce and cucumber with bits of spring roll, ground peanuts, and a light sauce. Tossing it all together created a light, tasty salad.

Chicken skewers in lemon juice ($4) came with a trio of sauces, including a fiery chili paste, a thick, plummy hoisin, and a clear sweet sauce. Saigon special rolls ($5.75) were stuffed with pork and vegetables, then fried; the soft filling and flaky wrapper made a nice combination of textures.

For entrees Tran steered us to the house specialties. We chose two: shrimp and pork sautéed with lemongrass ($10.75), and chicken with snow peas, black mushrooms, transparent noodles, and curry sauce ($10.25). In the first dish we enjoyed the almost floral undertone of lemongrass, a staple of Vietnamese cooking, but found the pork a little tough. The second was our favorite dish of the night. The nearly shredded chicken was very tender and the vegetables tasted fresh. The curry flavor was mild, which was fine with us.

The scallops with black mushrooms, onions, and peppers ($10) was a colorful presentation with shiny dark mushrooms, translucent onions, and bright red pepper slices. We liked the smoky, barbecue-like sauce, but thought the scallops were overcooked.

Vegetarian curry ($8.50) was excellent, with a good variety of perfectly cooked vegetables, lightly fried tofu chunks, and a more pronounced curry flavor than the chicken dish.

On a solo lunch visit, I took Tran’s recommendation on the "big soup" ($6.50), a deep bowl of broth with chicken or shrimp.

I chose chicken, and the soup arrived loaded with scallions, onions, and transparent noodles, along with fresh bean sprouts, fresh basil, and lemon slices to add as desired. It made a light but filling lunch. Tran said dinner parties sometimes order the soup to share as an appetizer.

For dessert we tried the coconut roll ($3); the only other choice was ice cream. The roll consisted of several tiny, wafer-thin rolled cookies with coconut baked between the layers. It was not memorable but was a nice accompaniment to the restaurant's signature jasmine tea.

On a busy Friday night, service was slow. We had to hail a server to pay the bill.

The flip side, of course, is that no one is rushing you out the door.

ELLEN ALBANESE