SAIGON 2 SIAM BISTRO
ADDRESS: 1280 1st Street, Unit E, Gilroy, CA 95020
WEBSITE: https://saigon2siam.weebly.com/
When planning out our roadtrip up to the San Francisco area to attend the BTS concert in Stanford, my wife Cami and I were looking around for a good spot to stop for lunch in the Gilroy area. Saigon 2 Siam Bistro caught our attention, notably because it had a really high rating even with over 1.3K reviews on Yelp (which dwarfed the quantity of reviews of other restaurants nearby there). Cami had been wanting some Thai food for a little while, so this lined up perfectly.
Saigon 2 Siam Bistro is located inside a sizeable strip mall, amongst a number of other shops and restaurants. We got there around 1PM and there were still a few open tables to allow us to get seated right away. The dining area of the restaurant is relatively on the small side, maybe able to hold 30 people max. There were two additional 4-person tables out in front of the restaurant, but after that, you’re relegated to the waitlist.
The menu featured seven pages of soups, salads, noodles, rice, and BBQ dishes, primarily with a focus on Thai and a bit of Vietnamese fusion as well. Cami and I contemplated how much to get, especially since we still had a portion of the roadtrip left and didn’t want to eat too much. We decided to stick with sharing a pork pad thai, along with a mango sticky rice dessert that was also calling our name as well.
The kitchen was absolutely on top of things that day, because it seemed like they were able to get our pad thai out to us in the blink of an eye. It ended up being a massive bowl of food, more than enough to feed both of us for lunch. The aromas coming off the pad thai made waiting for it to cool down that much more difficult, but patience pays off in the long run. The thin flat rice noodles were tossed in a tamarind sweet and sour sauce, stir-fried with eggs, scallions, and bean sprouts, along with the pork slices. It was then topped with a handful of raw bean sprouts, a generous scoop of crushed peanuts, and some lime wedges.
Taking that first bite of the pad thai, I immediately understood why the place had such glowing reviews after such a large quantity of ratings on Yelp. The pad thai was probably some of the best I’ve had in a long time, with a perfect melding of the tamarind and fish sauce flavors in the sauce to complement not only the pork but also the eggs and scallions. The raw bean sprouts and peanuts gave a nice texture contrast with their crunch, and the acid from the lime helped not to make the dish feel too heavy. There was also the perfect balance of quantity of sauce to the noodles, just enough to coat everything but not so much that it would pool at the bottom of the bowl. And we haven’t even gotten to talking about the mango sticky rice.
I don’t really have any other words to describe that first bite of the mango sticky rice other than just “bliss.” The butter soft smoothness of the mango, along with the sweet flavor, was in perfect harmony with the sticky rice sweetened with coconut cream. The rice was soft, but slightly chewy, which was just the right balance for my personal preference on sticky rice. Each bite was just as good as the previous one, and both Cami and I were sad to look down and see we had arrived to our last bites of the dessert. But honestly, what a way to cap off that meal.
We walked into Saigon 2 Siam Bistro looking for a good meal of Thai food, and we walked out feeling like we stumbled across a neighborhood gem of a restaurant. The quality and flavors of the food were phenomenal, and the service was super fast in getting the food out to us. We had seriously thought about trying to re-route our return trip to see if we could stop by again, but it didn’t work out with our plans. The restaurant has almost certainly cemented itself as a must-stop for any of our future roadtrips up north. Whether you are just passing through or live in the nearby area, you absolutely must stop by Saigon 2 Siam Bistro if you get the opportunity.
Let’s now take a look at the Saigon 2 Siam Bistro Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Pad Thai **
Thin rice noodles in a house-made tamarind sweet and sour sauce, stir-fried with eggs, scallions, and bean sprouts. Topped with fresh bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and lime wedges. Pictured with pork.
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** Mango Sticky Rice **
Sliced sweet mangos served with sticky rice, covered in a sweet coconut milk.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Saigon 2 Siam Bistro:
Food: 5 / 5
Both the pad thai and mango sticky rice knocked it out of the park, with rich flavors and sizeable portions. There are plenty of other options on the menu to try, so we’ll need to make sure we have the stomach space for next time we visit.
Atmosphere: 4.5 / 5
Even though the dining area was small, it was a quaint and welcoming space, with a mix of wooden booths or dining tables. The aromas of the food being cooked from the kitchen wafted around the entire space.
Service: 4.75 / 5
The preparation of the food was blazing fast, and the restaurant staff that helped us out were nice and welcoming. Under 10 minutes from when we ordered to getting our food felt like we blinked and it was ready.
Price: 5 / 5
For the quality of the food and also the portion size, the price was fantastic and well worth what we paid.
Overall:
19.25 / 20
(96%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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