From HCMC with Love
A new chef and a mostly new menu make Le Garçon Saigon a tasty bet for vietnamese with a modern spin. And that dry-aged chicken with chilli dressing slays.
Do you remember back when “fusion” cuisine was all the rage in the cocaine-fuelled 1980s? They had all sorts of phrases for things that 1) either didn’t need funky phrasing or 2) didn’t need to be fused to begin with. But, as I said. Cocaine. We’ve come a long culinary way since then; tastes have changed, what could be lasting trends have emerged and “fusion” has made way for “modern.” This is a much better idea, though sometimes the drive to modernity can send a dish right off a cliff.
Not so the case with Le Garçon Saigon in Wan Chai, which has created a new menu under new chef John Nguyen. Nguyen was born in Ho Chi Minh City – he calls it Saigon, but we not Vietnamese so we’ll stick with HCMC – and raised in California, and he’s been cheffing solo since 2017. Somehow Black Sheep lured the OC boy here to be boss of all things Vietnamese for the group (he’s in charge of Chôm Chôm too).
Le Garçon Saigon bills itself as a French-inspired brasserie, and indeed it has a noisy, boisterous Parisian brasserie vibe – without the colonialism – and Nguyen has turned his focus to the Vietnamese grill. Admittedly, when most of us think “grill” it’s in relation to traditional Western BBQ (burgers and dogs, steaks, whole corn and so on) or Korean. It’s easy to forget the Vietnamese grill like mad; anyone who’s been will know that. So Le Garçon’s main attraction is its wood-fired grill items. You build your meal around that. Nguyen describes his food stylings as “subversive,” and that’s fairly accurate. The guy’s created a soy-based “fish sauce” in response to rising demand for plant-based dining. And he calls his vaguely traditional banh xeo a Vietnamese grilled cheese sandwich. The banh xeo has been reimagined as a rice pancake (check) with heirloom tomatoes (hmmm) and cheese (huh?). But it works.
So does most of the new menu. Among the standouts are the utterly mouth-watering tom kho tau, a soup with dominating grilled jumbo prawn sicking out of the bowl and served in a rich foie gras (a deal breaker for some) pate stock. Your server won’t be able to bring you enough of the soft crusty bread to soak up the soup with. The ga nuong muoi ot is dry-aged, melt-in-your-mouth yellow chicken with house-made chilli dressing on the side. It’s a little spicy, a little salty, with an enticing lush aroma and a soft, saucy texture. Similarly the seven-day dry-aged grilled lamb tomahawk comes with two condiments that could easily divide the table. The salted egg yolk topping (salted egg yolk belongs on everything, IMHO) adds a rich, emollient bite to the lamb and is in stark contrast to the mint jelly (gag) lamb is often served with. This is also the picture of unctuous; it’s vivid on the tongue. But if you absolutely must have mint with your lamb, the chilli-lime chimichurri is a refreshing kick. Both are going to have their fans. Round out these three dishes with a vegetable, specifically the sweet and tangy crispy eggplant made with mixed herbs and a ginger glaze. It’s tender and crunchy in perfect balance, and the sweetness takes the edge of the spicy chicken. And more of that bread if you can swing it.
There are, however, other unlikely concoctions that stand out, first the charcoal-grilled dry-aged white eel, served on banh hoi (rice vermicelli) with a pineapple and anchovy dressing, a common treat in northern Vietnam. The conflicting flavours and textures wind up as complements – salty anchovy and sweet pineapple, soft noodles and more unyielding eel. Finally, the ember grilled-octopus with roasted bone marrow will play just like the lamb: Love it or leave it. Distinct notes of tamarind and rau ram oil (a uniquely Vietnamese herb, kind of like coriander) give the dish a decadent flavour, but some of us are likely to blanch at the slimy bone marrow, even if it is mixed in. Everyone else is going to tuck in. Non-marrow fans can nibble on the octopus (always a winner) and you can add Hokkaido sea urchin for $258 if you want to go full mush.
Prices range from a low of $88 for accompaniments like stir-fried greens to a high to of $688 for the (untasted) tamarind-glazed beef short ribs with anchovy butter and shiso oil, so enough people won’t break the bank, and you’ll get a good sampling. And being “French-inspired” means, naturally, there’s a relatively diverse French wine list given the blessedly compact menu (at the high end is a 2014 Bollinger champagne for $1,988). Le Garçon has several Alsace Rieslings that go down easy across the board, and a Fleurie Gamay for $128 a glass, which is ideal with the meatier dishes. If wine’s not your jam, a handful of cocktails – Les Spritz – are a little more fun. And they all go with the chicken. That chicken…
Le Garçon Saigon
Address: G/F 12-18 Wing Fung Street, Wan Chai
Admiralty MTR, Exit F
Available on: Go
Worth more than one trip?: Yes