SAIGON DIAMOND RESTAURANT

REVIEW

Saigon Diamond is located at 31075 John R Rd suite B in Madison Heights, MI. If you're an adventurist I wouldn't be opposed to recommending this restaurant if you had some foreknowledge of what to order or avoid.

The wait staff is young for the most part and very few can communicate without being misunderstood. A couple of girls seem to have a chip on their shoulder and have rolled their eyes at me, or would ignore me if I tried to get their attention. I see no excuse for this as a patron is there to infuse their business with spendable dollars. If the customer is happy, more money will be infused in upcoming visits. Teenage girls; what are ya gonna do, eh?

The establishment seems very clean, but it has a cold feel about it. The menus are hard to read and need to be updated. The photos on the menu are needed because the description of each dish is so hard to understand even though the description is printed in English along with a number next to the item. I guess it's easier to say the number than trying to sound out the name of the dish in Vietnamese. But, new photos are needed because the ones that appear on the menu look like they were taken with a dirty lens and was printed up on a home printer that was running out of toner. 

Another negative is that the names of the dishes are written in Vietnamese, so trying to decode what you're ordering is more of a gamble than anything else. This alone makes me think twice about revisiting and trying something new. For the most part, every time I was there I saw that it was frequented by mostly Asians, which is understandable. So, I guess the menu isn't hard for them to understand, but for those of us who don't read Vietnamese, it was a bit of a challenge because you now have to ask the server what this or that item is and the language barrier leaves you guessing even after she tries to explain it to you. I like trying new things, but I don't want to spend my money on something I don't know what I'm getting. The serve staff seems to point to one or two dishes that an American may like and she's say, "Numba 36 is popular." It would be a big help if they would revamp the menu so that they would be more American user friendly

For instance, on one visit I ordered their meatballs. At the time I thought it meant what it said, meat rolled into balls. I wasn't expecting Mama Leone's Italian meatballs, but I at least expected them to be made into some sort of spherical shape and made from some discernible meat. This was not the case. What they call meatballs doesn't even resemble a ball, or meat for that matter. Imagine if you will a brat cut into pieces swimming in a beef broth. When I first took a bite I got a mouth full of gristle. It was a big gelatin-like chewy, rubbery piece of fat that made up 90% of the piece. All of the pieces were that way. It seemed that the more I chewed, the bigger it got. I would recommend avoiding anything on this menu that says meatballs. I don't want anyone to be surprised by the meatballs, so trust me, look on to the next item. BTW, they also serve tripe, so unless you like that sort of thing, I'd steer clear of that as well.

Let's get down to the most important part; the good food. The Pho (pronounced, Phah) is their signature dish. It's a very large bowl of either chicken, fish or beef broth with a HUGE amount of very long, thin and tasty egg or rice noodles. It's a chicken noodle soup lovers dream. Pho is offered in many varieties and is usually accompanied with your choice of broth, veggies and meats. One can order the Pho without broth on a platter with stir fried veggies and meats as well. So, if you're a noodle lover like me, Pho is a good choice in any combination. You'll be slurping til your hearts content because the portions are enormous. Be careful to order you Pho or stir fry with specific meats in mind. You don't want to order it with everything because you may get some glob balls and tripe mixed in with your dish.

There is one dish that really stood out to me. They offer two pork chops that have a unique flavor to them as though they were cooked on a Hibachi BBQ grill. My step mother was born and raise in Yokohama, Japan and made the best tasting steaks I've had before or since on that little Hibachi. When I order the pork chops, I was brought back to the memory of Sakiko making me a steak. They were wonderful. Two chops and rice for $8.00 was a good deal as far as I'm concerned. You can also order one chop for around $3.00 as an appetizer if you wish. I had pork chops at another Vietnamese place down the street, but they don't compare to Saigon Diamonds version. Ironically, I like the other Vietnamese place better, but if I'm in the mood for a good tasty chop, Saigon Diamond is where I'm going.

They have another dish called, Goi Cuon. It's a chilled veggie roll up stuffed with veggies, pork and shrimp. It's very good and I highly recommend this dish on a hot Summer's day. Their drink menu is exotic to say the least. They offer bean shakes and it seems that all of their drinks are overloaded with sugar. Even the hot tea was overly sweet. It was a case of, "Would you like a little tea with your sugar?" For me, water was my best choice.

In short, I'd say that if I were to visit there again, I would make sure I knew what was coming before I order it. The meatballs taught me that lesson. But, the seafood noodle stir fry I had was a winner.

If you can maneuver around the language barrier, the poor printed menu and stay away from the meatballs, I think you'll have a decent experience at Saigon Diamond Restaurant. I hope this review helps anyone looking to venture into a Vietnamese restaurant without really knowing what they're walking into.

Happy noshing.

~Bobby