Saigon is a restaurant inside Food Show, the food hall of the Tokyu department store in Shibuya Station. I’d heard it’s a good place to drop in when you’re near the station and can’t decide where to eat, so I went to check it out. It was harder to find than I expected. You have to walk quite a way, and it’s tucked into a spot where you’d never expect a restaurant to be.
The front of the shop
It has exactly the feel of a department store food hall. Right out front they sell Vietnamese food to take away. About six seats? It’s a really tiny place. Go alone or as a pair; show up with a group and you’ll be in trouble. But maybe because of the location, hardly anyone comes, so we got to eat right away without waiting. You can order pho on its own, but since it was my first time, I went for the 1,000-yen set.
Fresh spring rolls
I can barely remember what they were officially called… They’re really good. Raw stuff like this only tastes good when the ingredients are fresh, and somehow the ingredients here really are fresh. Is this even allowed…
Fried spring roll
This one’s good too. I was really surprised that such a shabby-looking place turns out food this proper.
Today’s spicy seafood pho
The broth was clean and refreshing, and it was a really well-made bowl of noodles. But I prefer wide flat noodles to thin ones, so I found myself thinking I should have ordered something else. The fried noodles the person next to me was eating looked really good too.
The whole set
The location and atmosphere are just odd; the food itself is the real deal. If you can’t figure out where to eat in Shibuya, this place is a decent pick… but how often does that actually happen in Shibuya? For this price there are plenty of ramen shops too. At Yasubee, where I went before, even 440 grams costs only 680 yen ^_^ And Kamukura Ramen in Dotonbori is so good… I don’t think it’s worth making a special trip for. That said, it struck me that it wouldn’t be a bad date spot. Taking a girl to a ramen shop is a bit, well, you know.
This is the wine shop attached to Food Show.
Oh… the selection was better than I expected. Money’s been tight lately so I haven’t been splurging much… but one of these days I’ll have to go on a spree…