This is a little Vietnamese place on Giralda, quickly so popular that people waited outside on the sidewalk for a seat at one of the less than a dozen tables inside. It serves up flavorful, interesting and budget-priced Viet cuisine.
Coral Gables won its distinction as the dining capital of Greater Miami because of fancy, expensive, high-end gourmet restaurants staffed by accomplished, or even celebrity, chefs. But a new Gables is here, one that still pays plenty of attention to fine dining, but also one trying to cater to a younger, and therefore less monied, crowd.
The downtown shopping district is still pedestrian-oriented and low-key, but the stores are nosing their way into the 21st Century and away from linens and wigs. A respectable night life has arrived, not the weekly descent into gleeful decadence that you'd see in Miami Beach, but one that does stay up later than David Letterman, for the first time in memory.
In short, the Gables has adopted a casual side, making the path clear for places like Miss Saigon Bistro. This is a little Vietnamese place on Giralda, opened three years ago by a large Vietnamese family, quickly so popular that people waited outside on the sidewalk for a seat at one of the less than a dozen tables inside. Last week, Miss Saigon moved to a spot one storefront west where there is about three times as much room to serve up flavorful, interesting and budget-priced Viet cuisine. It might not have the gourmet, quasi-French excellence of the competitor nearby, longtime Miami Vietnamese kingpin Hy-Vong, but it has pleasurable food and a more efficient operation.
Atmosphere was a plus in the original location, and the happy nature of the staff ought to preserve that in the new. It is a restaurant ideal for a celebration, boisterous and bustling. Food is share-friendly, and you'll want to do this to sample a variety of treats.
Appetizers are creative. You're all familiar with spring rolls, but here they have rolls for every season, served year-round. Our summer rolls ($3.95) were refreshing and cool, thin rice paper enclosing chopped shrimp, sliced pork, lettuce, bean sprouts and fresh mint leaf with a sheaf of cellophane noodles. A faintly sweet plum sauce is there for dipping. These are a lighter start than Chinese egg rolls in that they're not fried.
FRENCH INFLUENCE
The French did influence Vietnamese cuisine, and here that's manifested in a pair of crepes, one steamed and one pan-fried. Our sizzling crepe ($7.95) came as an entree-size appetizer, two sheets of mung bean batter stuffed fat with pork, shrimp, onion and bean sprouts. It's participation eating, as you take a lettuce leaf from the side of the plate, tear off a hunk of crepe and wrap it all up, drizzling it at the end with some of Miss Saigon's special dipping sauce, a citrus-garlic vinaigrette. Again, refreshing and light, the mint leaf putting a sparkling cap on the interesting mix of flavors and textures.
Vietnamese cooking is a good fit for Miami, as tropical fruits are a key ingredient. Green papaya salad ($6.95) is a wonder, a large plate of lettuce, carrot and cilantro topped with a big handful of shredded papaya, juicy and sweet against a light lemon vinaigrette. You get your choice of chicken, pork and shrimp or vegetables, making this a potential entree, as well. But, as with all this food, it's more fun to split it. Noodle soup, or ``pho,'' is a major part of the Vietnamese diet - a beef noodle soup is popular for breakfast, even. That beef soup is here, as is something even more grand, the special combo noodle soup ($8.95). This came in a huge bowl that served four, and it was a beef stock thick with rice noodles, shredded chicken and beef and homemade meatballs, a hearty and flavorful thing.
EXOTIC ENTREES
Our first entree continued the tropical trend. A plank of salmon fillet ($14.95) was brushed with ``Chef Nguyen's special sauce'' (fish base with roasted garlic vinaigrette), grilled and then topped with a pile of sliced mango. This dish was only OK, though, as the salmon had no special character, and the mango was not particularly ripe or juicy. It lacked the surprise and piquancy of much of the food here.
That cannot be said for caramel shrimps ($14.95), a fascinating and exciting dish. Many large shrimps, a generous serving, were simmered in a rich sauce flavored with ginger, garlic, a bit of hot pepper and low-sodium soy, together with many pieces of sharp onion. Not a good choice for a hot date, but an excellent mix of flavors. Shrimps were perfectly cooked, meaty and gigantic, and the sauce had superb balance.
Chicken with lemon grass ($10.95) is essentially an excellent chicken curry, white meat saut?ed with onion, scallion and a bit of curry, but the lemon grass adds a final citrus touch that steers the dish from the Thai and into the Vietnamese column. As curries go, this one is light, but it has plenty of flavor and even some fire.
Beef is not afterthought: One of the signature items on the menu is the Miss Saigon Steak ($14.95), boneless sirloin marinated, grilled to order and then served in appealing, fat slices. Our meat was just a trifle tough, but there's a likable, almost teriyaki flavor to it that makes this dish a success.
If entrees here tend toward the exotic, desserts tend toward the Cheesecake Factory. Almost. The homemade Vietnamese Coffee Cheesecake ($5.50) was a straight-ahead cheesecake flavored with - you guessed it - Vietnamese coffee. Dense and decadent, but maybe it's better to get the real thing: Vietnamese coffee ($2.50) is served in a clear glass with an individual pot that drip-drip-drips into a soft bed of sweetened condensed milk, to make a thick, milkshake-like drink. It's a treat, much like Miss Saigon.
