Square One. Express Business Lunch at the Park Hyatt

Saigon does lots of things well and a good fast business lunch is no exception.  There are loads of places around town where they pride themselves on good food, great service and the ability to get you in and out in under an hour.  The Park Hyatts signature restaurant happens to do a fabulous one of these deals.  These lunches are a great opportunity to sample what some of the best restaurants in town have to offer without breaking the budget.  Eating at most of these places in the evening would cost a lot more, so if you are a traveller, these deals are perfect!  The lunch is 330,000VND ++ per person which is about 17 dollars.  Considering this is arguably  one of the best restaurants in town, it's a steal! This gets you the obligatory bread basket, a choice of about 5 entree and main sets, a scoop of ice-cream or sorbet for dessert and tea or coffee to finish.  Now THAT'S hard to beat!

Square One is located on the mezzanine level of the Park Hyatt.  The setting is plush and inviting with just the right amount of bustle to make it not too sterile.

No fancy while table cloths make it a pretty relaxed vibe.  The service was extremely attentive.  Almost overly so!

What is obviously home baked bread with a capsicum reduction is complimentary.

Never too far from the action, you can watch the team prepare the meals.

The wine was quite expensive by the glass at around $10 but there are some reasonably priced bottles available for around $35.  What's a girl to do?

My entree was a persian fetta tomato salad.  Small but tasty.

Nick had prawns.

My main was pan seared sea bass on cauliflower puree with spinach.

Nick had the curry.

Nick had vanilla ice cream and I had raspberry sorbet.

Coffee to finish.

We really enjoyed it!  All in all I think it's a pretty good deal.  The meals are not huge but designed for the 3 courses so we were definitely satisfied when we finished.  The Park Hyatt is located pretty much in the centre of town on Lam Son Square overlooking the rear of the Opera House.  We hadn't made a booking but they had no trouble fitting us in.  A great way to sample the fare of one of the classier places in town at a fraction of the cost.

Finally - Some Real Greek Food in Ho Chi Minh City!

Thank God.  Or I guess I should say thank the Greek God Zeus!  Finally, some authentic Greek food in Saigon!  There are a smattering of "Mediterranean" restaurants around but personally I find them sub par when it comes to Greek food.  I am yet to find a decent Greek salad in this town.  2 spanish olives and 2 tiny bits of fetta cheese and LETTUCE does not a Greek salad make!

I heard online that a new Greek place had opened so on Sunday with the kids in tow we decided to check it out.  Situated in the Back Packing area of town we grabbed a cab and were there in less than 10 minutes.

Calling it a "restaurant" may be stretching it a little.  I would say it was more of a souvlaki bar.  Mind you, that suits us just fine.  There is some bench seating as well as two small tables if you feel like dining in.  If you don't feel like dining in, the whole menu is available take away and you can now order online through vietnammm.

This lady and her Greek husband (i'm shocking with names, sorry.  I did ask and have now totally forgotten!) set up business 5 weeks ago and are very happy with how things are going.  I'm not surprised.  It was a gaping hole in the dining scene here.  If I could cook I would have set one up too!

Cheap!  Really cheap!  The kebabs are only around 30,000VND each.  Obviously the salads etc are a little more expensive as he imports the oil and the cheese.

Not a lettuce leaf in sight.  Now THAT'S what I call a greek salad.  The dressing was obviously made with a lovely imported olive oil and the whole salad was fresh and crisp...and large!

For me, the best part of the meal.  The Greek owner/chef has not tried to fancy things up.  If you have been to Greece, you will know exactly what this tastes like.  Creamy, garlicky, smooth....divine!  I LOVED it.  As for the pita?  It is home made.  They make 3 batches a week.  It is quite thick with a dusting of salt on the top.  The ones served with the dip were crunchy and he offered to heat them up again as they cooled during the meal.

And the fantastic Gyro Kebap.  Nick got chicken and I got pork.  This pita was softer.  I don't know about you but I hate it when a have a souvlaki and the sauce just drips everywhere and it all falls out the bottom.  Not even close.  This really was very very nice.

There are quite a few more things on the menu that we shall be trying.  Although the menu is not extensive, what they do, they do well.  We will definately be eating here again.  Even though you can oder online or via phone, try to go in and say hello.  They are a lovely couple and I'm sure would very much appreciate your support and patronage.   Now, if someone could just open another one with blue and white chequered table cloths, a mural on the wall, a lamb rotating on a giant spit, some saganaki, squid grilling away, some bouzouki music softly playing the the background and a half a kilo of wine....ahhhh  

Zeus 

Greek Souvlaki - Gyros

166 Cong Quynh

Pham Ngu Lau

Q1

Ph 08 38373253 - 08 38373248

XO Tours....You've Done It Again

I have been a little quiet online since we arrived back from Aus as we have had guests from home staying with us.  I really love it when people come to visit because it gives me a chance to see Saigon through fresh eyes and fall in love with her all over again.  One thing I recommend to all of our visitors is that within the first few days, hop on an XO Motorbike Tour.  It really gives you a feel for the city that you can base the rest of your stay on.  

Now you would think after doing a few of these tours with our visitors I would have "seen" it all.  Far from it!  Mastermind behind XO, Tung, is constantly out to improve and add to the experience.  I think this last one I did was the best yet.  Seriously they just keep getting better and better.  Every time I go see, smell, taste and hear something new.  Not to mention meet!  The XO girls are seriously what makes this tour what it is, which is fabulous!  They are bright, young smart Vietnamese girls who obviously have a passion for their country.  By the end of every tour, I, as well as our guests, have lumps in our throats as we say goodbye.  You really feel like you have made a friend.  A lot of people come to Vietnam and do not have many opportunities to speak to "real" Vietnamese people.  To sit down and talk about all manner of things.  Education, politics, music, culture and hopes and dreams for the future.  There may be a few companies around trying to imitate what XO initiated 3 years ago but XO has one thing that puts them ahead in the game and in my opinion, always will. I don't know how they find them but they are just wonderful!  And then there was Tai, our tour leader.  He too was fantastic, meeting us at every stop and explaining everything we needed to know including some history lessons!  The whole operation runs flawlessly.  They make it look so simple and I am sure we don't know the half of what really goes on to make it appear that way.

So, back to our evening.  We decided to do the Foodie Tour.  Four and a half hours of stuffing our face with food and flying through five districts on a hot Saigon night. Could anything be more fun?  The girls picked us up from our place and we hit the crazy peak hour streets.  I can't tell you how it feels to melt into that honking, seething river of bikes.  The girls weave in and out with total confidence, obviously having ridden bikes for all of their adult lives.  I'll not write too much more, rather, let the pictures speak for themselves.......

  

The wonderful Tai who is such a vital part of the evening. 

You just never know what you are going to see on the streets of Saigon!

My driver for the evening...the beautiful and very talented Fi-Fi!

It also happened to be a very special occasion for Nick and I.  We were celebrating 15 years of wedded bliss!  I had organised with Tung, the owner of XO Tours, for the girls to arrive a bit early and collect a bottle of bubbles that I had left at reception.  At one of our stops we pulled it out and surprised Nick.

Vegetarians and non seafood eaters are not just catered for, they are spoilt!

Fi-Fi doing her thing.

Fierce!

Steph not too sure about the jumping chicken.

Nick....no such trepidation!

Apparently, banana wine and.....

Stinger (Similar to Red Bull) make an excellent combination.

Ok, let me explain.  As mentioned I have been on a few tours.  I have always resisted the "temptation" of eating Balut.  Balut is fertilised duck egg that is boiled and eaten in the shell.  You crack it open, drink the juice then down with the duck.  Maybe it was Stinger and Banana wine that got me but I decided that tonight I was going to go for it!

Of course, Nick, not one to outdone, gave it a crack as well (pun intended).  Now nothing against all of you who love balut, lets just say it was not my cup of tea.  

We were then given a wonderful surprise by the team that tasted a hell of a lot better than a fertilised duck embryo!

Before we knew it our night had come to an end.  Our Aussie guests had had a blast and Nick and I a wonderful anniversary.  I seriously cannot think of a more fun thing to do in this city.  I have sent so many people on this tour and without exception they have all said it was the highlight of their time in Saigon.  Thanks again to Tung and the XO team who consistently get it right.

XO Tours
Ph 09 3308 3727
or email
info@xotours.vn
http://xotours.vn