Crazy Buffalo, Saigon

The good thing about the Pham Ngu Lao area, home of banana pancakes, fisherman's pants and dreadlocks, is that my expectations are very low when it comes to food. Every so often though, even these low expectations are not met.

The "Crazy Buffalo, on the corner of Bui Vien and De Than certainly fits the bill. Impossible to miss with the garish neon lights and the very loud music. Getting closer, you will also notice the service staff being busy chatting with each other, screaming across the restaurant, and generally not being very interested in the guests. Don't get me wrong, they are friendly enough; but I guess this is what you get when you hire inexperienced high school kids.

Not exactly subtle.

Sitting down, I eventually managed to get the attention of one of the waitresses and got the menu. The drinks list is pretty extensive, with 13 different beers ranging from USD 2.00 - 3.00. Their "Outstanding Wine List" (their words, not mine) is less impressive, but I suppose one cannot expect much for USD 20.00 a bottle. Shakes and juices are USD 2.50, which I find rather expensive for Saigon and spirits are around USD 3.00, plus another Dollar if served with a mixer.

Good selection of juices and beers, at a price.

Food is mostly run-of-the mill with all the tourist restaurant staples: Pizza, Pasta, Burgers, and some Asian dishes. Again, not exactly cheap. Starters are on average USD 4.00, Burgers around USD 5.00, Pastas USD 4.50, Pizzas USD 7.00 and Western mains from USD 6.00, which is not too bad. Vietnamese dishes will set you back around USD 6.00.

PNL staples: Pasta, Pizza, Burger.

Prices do not include 5% service charge, and they tag on an additional 20% after midnight; this was a new one for me.

As I am no fan of fast food, I ordered the "Pan Seared Old Fashion Fish". Purportedly Sea Bass with "Fermanted Yazu crsusted" (they should pay some backpacker a beer to check their menu) with Polenta Cream and Smoky Sauce. Sounded pretty appetizing and I was looking forward to it.

The food came quickly enough, maybe too quick. I like my veggies crunchy, but the vegetables I got were raw and ice cold. The piece of fish was minuscule and I now know where the "Old Fashion Fish" comes from; the fish I got had been out of the water for a looong time. It was well cooked however, but smothered in salt. Still not sure what "Yazu" is, maybe Japanese for salt?. This is more than could be said for the Polenta cream; not only did it have the consistency of wet cardboard, it also tasted like I would imagine wet cardboard tastes. As for the "Smoky Sauce", I failed to detect any taste of smoky; actually I failed to detect any taste at all. The meal will go down as one of the blandest I have ever eaten; I had better food on planes or in hospitals.

Both presentation and taste pretty naff.

During all the time, the music was good (all 70's stuff) but way too loud. The owner needs to decide if he wants to run a restaurant or a club, both at the same time doesn't work. In particular as the waitresses shouted their orders right across the restaurant. They were also quite pushy, on more than one occasion they almost knocked me out of my chair as they passed.

The restaurant also serves Shisha (water pipe or Hookah), and the guy setting them up seemed to be the best staff in the restaurant. However, USD 10.00 a pipe is pretty exorbitant in my opinion.

Overall, not too great an experience even if one keeps in mind that the restaurant is located in the middle of the backpacker ghetto. The quest for good food in the Pham Ngu Lao area continues.

Service: ** Friendly, once you manage to get their attention
Food: *
Ambiance: * to *** Great for people watching, but too noisy and constant hassle from people trying to flog their wares.
Value for money: **

Recommended: Nope

Good Nah

After some not so glowing reviews, I can finally write about a restaurant without bitching non-stop. Now I know nothing about Filipino food and can't say if the food is authentic, but it tastes darn good. The restaurant is on Taphul Street; behind the Hotel de la Paix and next to the Salabai Hotel School.

Not exactly suitable for a 300-strong wedding party

The restaurant is very basic, as is the presentation. But then main dishes are only in the USD 2.50 to 4.50 range, with both soft drinks and beer at a Dollar; certainly value for money as far as I am concerned. They do have excellent music, not Filipino but contemporary stuff, makes a change from the Muzak so many restaurants seem to prefer.

The owner, who I guess is a Filipina, as well as the Khmer staff, are extremely friendly and helpful. The menu is only a couple of pages but I actually prefer that; restaurants with menus the size of the New York phone directory must have huge freezers in the back. And a small menu also means that the Missus doesn't take 2 hours to choose. Even with the small menu, do not expect your order to arrive all at once. The kitchen is tiny and they do a dish at a time. You don't want to be in a rush eating here. Oh, and don't use the face towels; they are so horribly perfumed that your sense of mell might take hours to get back to normal

Can't remember what that was. Adobo perhaps?

We have eaten there a number of times, but one of my favorites is the Kaldereta Baka, or beef stew with tomatoes and coconut milk. The meat is cooked to perfection and is so tender that a knife is not necessary. The deep-fried pork hocks, Crispy Pata, are also very good.

Pork stew: not suitable if on a diet.

The only thing I would give a miss is the draft beer. I guess they do not have enough turn-over and the beer tasted flat on the couple of occasions I tried. The other minor discomfort, which is no fault of the Hood Nah, is that the garbage truck does its rounds between 19:00 and 19:30; if you have a sensitive nose you may want to avoid that time.

If you are looking for an unpretentious but good meal, then I can certainly recommend the "Good Nah". As I am writing this, I am actually tempted to go back tonight.

Rating (out of 5):

Service: ****
Food: ****
Ambiance: ** (though not without a certain rustic charm)
Value for money: ****
Recommended: Yes