Aptly named, Saigon Queen, on Oxford Street Darlinghurst, was the scene of tonight’s crime: catching up with someone you haven’t seen in three years. Criminal, I know. Where does the time go?
Frequented by the lovely Nick, Saigon Queen serves fast, fresh Vietnamese fare and fills the gaping hole in my stomach – made by hours of teaching, gyming and general schlepping – perfectly.
“The pancake is really good”, says Nick, face beaming.
Packed with prawns and pork, the pancake ($15) is not only full of flavour, but is somewhat of a Goliath. Thankfully we are sharing.
I order the stir-fried beef with vermicelli noodles ($12). The flesh is tender and juicy and the raw, cold vegetables bring such a healthful feel to the dish. Again, the serving is mammoth but this is the sort of food that you can eat a lot of, as it is wholesome and doesn’t leave you feeling like you want to kill yourself and that you should immediately go home and shred your skinny jeans as you are never going to fit into them again.
My favourite part of the evening though, was the company… My dear friend and I took a moment to commemorate the fact that a decade ago we first met, and started Drama School together… A decade. Another lifetime ago. He used to wear fleecy pants with brightly coloured worms on them, and eat chicken by the bucketful… Oh my how we’ve changed.
