Latest Reviews
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Love this place! Best Vietnamese subs in the city in my opinion! I dont live in Calgary anymore, but I make a point of stopping by for a sub whenever …
Erin Livingston
Essence of Saigon Garden
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This little restaurant is tucked away in a little strip mall beside the Northland mall. The restaurant is what youd expect for a Vietnamese restaurant…
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A few days ago we noticed this place was crowded during dinner so today we decided to try it out. As we walked in the first thing we noticed was the t…
Kelso002
Essence of Saigon Garden
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Essence of Saigon Garden is open for Casual Dining. Essence of Saigon Garden serves Vietnamese dishes. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
Feature List
takeaway availableindoor seatingno alcohol availableReviews
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9 Reviews on “Essence of Saigon Garden”
A few days ago we noticed this place was crowded during dinner so today we decided to try it out. As we walked in the first thing we noticed was the temperature was extremely hot. I felt like I was sitting in a pot of boiling soup waiting until I was cooked well done. When the waitress dropped off their menu the prices for each dish was a lot higher than other places. Their salad rolls were $7 – $8 and you only get 3. Their regular pho was $10 and large $12 (pricy). As for taste I would say the food here is less than average. With the chicken salad rolls I felt like they put more sweet sauce to mask the flavor. Also the pho broth was watery and didn’t taste that great. It sortve felt like I was drinking wonton soup. Disappointed here… oh well.
Really good satay beef soup, the beef could be a little more tender but the flavor of the broth is yummy. The vermicelli and spring rolls are good too! Probably my favourite spring rolls from a pho place.
I quite liked it here. Far too often, Vietnamese restaurants load their pho broths with copious amounts of MSG or just plain over-salt them. On the other hand, some restaurants produce a broth that is horribly bland. Essence’s pho bo provided a happy medium for me. It was flavourful and tasted rich, which can only come from properly boiling the right assortment of bones. I got pho tai, which comes only with sliced raw steak…. my bowl had a generous portion of both noodles and meat. Goi cuon (salad rolls) were well assembled and tasted fresh. I saw one reviewer complaining that there were no fresh herbs (aside from lettuce and cilantro) in the rolls, and that this somehow makes them inauthentic??? Uhhh, not all Vietnamese people eat their goi cuon with herbs…. there is not one correct way to eat them. Maybe there are better Viet restaurants in YYC…. I shall find out soon when I move there and explore all that it has to offer. But for now, I am happy with my experience at this place and will return when I’m in the area.
I’ve come to Essence of Saigon Garden for years. Definitely get the appetizer platter, which I can’t find anywhere else in Calgary; it doesn’t make you choose between your favorites. Pho is decent, but not my favorite Calgary. Love the servers!
Husband and I walked in for the first time and was told to sit anywhere. We’ve always sat beside each other so we looked for a table where we can do so. What a shock when the guy cleaning the tables redirected us not once but twice – away from our choice of table/s! I told the guy I was told to sit anywhere and both the guy and the girl who told us to sit anywhere rolled their eyes on us and was shaking heads as they walked away. Total rudeness and disrespect! What customer service!!!! When we walked out of there we made sure we are not coming back!
This is an okay Vietnamese restaurant. I’ve been to better ones, but I do have to commend them for their spring rolls and actually having a higher meat to veggie ratio. Most restaurants will reverse it making it less flavourful. It was nice to see that the place was packed for the Saturday dinner service, but I was disappointed to see only two servers serving and hosting the entire restaurant. Not to mention they might have been doing some of the meal prep in the back since there were times when you didn’t see either of them at the front. It took awhile for our table of seven to finally get our orders taken. The food came hot and portion sizes were large for the price. Unfortunately the pho wasn’t what I had hoped for. I think might have had MSG in it because I didn’t feel so great afterwards. Anyway, I would try this place again, but I will order something different.
Below average ever since it changed owners. Pho soup tastes weird, watery, and the spoons/chopsticks smell of detergent.It was solid back then.