Retro Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant
55 Ridge St
North Sydney, Sydney
This cute little Vietnamese eatery is located in the loveliest part of North Sydney. Ridge Street is lined with huge leafy trees and immaculate terrace houses. Very pleasant indeed - and there is outdoor seating out front if you want to take advantage of it. Inside, the place looks friendly and casually retro.
Although they are fully licenced, we opt for a cool drink as we look over the menu. They have a substantial standard menu which offers all the traditional Vietnamese treats such as rice paper rolls and noodle salads, curries, and three versions of Pho (that wonderful noodle soup). There is also a seasonal menu, chef’s suggestions and banquet deals.
We start with a Salt and Pepper Squid, which arrived looking golden and light. It had just the right amount of seasoning and was super tender.
Our other entrée was the Summer Rolls - rice paper rolls filled with prawns, pork, salad and herbs. We loved the fresh mint. They were very good and the peanut dipping sauce worked well with them. Not surprisingly, these rolls are popular as takeaway with the locals and they fly out the door all day.
Time for mains so the Mekong Signature (one of the House Specialities) was our first choice – succulent tiger prawns wok-tossed in coconut cream. We can’t begin to describe how delicious this was! We both thought it was outstanding and couldn’t leave a drop of that creamy sauce!
Next we chose the Shaking Wagyu Beef. This was cubes of beef and capsicum wok-tossed in oyster sauce and black pepper. Delicious again, it had plenty of meat and a nice little kick from the pepper.
The dishes were substantial, so we decided to share a dessert. The Black Sticky Rice with Caramelised Apples and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream sounded too good to resist. So luckily we didn’t. The rice was served warm and that sweet coconut cream over the top was amazing. The apples gave a good balance to this lovely traditional dessert.
We really enjoyed our experience at Retro Saigon. They are open Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner, and Saturday and Sundays for dinner. Takeaway is also available.
Those Dames dined as guests of Retro Saigon and the lovely Kairen, the owner of this establishment, who looked after us so well. Special thanks to Chrissy Symeonakis of Creative Little Soul for arranging our visit. Mmmm…Mekong Signature!