Saigon Chicken House, Dorchester

Finally got around to trying this Fields Corner Vietnamese place today. It’s quite nice–clean and sunny inside, friendly service. A few too many wall hanging tv’s for me (all tuned to a different channel?) though at least the one where the volume was up was playing some Vietnamese music videos. There’s also a snow blower parked in the men’s bathroom, but y’know, you gotta put it somewhere.

A first sampling of the fare seemed promising, and as the main play is touted as free range chicken that’s mostly what the s.o. and I stuck with. She got a dark meat Pho Ga and really liked it, and the sip I had of the clear broth tasted beautifully clean and free of grease. I got a chicken and banana flower dish, which was packed with a range of flavorings and the juicy chicken was great when dunked in the ginger/lemongrassy sauce that gets put on the table. There was also a cup of broth full of scallion and cilantro–to be honest I wasn’t sure if this was soup or sauce, but I drank it as the former and it was delicious.

We also got a rice paper appetizer that was pretty cool–triangles of wrappers piled up atop some small noodles, flavored I think with fish sauce + vinegar along with chili, peanuts, thai basil and crunchy deep fried onions. Alongside were 8 perfectly cooked quail eggs, all adding up to a dish that had contrasting textures and flavors.

This is an interesting little place. Would love to go back and try some of the other poultry items on offer–some of the duck dishes especially seem worth testing out.

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