A Radical Shift: Planet French Soul at Saigon Palms

Intriguing changes have taken place of late at Saigon Palms, and it feels like the ink is still drying on their “French Market” menu, created by Executive Chef, Seth Fiertyl. First of all, is this a club or a restaurant?

In 2005, a sleek Vietnamese restaurant opened up in Seattle’s International District and took the local foodie world by storm. It’s as if a door opened that said, hey, we’d like to eat top-notch “provincial” food in a dining room that excites us. Eventually this movement took spark, especially within the Vietnamese community.Saigon Palms opened in 2009 off the East Valley Highway, and we first discovered its unique cuisine after taking in a $3 movie next door at Regal Cinema.

I commend the adventurous spirit of this revamped menu, although I have yet to understand what a “dedication to ‘European-twined’ cuisine” truly means. Chef Fiertyl cites “brief culinary exposure in Paris” and with the world-renowned Fat Duck in London. Some dishes soared high, while others got lost in the cosmos.

This is a bold move for Saigon Palms. By the time we left, around 10 pm, the restaurant was close to full and feeling like a dance club. Local band SolStarr left us impressed with J. Charles’, Erykah Badu-like vocals.

Saigon offers an intriguing-yet-schizophrenic Prix Fixe Menu for $25, which allows your choice between any two dishes off the “Small” or “Seafood” sections of the menu, plus one dish from the “Range” list which consists of fowl and red meat plates. I was impressed by the fact that the kitchen was willing to make nine different dishes for us, especially since we appeared to be the only customers actually ordering a full dinner after 8 on a Saturday night.

The only thing that was slow in coming was our drinks: beer (Three Skulls Pilsner $5; Saison Dupont $7) and a pretty-sweet Mojito ($9). We collectively selected a few starters; “Grilled Japanese Eggplant with pickled vegetable and poached quail egg” ($5), and the dissonant combination of “Grilled flatbreads with olives, marscapone & curries” ($5).

The admirable Flatbreads were seemingly house-prepared and exhibited grill marks. But a glazed Asian bowl of blended butter-cheese and a few spoonfuls of raw-tasting curry paste, plus oily Kalamatas on the side, made for a bizarre combination even for five bucks. Barking up the wrong tree again, we went for “Pan-fried Noodles with crustacean, and lobster broth” ($10). Translation: noodles (not seemingly pan-fried), crawfish ?, and extremely subtle (if present) lobster broth. 

SUCCESS was found in a curious combination: Dungeness Crab Cakes with Maple corn puree, red thai curry butter ($9). The puree yielded a delightfully fresh summer essence, swooshed brightly below crisp crab cakes. This is the dish to order here, along with the “Range” courses below.

Wagyu Beef Bavette (top-notch flank) with Soba Noodles ($14) pleased us with tender and flavorful beef--sadly the buckwheat noodles laid unincorporated into the arrangement. The bargain-priced Five Spice-Dusted Muscovy Duck ($14) pleased us all with tender rosy meat in an exotically-flavored crust. Plain Jane couscous cupped in a radicchio cup was a sad accompaniment  to nicely cooked protein.

The Grilled Lamb with tomato-ginger chutney, goat cheese, rosemary tuile, was a star, for both plating and flavor. Blushing lamb chops were cooked medium-rare, then artfully plated with splashes of gastrique, crackly tuile crackers poised in chevre like a prima ballerina’s toe standing en pointe! 

Finally we capped things off with “Chocolate, Coconut ash pots de creme, star anise Chantilly cream” ($5) The chocolate pot de creme was creamy and rich--coconut ash and star anise were tasty descriptors we didn’t taste. 

I give this an A for effort and value. I'm curious to see what Saigon Palms has up their sleeve next, or should I say, the French Discoteque?

SAIGON PALMS
101 SW 41st Street
Renton, WA 98057
425.251.5033 
New Hours During Remodel Friday-Monday 4pm-1:30am