Little Sagon Restaurant makes tasty Vietnamese food – 03/25/2024 – Restaurants

The noise of traffic, engines and horns at an overpass intersection on a busy corner in the central region of São Paulo seems an ideal choice to replicate the urban chaos as one of Vietnam’s main stereotypes.

Inside the small and simple restaurant, the food evokes another well-known side of the Asian country, its fantastic gastronomy, helps you forget the hustle and bustle of the street and offers an impressive sensory experience.

Until recently, it wasn’t so common to find many Vietnamese restaurants in the city, but there seem to be more and more, and better options. Little Saigon is part of a movement that gained strength at the beginning of the decade, with the expansion and diversity of the Asian food offering in São Paulo. He has a speech aimed at defending the differences between Vietnamese cuisine and that of other Asian countries, such as China and Japan, which tend to be more popular in Brazil.

And this differentiated profile is clearly seen in the dishes described on chalkboards hanging on the wall and in the flavor of each of the foods served there.

The first step is the Goi Cuon (R$ 18), a cold roll that is one of the country’s most symbolic dishes in the rest of the world. It arrives rolled in transparent rice dough, which shows beautiful whole prawns, pork, lettuce, cucumber, moyashi, mint and rice spaghetti. The combination works well with each bite, allowing you to feel the flavors that complement each other in a light and fresh way. It is served with a great sweet soy sauce with peanuts.

For those who prefer something more “familiar” when visiting places specializing in Asian cuisine, there is also a fried roll option, Cha Gio Heo (R$36). Stuffed with pork, dried mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic and noodles, it is very dry and crunchy, but has a juicy and delicious filling. When serving, the waiter explains that it is eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf, dipping the rolls in the accompanying fish sauce, which makes the experience even more curious, with an added contrast of flavors and textures.

Among the main dishes, the most symbolic dish of Vietnamese cuisine is Pho Bo (R$63), a meat soup cooked for ten hours and served with rice noodles, meat, herbs and other complements. It arrives with a very hot broth, very aromatic and full-bodied, but with a delicate flavor and herbs that leave it refreshing and complex. It also comes with beef in three cuts: lizard, rump and meat dumplings, each of which contributes different textures and flavors.

Other of the restaurant’s most popular dishes are Mi Xao, braised pasta dishes with meat and vegetables, a Vietnamese version of something like yakissoba, which Brazilians already know well.

The Mi Xao Dac Biet (R$75) is served with shrimp, squid, beef, shimeji and vegetables, in a very varied mix full of flavors. Despite the comparison with the fried noodle dishes of Chinese and Japanese cuisines, the seasoning is markedly different. It comes with celery and herbs that add freshness and make the flavor go far beyond soy sauce, monosodium glutamate and toasted sesame oil.

The complexity and heterogeneity of flavors and textures also mark the desserts. Chuoi Chung (R$ 18) mixes steamed banana, coconut milk, sago, peanuts, cinnamon powder and sesame and impresses with its contrasts and delicacy. It’s not too sweet, and all the ingredients can be perceived.

The restaurant’s service is attentive and helps explain the names and preparations that are still less known in Brazil. The dishes are not cheap, but they are large and can easily be divided, making the bill much more affordable and allowing you to get to know how much Vietnamese food really has its own personality.