Saigon Sally

Last night my girlfriends and I decided to go out for dinner. We had our mind set on Mr Miyagi but after being having told the wait was going to be 3.5hours we decided it was best to go else where. We’ve all heard about Saigon Sally and none of us have been there so it was a given we’ll try it out. We got there and was told it was going to be 1.5hours wait. We were fine with that as it was better than Mr. Miyagi’s wait time. We just went across the street to get some drinks to waste some time. Came back and got seated at the bar. I looked around and the atmosphere was amazing. So hip and a perfect mural of an asian girl smoking as décor. I just loved it. Reminded me of mamasan in bali. We quickly looked at the drinks and the food menu as at this point we were starving. Our stomach was seriously eating itself haha we got some delicious passionfruit/​lychee cocktails and my friend got a cocktail called avenue which she described tasted like the lolly nerds but not being sour. We decided on a couple dishes. I’m vietnamese so most of the dishes on the menu i usually eat at home but it was good to see vietnamese food made with a twist. We started with some entrees which was the scallop, kingfish cerviche, salmon and banh khot. Traditionally banh khot is a very tiny yellow rice pancake with filling but this one was a crunchy shell. I really enjoyed it. Everything was on point. My tastebuds was in overdrive. It was so good i was so excited for the next couple of dishes. The wagyu tartare came out next and the presentation for this dish is to die for. Unfortunately it looked better than it tasted as it was sort of plain. Mains came out and we got the wagyu steak and dory. I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee fish so the dory was melt in the mouth perfect. It came with sweet potatos and kale. I would definitely order that again the next time i visit if it’s still on the menu. The wagyu steak strips were a hit too and it was sososo yummy eating it with the ponzu sauce and rice. Service was excellent, very friendly staff and the bartender who was making our drinks was giving us the low down on some drink history. It was great!

I imagine this place would be great if not insanely busy, but at 8:30pm on a Thursday, that was not the case.
The food/​drinks are good, but it can take up to an hour to receive a drink/​order, and you can’t control what order things come out, so it sort of renders the quality irrelevant.
We spent most of the night on the fence waiting with nothing in front of us, or having main course dishes sit there while we enquired about our starters, or drinks, or contemplating leaving/​cancelling altogether but unable to as we were mid-​order while things were perpetually «almost ready».
I can see what they’re striving for/​offering (which on a quiet night might’ve been nice), but given the terrible lack of coordination between front/​back staff, it was a really slow, dragging and unpleasant experience (for us and the front staff, it seemed).
It might’ve just been that night, but nearly $ 200 short for two people, I wouldn’t return.

fantastic service and the food was very good. The John Dory fish was excellent. And the desert was a surprise was great.

Having dined at Hanoi Hannah and Tokyo Tina, Saigon Sally did not disappoint. Hidden off a Chapel St laneway, this space has a funky bar vibe.
Cocktail list is Vietnamese inspired — the Lychee Martini was amazing.
We tried the Kingfish Ceviche, Fried Chicken Ribs, Tossed Morning Glory, Banh Xeo Taco, Vietnamese Chicken Coleslaw and Eggplant Xo… a little too much food for 2 people but delicious none the less. Even though we were quite content, we decided to share a dessert — The Tira-​mi-​sally, a melt in your mouth macaron filled with Vietnamese coffee parfait, condensed milk and peanut brittle.
Still dreaming about the Fried Chicken Ribs and Tira-​mi-​sally… YUM!

I was very disappointed with food, service needs to improve!
Food too sweet
Not fresh
Got very sick next day
Will I go there again ??
NO !!!

Let me start by saying this restaurant surprised me… in a good way!
I was expecting it to be like its sister, Hanoi Hannah, but it turns out it’s much, much better!
Off the beaten track, Saigon Sally is a must visit for modern Vietnamese fare.
The restaurant is lively, fun and quirky. Everything from graffiti art to plastic hanging plants to push bikes and cool beats. The tables are spacious enough to fit everything you want to order, and from first glance of the menu, there’ll be a lot of things!
We tried the kingfish ceviche, banh mi, fried chicken ribs and seared scallop from the small plates. We followed it up with banh xeo taco, Vietnamese chicken coleslaw and eggplant. We then followed that up with the rare wagyu strip, Saigon chilli crabs, sticky lamb ribs and morning glory. Obviously, we topped that with the intriguing che bap; tapioca corn pudding, coconut, lime granita, popcorn and honeycomb. It was all good!
The service was a bit cocky. Our waiter chose not to use a notepad to take down all of our orders, including drinks, but then unsurprisingly he had to come back 10 minutes later to confirm what we’d ordered, because he’d forgotten a few items!
Best bit is they take bookings and offer a «feed me» menu if you can’t decide on what you want to order.

As I had been anxious to try Saigon Sally for some time (haven’t yet tried «sister» restaurants Hanoi Hannah and Tokyo Tina) welcomed the opportunity to dine there ‘early at 6pm’ with a friend as it can get pretty crowded and quite deafening.
I was looking forward to tasting the food but, apart from the scallops was disappointed with the food overall.
Oh well, I’m happy I got to try it out tho.
I shan’t bother with Hanoi Hannah but shall give Tokyo Tina a try.
There are by far too many good, affordable eateries in Windsor to bother with one again if the food is disappointing.

Hanoi Hannah is one of my favourite Vietnamese restaurants and I’ve been meaning to try her sister, Saigon Sally. It’s on Duke Street, tucked away behind the Windsor end of Chapel Street. I’ve heard it’s often hard to get in here so arrived as soon as they opened the doors on Friday afternoon and had no problem getting a table.
Very cool little place with tables arranged against the walls around a big central bar. I think it might have been a warehouse or small factory at one stage based on the concrete block ceiling and exposed plumbing.
I was in a cocktail mood, and who could resist a drink called «You Got Girlfriend Vietnam»? Certainly not me. This is a combo of Tanqueray, sake, lime, mint, cucumber and jasmine tea. Very refreshing and light — the tea and lime juice were the dominant flavours, not the alcohol.
I tried a selection of the small plates, starting with the Kingfish ceviche. This was made with pomelo, green papaya, chilli, with some dried shallots to add a bit of crunch to the texture. This was served on a betel leaf which my waiter recommended I use as a wrap, which I did. Really tasty and a good opener.
Seared Canadian scallop with apple and jalapeño green curry, with shredded apple and salmon roe on top was next. This was served on the shell and was really good as well — the curry sauce was gorgeous.
Octopus marinated kohlrabi remoulade, pomelo, sesame, cucumber and tamarind was my third choice. The octopus was cooked well. (ie, not to the point of chewiness) and served on a bed of creamy coleslaw. Like the previous two course; tasty with light, refreshing flavours.
I was still a little peckish so ordered the Bahn Xeo Taco. This was made with prawn, pork, spring onions, turmeric and bean shoots. Delicious and the pick of the courses for me. My only suggestion was that they serve it with two of the little coconut flavoured pancakes to wrap the filling in instead of just one.
Saigon Sally serves really good, interesting Vietnamese food. The service is fast and friendly and they make a mean lychee martini. Really — what’s not to like?

We came with a group of six: Fantastic food. Great ambience. Terrific service. Well-​paced. Let the staff feed you. Reserve for table, or walk in for bar service. Our menu (for max $ 59/​person) started with best ever wings and chilli aoili, progressed through crunchy eggplant, chicken and asian slaw, papaya salad, soft-​shelled crab, pork belly, prawns in lettuce leaf. Good thing we left a little room for deserti: warm donuts with ice cream and salted caramel sauce, and tira mi Sally (our lips are sealed and still smacking) come taste for yourself!

Such big hype about Saigon Sally so my expectations were right up there when we walked in on a chilli Tuesday night. While the service was very friendly, we were let down by the lengthy waits between being seated to ordering our drinks (15 Minutes, maybe more?), ordering food, and then receiving our drinks. Our food on the other hand came out in great time. Presentation for everything was colourful and inviting.
Must have: King fish ceviche! (small dish) could have eaten 10 of these. just bursting with flavour! Desserts!!! oh goodness. the che bap was such an interesting mix or flavours and textures. my mum makes the old school version of this which i also love but this was a delicious refreshing twist on a classic viet dessert. crunchy, mushy, melty goodness.
Loved: Tempura Eggplant with diced chinese mushrooms (medium dish) Papaya Salad (side)
Kinda Yum: Tofu and mashed pumpkin (large dish) — the mash was delicious, the crispy tofu was a bit bland and normally i love any kind of tofu. but even for me it lacked something. either the tofu they selected was not quite the right texture for the pumpkin mash because it was too hard crumbly. but still good.
Perhaps they were understaffed or they haven’t quite got the hang of who should be doing what when… we felt a little bit neglected while waiting and everytime our waiter came around he was so lovely and super apologetic it was tough to decide how I felt about this place because he definitely knew that he kept us waiting… and apologised. but it still kept happening… At one point i was thinking. if i wanted crappy service but yummy food i could just go to Richmond and pay half the price for some of these dishes
BUT in saying that. Most of the food was delicious, presentation fantastic, (they serve alcoholic ginger beer which is so refreshing!) everybody smiled, loved the hook under the bar to hang your bag if you’re sitting at the bar like we did. just gotta be a little more patient.
Would i be back? Probably one more time just to make sure that the service was a once off and to try some of the delicious cocktails i saw them making.

Wow. What a great venue. Very Melbourne given it’s ‘hidden down a lane’ location.
The sister restaurant to Hanoi Hannah, this venue is definitely more stylish & leaning towards a special occasion. The downstairs bar takes up much of the ground level so if there was ever an excuse to be a bar fly, this would be it.
I went to this venue for an event so merely sampled a few bites but will definitely return to feast.
It’s a yes from me.

There is so much I could say about this place. But lets just say that generally when you have to wait 30 mins for a seat at the bar for street food you’re probably onto a good thing!
For me the highlight was the taco’s! (although the eggplant came a close second) The bar staff were quite talented and even served my partner a drink in a actual fresh coconut. It was awesome!
Be sure to check out the alleyway next door to the restaurant. Its well worth checking out.

Being told that we need to vacate the table by 830 every 5 minutes is not my idea of a good time.
From the minute you make the booking the staff at Saigon Sally are at pains to repeatedly remind you that they need the table back at, yep you guessed it, 830.
Now I am not a gold fish nor am I an Alzheimer’s sufferer. I got it the first time.
Presumably in an effort to ensure we left on time the waiter did not offer us a drinks menu. Tap water it is. To make things easy we ordered the $ 59 feed me banquet which included some pretty good food except for the tacos which were a bland disappointment.
The constant hovering of our waiter to see if we had finished our plates was super annoying, as was the proximity of fellow diners. I had to move my chair right in just so the girl on the NEXT table could get out to go to the toilet. The acoustics in this overcrowded place are so bad that you can only really hear the person opposite you.
At 829 we had received our receipt back after paying the bill and were gathering our handbags ready to depart when for the 487^th time our waiter said «I really need this table back at 830». Is this guy fair dinkum?
You can have your table back. Permanently.

Great service, great food menu, beautiful fresh salads, complex flavours. Something to suit everyone, whether you want a light meal or a heavy one. We had juicy tender fried chicken ribs, complex perfectly cooked tea smoked duck breast, delicious tasty five spice chicken and some fees build your own Vietnamese chicken and prawn tacos. An average but overpriced selection of alcohol. Would have been 4 stars but overpriced compared to similar quality restaurants and a rude, unnecessary end of night credit card surcharge. A very good night, we’ll be back.

Sally, I feel that we are going to be very good friends, your older sister Hannah must have taught you all her tricks.
I find that we’re pretty spoiled for choice dining out in Melbourne, there’s an abundance of trendy, fun and interesting places to eat, drink and be awesome. So it was refreshing to actually eat a meal at say «wow» and «yum» over and over―with the bar set so high it’s hard to have your mind blown.
Staff are under pressure to keep tables turning over and this was pretty obvious at times, but overall the staff coped with people pouring through the doors.
In more exciting news, they take bookings and are open for lunch on Sundays. This is one to bookmark.

I can’t believe it took me three months of working in Windsor to come here. Saigon Sally is like the fancier and slightly more formal cousin of Hanoi Hannah. But it’s still got that super chilled interior and great dulled lighting. You can (and should) book here and you probably should chose at least one cocktail to begin your night.
One thing that is great about the menu here is that there is heaps of vego items and really substantial interesting ones at that. I highly recommend the enoki mushroom rice paper crepes: wow, as well as the miso eggplant (although this is deep fried which I was not expecting). All of the sides are very generous and are somewhere between the small and med sized dishes. Another veg highlight is the medium sized veg noodles which were fresh and flavoursome and came out with a perfectly cooked egg on top.
For the non vegos, the ‘not to go past’ starter is the king fish cerviche. This was worth every last cent. Not to be shared get one each. The pandanus prawn was also delicious– a take on pandan chicken crossed with a gourmet prawn cake. The individual served pork taco was quiet generous for a single serve and looked very fresh and healthy like. We didn’t quite get to the bigger items or dessert but this all looks and sounds amazing.
I will be back. Potentially weekly.

Second time lucky with Saigon Sally, which proves everyone deserves a second chance. We sunk into our chairs, ordered a bucket of pinot noir and ordered entrees like there was no tomorrow. Eggplant, Vietnamese style tacos, chicken wings and chicken noodle salad to start. Mains were fish curry, mee goreng, five spice chicken and rice. Make sure to leave plenty of room for dessert — crème brûlée, lemon meringue and crumbed donuts with sorbet — with an Asian twist #swoon