Le Saigon Bistro

I liked this place, but it’s closed down now.
What the fuck is wrong with Castro Valley? Is it that the people opening up restaurants don’t know how to run the business properly or is it the Castro Valley douche bags that go out to eat?
This town is as lame as lame can get!

I came here with my sister for lunch to try something new in the neighborhood and had been waiting to see if we had found a Vietnamese restaurant in CV. Sadly we did not.
The food was all right but we found a strand of hair in one of our plates. The service was okay not great. It is quite pricey for the size of their portions and quality. Extremely Americanized.
I as well have not returned since.

The food was very good. It is pricier than average. Even the wines are expensive. So I think they are trying to be upscale. The décor is nice.
The hostess probably the owner is very pleasant.
But the service was casual, they were little slow to take our orders, get the wine, etc. And frankly the other person serving had some attitude.
We ordered the fix menu. It was quite a feast! Starters included papaya salad, imperial rolls and calmari. The fried calamari was chewy. But the other two were great.
Then entries started arriving. Next came salt and pepper shrimp. The shrimps were tender and delicious. Next came a seafood entrée with brown rice. Since we did not want beef, the owner substituted fillet Mignon with Chilean bass. The chilean bass dish was excellent!
We had plenty of leftovers, so the 30pp price was very reasonable!
After clearing table, they go the fried bananas with coconut ice cream. The ice cream was rich and creamy. it was a lot for two people. But that truly made it a feast. We would definitley come back again.

4.5 stars
Great prix fixe menu. A bit on the pricey side but I wasn’t disappointed. Pros: Awesome awesome customer service. Great food.
Cons: Over my budget but the experience was well worth it! I’m definitely going back. Location feels sketchy.

Came here when it first opened up and I was excited to have a Vietnamese restaurant in Castro Valley. until we tried the food.
We was with a party of about 5. Off the bat, BAD SERVICE. It took us forever to get a menu! Then, it took even longer to put in our order! AND it took longer to get our food! The waiter even apologized for the bad service because they were new. YEA, OK.
Food was eh. I could make it better myself at home. JUST SAYING.
I haven’t returned since.

I’ve been coming here pretty much since it opened… like others who live here I was waiting patiently for a new Vietnamese restaurant to open in hopes that it will be better quality then the rest that I’ve tried near by.
Le Bistro adds a much needed spoonful of class to downtown CV… the interior is very well decorated and the ambiance is a just perfect~ casual but elegant. The owner Joe and his wife, who is also the head chef, are extremely welcoming and friendly! Always with smiles on their faces and is always working very hard to make everyone feel welcome and happy. I’d give it a full 5 stars for the experience alone…
Now lets get to the REAL important stuff. the FOOD.
I usually get the Bun thit noung cha gio (vermicelli with grilled pork and egg rolls) and I must say it’s definitely better then most that I’ve had around this area. The egg rolls are nice and crunchy and huge and the meat is flavorful and well cooked (I like a little bit of the charred meat. but that’s just my preference) I’ve also had their spring rolls, tamarind shrimp, clay pot fried rice and a few other dishes and all are very good.
Only thing… minus one star for the pricing… Being Vietnamese myself, I find it hard to want to pay over a certain amount of money for a bit of «home cooking.» Add on the fact that I’m a student… Budget plays a big part… But I guess I will take what ever I can get for some good food. And this is some good food!

I came with a group of 10 people to celebrate finishing the school year at UC Berkeley. One of my friends in the group came here before and highly recommended it so I said, why not? And I will forever trust my friend in terms of culinary recommendations because this restaurant is exemplary in terms of both service and quality of food.
When we first arrive, the owner, Joe, immediately greeted us and made us feel welcome. Like many other Unilocalers have noted, the way he communicates with the customers make you feel right at home. We all ordered Thai Ice Tea, which came quickly along with cups of water for everyone. For appetizers, we got Imperial Rolls all around, which was scarfed down by the group quickly. Then we got to the entrees and that is where amazing begins.
Curry Scallop: Big scallops and savory curry. Just how I like it. Restaurants these days tend to overseason their curry, resulting in the flavor of whatever other ingredient used to be lost. This curry is full of flavor, but not overwhelming. In other words, it is one of the subtlest curry I’ve ever taste. The scallops are perfectly cooked and had that juicy firmness fresh scallops have.
Tamarind Colossal Prawns: A feast for the eyes. When Asian restaurants say «prawns» it’s usually more like shrimp in size. Even the «colossal» in the name didn’t convince me it was actually going to be prawn. But when the plate came, everyone’s eyes opened wide as we realized they weren’t kidding when they say COLOSSAL prawns. The garnish was extremely colorful and it was evident many ingredients were used to prepare it. The prawns were succulent and each bite packed a ton of flavor. Remember to eat this with the shell on! The shell is crispy enough to be ingested easily and the shell is what retains the majority of the flavor.
Shaking Beef: I’ve tried many shaking beefs in other restaurants and this place beats them by a mile. The level of execution for this dish is ridiculously high. Each filet mignon cube was cooked to a PERFECT medium-​rare, resulting in a tender texture that melts in the mouth. This was the unanimous favorite amongst my friend, out of three entrees of high quality. I will definitely get this again next time I come back.
Dessert consisted of fried banana fritters with coconut vanilla ice cream and tiramisu. By this time, we were all in a collective food coma and happily groaning with a full stomach but we quickly ate these desserts too. And even then, they tasted amazing.
We saw the head chef, who turns out to be Joe’s wife, a little later and we all thanked her, which she responded graciously and humbly with a bow. We stayed there for 2.5 hours and not once did we feel pressured to leave or my group was a hindrance. The ambiance was great (always a plus to have Frank Sinatra playing in the background). HIGHLY recommended. Will definitely come back.

I really enjoyed the Imperial Rolls, Shaky Beef and Lemongrass Chicken. The Phở was OK, but nothing more. I thought the prices were a bit on the high end, but overall the food tasted great and the service was very friendly and efficient. The tables are either to small or the chairs are too big … maybe a little of both. The décor is very nice, fresh and relaxing. Everything is spotless and clean.
Tonight there was a large party with a ton of unattended children running and making noise the entire time. On top of this the music was turned up so loud that we could not hear each other talk.
I will try it again.

5 stars for service
5 stars for food
6 stars for overly gracious little cute woman that works there
My fiancé was craving phở so I insisted that we visit this place because I have always wanted to give it a try. I’m glad that we did. My only regret is not getting a rice plate but afterall that is my decision. He ordered beef phở and I got the crab soup with asparagus. Both were very good! I just wish I would have tried The sizzling beef but hey, there will always be next time!
My favorite thing about this place is that it had specialty dishes that were a bit pricier and also very inexpensive Vietnamese food! Wide selection to pick from! We also ordered the Imperial Rolls and they use the fried rice paper that I love and it was better than most places! This place exceeded my expectations and I would definitely return with more loved ones! The service was also very attentive and very helpful when ordering. Nice to see this place in lil ol Castro Valley…
The modest lil lady that kept thanking us for being there was also a great touch. Hats off to the owner for a very pleasant experience!

We had a fantastic meal last night here. For appetizers we have the skewers of beef, lobster summer roll, and imperial rolls, all were excellent. The summer rolls and the skewers were really the stand outs, they were fantastic. For the main course we had a mixed seafood dish, butterfly shrimp in a tamarind glaze/​sauce and shaking beef. The seafood dish was good, but honestly paled in comparison to the shaking beef and the shrimp which were incredible. Fried banana and ice cream for desert were almsot extra because I was eating shrimp for desert, they were so good.
The people are all really really nice and out service was excellent.
We also ate here a few days ago and had a simpler meal not really adventuring to the more expensive side of the menu and it was great which is why we came back. The service was equally good for lunch as well. We had crab and asparagus soup, a curried shrimp dish, the imperial rolls again, lemon grass chicken, and clay pot rice. All were really good and the stand out there was the clay pot rice which was fantastic.
Prices are what I would call moderate, the food is fantastic. This is our new special night out restaurant.

Saturday night at 8:30pm my stomach finally tells me «it’s time to eat, missy!». I’m in one of those moods where I’m not quite sure what to get so I turn to my handy CV Unilocal list… yah see, I’m going down the list and guess, who’s up next??? Le Saigon Bistro, baby!
I find parking in front and quickly make my way into the restaurant to avoid a rather scary looking dude who was walking towards my car. There’s just one party there (about 6 peeps) other than that the place is empty. I head to the back near the bar where the owner approaches me with a big smile and says eat here? to which I reply, no thank you, just take out.
He asks if I know what I want and I immediately tell him Spring Rolls but not quite sure what else. He proceeds to tell me what the Specialities of the house are and then directs me to the flatscreen TV which shows pictures of the dishes, all look delicious.
He mentions the usual suspects that other Unilocalers have already talked about… shaking beef, tamarind shrimp, chilean sea bass and right on cue a picture of the chilean sea bass comes up on the TV and it looks GOOOOOD so I say «I’ll have that» thinking how much can chilean sea bass cost???
Ummm, silly girl… you shoulda known… when I finally checked the menu it says $ 35! Dang, for that price that sea bass better be the best piece of fish that i’ve ever tasted! But its too late, my order was already in.
15 minutes later and after chatting w/​Joe and his kids, he brings out the container with my sea bass… what the??? It’s a monster, folks, I mean this fish is HUGE! When he hands me the bag it weighs like 50 pounds (okay, I exaggerate, but really it is heavy!)
I get home, telling Hubby my story and we try the fish… delicate, delicious and pretty darn good… the spring rolls were also huge and tasty. But for $ 46 they should be. Joe did promise that if they weren’t as good as he touted, he’d refund my money. And believe me, I wish I could say it sucked cuz I could certainly use some of that back. But alas… it was onolicious (yes, I’m a hawaiian gal and for those of you that don’t know that means «it tastes great!)
Overall, I’ll be heading back, can’t wait to try other dishes, but will get the less pricey items and save the big ticket items for more special occasions.

Yey, it’s our first Unilocal review! Why it took us so long? We’re procrastinators with a 1-​year-​old — bad combination. But we’re here now so let’s get this party started, shall we? :)
We moved from the Bay Area to Castro Valley a couple of years ago, but we’ve still been driving to San Francisco to get our dining fix. The commute was getting tiresome, so we decided to try out some restaurants in the area. Now, finding a decent restaurant in CV isn’t a small feat, so we got a little excited when we chanced upon Le Saigon Bistro. Yes, it’s a little odd to have a «fine dining French Vietnamese» restaurant beside a dive bar and a laundromat… And it is a little scary to park in the back… But we decided not to judge the book by its cover and went in.
The ambiance was definitely a pleasant surprise. The décor was modern and clean, and the staff was very friendly and attentive (sometimes too attentive, but better that than none). The owner, Joe, took his time to walk us through the menu and describe his favorite dishes. We were a bit taken aback by the prices — it was almost as expensive as dining at Bong Su in San Francisco — but Joe managed to convince us with his «if you don’t like it’s free» guarantee.
So we ordered the $ 26.50 Shaking Beef cubed filet mignon with Remy Martin VSOP over the much cheaper version without the liquor (we’ll probably order the latter next time to see if it’s worth the difference); we also got the Tamarind Colossal Prawns and some garlic noodles. The beef was definitely a hit — soft, tender and succulent — and the sauce made it even better. We didn’t care much for the garlic noodles, but the prawns — let’s just say that we were sucking the shells and licking our fingers till the plate was nice and clean. ‘Nuff said.
We’d like to come here more often, but the price range is still difficult to get over with. But it’s nice to finally see a real fine dining experience in CV, and Le Saigon Bistro is easily one of the best restaurants in the area (Hayward, CV and San Leandro).

Joe (owner) is the man here at Le Saigon Bistro!!! He has brought in a very unique upclass kind of establishment to the Castro Valley area. After my dinner experience, I felt that a restaurant with this kind of ambiance and entrée options would belong in a downtown San Francisco environment instead of right off of Castro Valley Blvd.
Joe gave us a guarantee that if there was anything we did not like, he would give us the entrée for free because he was so confident of the kind of food that they served. And he was right on target because we ordered the tamarind lobster and cubed fillet beef (both highly recommended by Joe) and we were splendidly satisfied. I also got a lot more lobster than I was anticipating (two entire tails). I really did want to find some way to say that we did not like the entrée to get a free meal but we certainly couldn’t do it because the flavors of the lobster and cubed beef were unique, mouth watering, and wanting you to come back for more.
I also like the stories he told about his restaurant from the reasoning of the implementation of the koi pond in his restaurant, the Vietnamese authentic instruments on the wall, the color of the interior walls, and number of stools near the bar. I’ll leave the details out so you Unilocalers can go in and get the stories for yourself. Can’t wait til he converts the top of the building into a bar/​lounge area!!!

This restaurant did almost a complete 180 since I had last visited. The menu has more items, the items are WAY more expensive, and the overall feel made me uneasy.
First of all, there must be bad circulation or something because it smelled like a bathroom as soon as I stepped into the restaurant. I’ve been to plenty of Vietnamese restaurants in my time so I can distinguish the smell of fish sauce between the smell of nastiness.
On a Friday night at 7pm, we were one of two tables there (it eventually got busier), and the owner immediately came to talk to us. The entire time he was talking to us, I felt like he was trying to upsell us the food items on the first and second pages. Those «special» entrees were $ 20 – 40 and they even had set courses for $ 30 – 70 per person. And even when we decided to order the pork/​shrimp spring rolls ($ 6), he tried to convince us to get the Ahi Tuna and Lobster Spring Rolls which were 2−3x more expensive. It was just too pushy and clear that more money was what he wanted.
Our party of four ended up getting Spring Rolls ($ 6), Fried Calamari ($ 10), and four bowls of Beef Phở ($ 8 each). Aside from the expensive first and second pages of the menu, there are reasonably priced items but you can’t help but feel self conscious ordering them after the owner’s constant persuasion. But too bad, we are in an economic downturn and I refuse to spend more than I should! The Spring Rolls consisted of two rolls but cut into a total of four pieces and they were huge. They weren’t wound too tightly wound so they looked slightly untidy. The Fried Calamari wasn’t what I expected at all. These aren’t your cute little bite-​size pieces; these are huge pieces of fried squid that’s not too easy to eat. It comes out very hot with a side of sweet chili sauce (bottled). Phở was incredibly generous on meat and noodles. The rare steak was good but the brisket was overcooked and chewy. The broth tasted a little medicinal and I attribute that to too much star anise.
Funny because they are trying to be a fine dining establishment but there are wooden take-​out chopsticks wrapped in the linen napkins. With my phở, I needed sriracha, hoisin sauce, and a sauce dish (they gave out plastic ones with a flower on it… something you would see in a regular, hole-​in-​wall phở place). This totally ghetto-​fied the fancy experience.
Service was incredibly prompt. They never let our waters filled less than halfway and did not forget any request we made, no matter how little. I think this place would fit better in a place like downtown Palo Alto. If the prices continue to be $ 15+, it will not survive in Castro Valley. Folks here like casual, homey restaurants with good food at cheap prices. Follow Gordon Ramsey’s advice and simplify your menu and focus on making them good.

Three stars for…
1. Chic ambiance
2. Jumbo Prawns
3. Service
Negative stars for price and unique-​ness.
We were seated right away on a Friday night with wonderful service. The owner was super kind to come over and introduce himself and their «French/​Viet Menu»
Although it sounded inviting, the prices were not.
It is nice to have fancy places like this in the area, but don’t expect people to throw down a lot of money!
My fiancée and I started out with Seared Ahi Tuna Spring Rolls. It would have been delicious except for the fact that the tuna was cooked completely through. Bring it to us raw please! As it Ahi should be served.
We also had the Fried Rice in a Clay Pot that didn’t come out in a clay pot but a brown porcelin bowl? Eh I guess its more attractive than a real clay pot.
Last we ordered the Seafood & Mixed Vegtables. Ok, I will totally come back just for this dish! The scallops were delicious, the prawns super big like I’ve never seen before! The veggies were crisp as we like.

Welcome to Castro Valley. This town needs more restaurants Like Le Saigon Bistro!
Beautiful décor, attention to detail, and really delicious food.
I admit I’m not an expert on Vietnamese cuisine. However, I do know what tastes yummy, and this place certainly delivers on that promise.
The Imperial Rolls were so delicious… dip them in in the vinegary sauce, and add a touch of the hot rooster sauce for kick… so good!
We ordered the pork with assorted vegetables, and it was beautiful, with really nice marinated pork that had been sauteed with two kinds of mushrooms, snow peas, broccoli, carrots, celery. It was held together with a lightly garlic sauce. Very nice. We also ordered the chicken curry, which had a few vegetables, and nice tender pieces of chicken in a really good curry sauce. It was quite different from Indian curry, more like a Thai dish.
I want to try the caramelized prawns next time… a friend said they’re really good.
There is usually ample street parking, but if not, there’s a parking lot in the back, and access through the back door of the restaurant.
I love all the traditional Vietnamese musical instruments that decorate the walls. This is a family-​run restaurant, and it is obvious they care about the customer experience, on every level. Prices are reasonable and the servings are perfectly proportioned.
So delighted to have a new dining-​out choice!

My wife and I frequent Castro Valley a lot since we have family there and have been hoping for a Vietnamese restaurant to open; it seemed our hopes were answered when we came across this restaurant; alas, this initial visit may be the first as well as last.
We were lucky to find parking right in front of the bistro which was a huge thumbs up considering it’s on the main drag (Castro Valley Blvd). Quick thumbs down when they had a very difficult time opening the front door and we had to go around the corner down an alley and enter the restaurant from the rear.
Once we got seated, we were immediately given menus and provided with water. While the interior of the restaurant looked very savvy, the food itself was quite disappointing. While Mom had one of the rice vermicelli bowls, my wife ordered the seafood phở and I, of course, ordered the regular phở bowl.
When we received our order, I found my soup swimming in oil; it seems that straining the fat is out of the question here. I strained what I could with the soup spoon provided but was still left with a good amount in my bowl. The beef was a bit overdone as well as the tendon a bit chewy. Although my wife had the seafood, it seemed as if the same oily broth was used. Needless to say, neither one of us was able to finish our food; the soup actually made me sick for about 2 weeks.
Sadly, this one hope of a good Vietnamese restaurant in Castro Valley has turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy; I guess we’ll just have to keep going to Fremont (My Tho) or the couple of other places we’ve found in the Dublin/​Pleasanton area for good, affordable phở (I’ll keep you posted on these places in future reviews)

I was soo excited when I heard from my parents that a vietnamese restaurant was opening up in Castro Valley! It took a while for the place to finally open, but when it did. I was soo dissapointed! Hopefully things are just starting up, and will change for the better…
When we first walked in, we were promptly seated. However, it took a while for our waiter to come and take our order. When he finally took our order, he forgot to ask us about our drinks. He finally remembered, and came back to take our drink order. Then not too long afterwards, the appetizer and the entrees came out all at once without any rice to accompany it. Our drinks hadn’t even arrived yet. This was rather dissapointing.
For appetizer, we had the fried calamari. This was fried pretty well, however a bit too salty. For one of our entrees, we had sauteed beef with lemongrass. The beef was drenched in this gravy, which had overwhelming amounts of lemongrass. This was really not authentic at all. Our other entrée was shrimp simmered in a sweet sauce. The shrimp were good, but the sauce was very runny and wasn’t as thick as it should be.
The staff was friendly, but the service was very unprofessional. Kids were running around. Even one kid was helping to serve the food. And another kid came and brought us our bill.
The atmosphere is nice though. Unfortunately the food isn’t good enough to make me want to come back. They have a pretty extensive menu of authentic dishes, but none of them come out nearly as authentic as they should be. Also we saw a a line of ants crawling along the wall… That wasn’t very appetizing either.

I’ve been to this restaurant just to try the new style Vietnamese food. Quite interesting how they decorated interior and have all the nice instruments on the wall!!!
Food — I ordered the shaking beef and the spring roll. I loved the spring roll and the sauce comes with it. I can’t eat silentro and unlike any other Vietnamese reastaurant, they don’t put any of them in their spring roll, yeah! Oh. and then shaking beef… wow it was a good choice. The sauce was kind of strong just to enjoy itself, you should definitely order some rice to go with it but I truely enjoyed it.
The owner Joe is a very pleasant person to talk to. He was talking to all customers with respect and lots of humor. Thanks!!!

this new eatery is immaculate. looks like they want to operate as a white table cloth establishment. overall color tone is beige with railings more brownish. on the right wall is an assortment of vietnamese musical instruments. on both walls are pics depicting vietnamese cultural festivals that have occurred in vietnam’s history. the floor are wood. the path to the bathroom is marbled. the bathroom is heavily marbled. the chairs are like miniarmchairs, very comfy. the front has a small fountain like pool sans fish.
menu-​appetizers, soups, rice plates, limited # phở & noodle dishes
plus the middle of the menu which i didn’t read
entrees: cha gio (imperial roll/5.95) phở bo (7.95) both comped
cha gio-​chewy but not that crispy. meaty type center. nice vinegar w/​carrot dipping sauce.
phở bo-​mixture of beef items including raw steak, flank, beef brisket. heavy prescene of onions, some chewy and unedible. there is a strong star anise and cinammon prescene in a clear broth. med sized bowl, some sliced beef are about — — — — — — — — — — — — this long, making it hard to put on the silver soup spoon. no plastic one is provided. yes, a silver spoon. (i quess, for those born without one). didn’t sense any strong msg presence. quality of the phở is closer to chitown than oaktown’s international standards.
pros
–this place has a lot of potential. looks like a bunch of monies went into remodeling this place.
–when it was time to pay, one of the owners, i assume, came to my table, made a deep bow, apologized for the gaps in service and told me my meal would be on the house. i protested that i was willing to pay. he walked away. i left a tip and left.
–parking in back lot
–people here very friendly and service oriented.
cons
–a litany but since the management has acknowleged they have lots of bugs to iron out and this is their first day, i’m willing to forget today and try them again in a few weeks or so. fwiw. the bugs were minor irritants, nothing major.
–afterthought (⁷⁄₂₇) the servers here asked me at least a dozen times what i wanted to drink. i always answered water. in hindsight, the resturant should have given me a listing of what they offered for refreshments. i doubt many patrons want alcohol for lunch. i didn’t and
i wasn’t given any alternative. a refreshment list would have been helpful.
rating: food (2 stars) + marbeled bathroom (1 star) + owner’s concern about service, et al (1 star) = 4 stars