Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon Delice will take you on a culinary journey all the way to South Vietnam – but first, let’s head to the Mercat Central de Valencia, where Saigon Delice’s head chef, Dominique Thuy-Trinh Vo, gets all the best local, fresh produce for the restaurant.
Saigon Delice is named after the city where chef Dominique Thuy-Trinh Vo was born, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Dominique then moved to Paris and Santiago in Chile to develop her culinary career, before moving to Tenerife in 2015 to open up Saigon Delice’s first small restaurant.
In 2021, after the pandemic, they decided to move to Valencia, settling next to the famous Ruzafa neighbourhood. Dominique explains, “When we arrived, we were the first Vietnamese restaurant in the city. We wanted to make this type of gastronomy known, and for this it was important to prioritise quality above all else.” The restaurant now welcomes diners with more than twenty tables and even has a shop selling original products.
As Vietnamese cuisine is known for its freshness and abundant use of herbs and vegetables, Saigon Delice makes sure to work with local products in order to get the most representative flavours of the South East Asian country. It’s therefore not surprising that the restaurant uses the Mercat Central de València as its main source of products. Most of the ingredients on the menu are purchased from local suppliers with whom they have developed a relationship of trust.
Dominique begins at the vegetable stalls of the Mercat Central. Many of the restaurant’s recipes use fresh herbs and vegetables such as lime grass, okra, ginger, bean sprouts, coriander and Asian chives, which are used to prepare starters such as Nem Rolls – a delicious dish that is made up of minced pork, carrots, eggs, spring onions and mushrooms wrapped in crispy rice paper.
Next, Dominique pays a visit to the meat stalls. Although herbs, vegetables, fish and seafood are widely consumed in Vietnam, meat such as pork, chicken and beef are also a large part of the cuisine. With pork provided from their trusted supplier, the restaurant cooks dishes such as Thit kho tô, which is caramelized pork, and Bún Chă, a type of Vietnamese dumpling comprising meat and vegetables rolled in a lettuce leaf.
Although Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese cuisine are often confused with each other, Dominique explains that Saigon Delice’s cuisine is more light and balanced than other cuisines within South East Asia, where steaming is more common than frying. Although less common in Vietnamese recipes, spices are a “fundamental part of Saigon Delice’s recipes, and they can completely change the flavour.” Dominique buys her spices in bulk and uses star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves to make the national soup of Vietnam: Pho Bo soup.
Dominique reveals that in the near future they would like to hold cooking workshops – which would be a brilliant way to bring the public closer to this fresh and flavourful cuisine!
You have to check this restaurant out!
Report by Jenny Grierson
Article copyright 24/7 Valencia
Photo copyright Itaca Prods
Saigon Delice
Carrer de Erudito Gregorio Mayans, 5
46005
Valencia
Tel: 619 37 18 43
Website: https://www.saigondelice.com/
Mercat Central de Valencia
Pl. Ciutat de Bruges
Ciutat Vella
46001
Valencia
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