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| - By the way, don't try to find a place on Google by searching "Calgary" plus "Saigon", because apparently there are nineteen restaurants in Calgary with "Saigon" in the name. NINETEEN.
Obviously Maxim must be the best, why else would they call it Maxim. Being a Vietnamese restaurant, one should expect common qualities. The food should be good; the service should be...well...appalling. I wonder if there's a correlation between bad service and good food--the further apart they are, the better. So if one is treated like absolute garbage, the food should be next to ambrosia. This is not far from the truth with Saigon Maxim.
Saigon Maxim is not particularly memorable visually, with elevated sections, poles, and a labyrinthine layout one must navigate to even find the bathroom, a task made even more difficult given the crowds. The place was slammed this afternoon, and after a short wait, we were led to our seats. Knowing full well how successful a restaurant is when turning tables efficiently, the staff basically took that as gospel, encouraging patrons to order quickly and depart as hastily, rushed and rude service prompting a lower tip being favorable given the reward of higher table rotation.
An example of this was shortly after being offered menus. I had previously decided to avoid the usual pho like my friend was planning on ordering and tackle something different. I soon fell upon the combo thin vermicelli patties--served with salad ride paper, peanut and house special sauce. It looked interesting, but when I attempted to inquire about it, the waitress responded, "you have to roll it; I don't think you can do it."
Okay.
Outside of accusing outright prejudice, the probable reason would be that it's a long meal to prepare and devour, and the restaurant wants to turn tables quickly. Pho and its related dishes are already prepped and ready for assembly. So whatever, I opted for the vermicelli bowl, which is basically a pho with no broth and more stuff, though served in the same bowl. We both also ordered egg rolls and shrimp salad rolls, the latter always being my test of any Vietnamese restaurant. And when I claim the pho and its related dishes are prepped ahead, I mean to such an extent that the delivery of food after placing said order took less than three minutes. After ordering, I took in the bathroom, and when I returned, the rolls were waiting. Only a few minutes after that, still with our plates half full (or is that half empty?), our mains arrived. Who needs burger joints when Vietnamese dishes arrive this fast? Any faster and they would read our thoughts, or simply and more accurately, just hand us food that they have determined we should enjoy.
Returning back to what I said earlier, given this curt service, one would then expect the food to be amazing, and once again, this stereotype (works both ways) is confirmed. I find it an odd practice, akin to maybe a tradition, as it's not repeated in a lot of other similarly ethnic restaurants. That being said, my local hometown features a Vietnamese restaurant that very much breaks this trend, and is both welcoming and enjoyable. But in this case, Saigon Maxim is damn good, some of the best Vietnamese cuisine I've had in ages, and despite the service, I'd consider returning...in fact I did a few hours later. Not because of food, but because I left my debit card there. When I called and asked, they answered that there was no such card around. I don't believe they bothered to check, because when I drove down to double-check an hour later, it was found in the drawer underneath the till, meaning the person I talked to never bothered to each check. Par the course.
Saigon Maxim is a good restaurant, just to clear the air. The prices are reasonable, the food is good, and the service is rocket fast. However, to quote the great Aaron Sorkin, it's not binary, you can be decent and gifted at the same time.
Food: 5/5
Service: 2/5
Presentation: 3/5
Value: 5/5
Recommendation: 3.5/5
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