The Anan Saigon Experience
📸 The Anan Saigon Experience
📍 89 Tôn Thât Dam, Bên Nghé, Quân 1, HCM, Vietnam
🇮🇩 Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine
💲USD 125++ (Chef’s Tasting Menu)
👨🍳 Chef Peter Cuöng
🗓️ September 2023
🏆 #40 Asia’s 50 Best & 🌟 Michelin Starred
“Anan” name translates as ‘eat, eat’. The Asia’s 50 Best-listed is located in Chợ Cũ, Ho Chi Minh’s oldest wet market.
The 13-course Anăn Chef’s tasting menu details a culinary tour of the country with regional dishes from North to South.
Menu:
AMUSE BOUCHE Sài Gòn
Rice paper cone, tuna Chútoro tartare, rice paddy herbs
FOIE GRAS SPRING ROLL Hà Nôi
Pork, truffle, herbs
SALMON BANH NHÚNG Mê Kông
Salmon roe, smoked salmon, crème fraiche, local dill
FOIE GRAS SPRING ROLL Hà Noi
Spring rolls à la Française with a filling of foie gras, pork and truffle. The use of a netted rice paper from Central Vietnam keeps the roll light and crispy, and the incorporation of French foie gras complements the classic pork stuffing.
CRAB & UNI Cà Mau
Camau crab, Bafun uni, red pomelo, crispy shallot, prawn head sauce.
This refreshing dish pairs handpicked local crab meat with the oceanic, rich and creamy flavor of the Japanese Bafun Uni. Ca Mau city in the Mekong Delta at southernmost tip of Vietnam is famous for seafood dishes, most notably beer steamed crab.
LE PETIT BÉ BÁNH MI Säi Gòn
Uni pâté, wagyu beef, Oscietra Caviar, air baguette
This baby Banh Mi is a whimsical take on Vietnam's iconic sandwich. The crispy and light air banh mi baguette is inspired by the technique first developed by Ferran Adrià at elBulli.
ARTICHOKE Dà Lat
Mussels, oysters, Saigon curry sauce
Introduced to Vietnam during the French colonial era, artichokes from Dà Lat (Chef Peter's birth place) are traditionally made into a healthy tea or stewed in a pig leg soup. The dish combines the local artichoke with oysters and green mussels from Nha Trang, and a light Saigon curry sauce.
SORBET Mê Kông
Mango, passion fruit & kaffir lime
Mango from the Mekong Delta is made into a sorbet with minimal addition of other ingredients to retain the natural fruit flavor.
BÚN CHA BOURDAIN Hà Nôi
Grilled pork, spring roll, bún noodle, tía tô herb
Bún cha is a beloved, traditional grilled pork noodle dish from the north of Vietnam, served with bun rice noodles, a plate of fresh herbs and a light nuoc cham dipping sauce. This one bite version is accompanied by a shot of cold jasmine beer.
CHA CÁ LÃ VONG STYLE Hà Nôi
Chá Cá La Vong is an iconic fish dish with turmeric and dill flavors from the north of Vietnam. Buttery flavor & silky texture of the black cod. The thi la dill cream sauce has a hint of earthy turmeric spice and the bun noodle is seasoned with a touch of mam tôm, fermented shrimp paste.
MOLECULAR PHÔ Hà NOi
This one-bite phô is a modern take on Vietnam's most famous dish, a sphere of consommé broth with round banh pho noodle on top. The molecular phö uses a technique first developed by Ferran Adrià to present phò in a new and whimsical way.
LAMB GIA CAY STYLE HA NOi
Gia cay, literally translated as "fake dog meat', is a unique northern Vietnamese style of cooking for gamely, strong flavored wild animals with the flavors of galangal, turmeric, lemongrass and fermented shrimp paste. These days the eating of domestic animals is frowned upon and this style of cooking is mainly for pork belly and pork trotters. The mildly gamey, high marble Marrunga Grain-Fed Lamb with gia cây flavors.
YOUNG COCONUT & CAVIAR Bén Tre
The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is known as Vietnam's coconut kingdom, where local farmers have been subsisting on coconut groves for generations. Coconut water, milk, and the meat are used to produce a wide variety of cakes, candies and other products. Our young coconut ice cream retains the natural sweet flavor which is paired with the savory Oscietra caviar.
PETIT FOURS Dà Lat
Traditionally, besides fruit, Vietnamese rarely eat dessert after a meal. Anan incorporates the French tradition of petit fours with a nudc mam chocolate bonbon, local strawberry from Da Lat with black garlic cream, lantern fruit paired with a touch of chili salt, seasonal fruits such as lychee, rambutan, mangosteen, soursop and Hanoi plum when available.
REVIEW:
Contrary to popular belief, Anan is NOT a fine dining establishment, so don't expect fine dining service. It is a casual dining restaurant at best, which is reflected in their food and service. The food was rather mediocre, lacking in flavor and served cold, especially the phở.
Overall, the service was efficient but impersonable (could be improved for a 1 🌟) and the portions were just adequate.
OVERALL:
Food: 🌟🌟
Aesthetic: 🌟🌟
Service: 🌟🌟🌟
Value: 🌟🌟
Must Try in Saigon:🌟🌟
(Out of 5 Stars)
