Saigon Sisters Restaurant

567 W. Lake St., Chicago (Near West Side)  

The sisters—and Mom—from Saigon (Mary Nguyen Aregoni, Theresa Nguyen, and Mama Suu) have a new member of the family: Chef Matt Riordan. He’s now creating his own Vietnamese-inspired dishes by bending traditions for the sleek, um, sister restaurant, steps from the namesake bánh mì market stall. Signature dishes remain by popular demand from regulars, including phone-flashing Asian couples—young and older—and locals who live and work in the shadow of the iconic Lake Street El overhead. The pork and shrimp fritter is an elegant take on the street food: golden turf-and-surf bites, stuck with chewable sugarcane picks. Riordan’s “Cao Lau” can’t help but differ from the legendary Hội An dish, without the region’s mythical well water. His fresh egg noodles instead of rice noodles; braised, glazed chubby pork cheeks instead of lean char siu; and Chinese broccoli leaves instead of an herb bouquet, together create a worthy homage. My only request to the chef: give me more ethereal pork rinds. The changing palette of ice cream and sorbets is now made in house, so hope for the deeply flavoured banana rum ice cream draped with cajeta, as a prelude to the coffee that’s a one-way trip Vietnam.

BBE Everything but the Squeal secret menu

first course
Bánh mì special (housemade pig's headcheese, pork liver terrine, pickled daikon, jalapeño jelly, bánh mì herbs)

second course
Tempura pork cheeks, parsnip purée, vanilla pickled pears, pork glacé

third course
Chao (brown rice braised belly, broken rice dried scallop congee, shoestring sweet potato)

fourth course
Chocolate ganache, five spice chicharrón, bacon ice cream

menu musts

Green papaya salad
Baby beets salad
Pork and shrimp fritter
“Cao Lau”
Artisanal ice cream

sweet seats

The teak banquette under the floor-to-ceiling windows gives you the most room to stretch out, but the galvanized steel stools at the bar plant you in the beating heart of what feels like a well-traveled friend’s pied-à-terre.

chew on this

There is no cocktail list but there will be cocktails. Sommelier and mixologist Rashed Islam will ask, “Sweet or acid?” then pause, as if reading your aura, before creating a one of a kind cocktail just for you. On a recent night, I chose acid, and evidently my energy said blood orange, mangosteen, and North Shore vodka—and it was oh so right. Islam says he will never make the same cocktail twice. This claim will require many, many more cocktails.

hours

lunch: Mon–Fri 10 AM–3PM
dinner: Mon–Thu 5 PM–10PM; Fri–Sat 5 PM–11 PM
closed Sunday

price range

$14 (spare ribs) to $22 (lamb luc lac)