The next installment of the 20×49.com Dine-In series will be held at Louisiana Seafood and Pho Sai Gon, 273 E. 70th Street in Shreveport, 7 p.m., Saturday, March 16. All-inclusive cost will be $25 per person. This event has been limited to 15 participants at the request of the restaurant owners. The meal will be a family-style presentation featuring 6-8 authentic Vietnamese dishes prepared to match the adventurous tastes of our group. A menu preview for the evening will be available on Tuesday, March 5. No BYOB of alcoholic beverages is allowed for this Dine-In. RSVP via the Facebook event here.
My friend Angie White introduced me to La. Seafood and Pho Sai Gon, a no-frills Vietnamese diner that specializes in authentic, occasionally jaw-dropping Vietnamese cuisine (see house specialties like lotus salad, lobster with onion and ginger, squid with pineapple and ox tail pho) as well as deep-fried Louisiana seafood (fried gar, anyone?). The dichotomy of cuisines available here can make for a fun, unpredictable dining experience. Some of my favorite menu items are things that I genuinely never expected to eat, such as a fried catfish and fried rice combo so delicious that I lost a little bit of respect for hush puppies.
Despite the fact that you can purchase fried catfish fillets by the pound here, the Vietnamese menu is really quite impressive. Seven varieties of pho – including ox tail, tendon, meat ball and baking hen – await fans of that fragrant noodle soup. My go-to favorite for lunch is com tam bi suon cha (pictured above), a rice platter featuring grilled pork, shredded pork, fried eggs and pickled vegetables.
Got questions about the Dine-In event? Contact Chris Jay at cjay@sbctb.org or (318) 429-0658.
