Saigon Star has served Vietnamese food in Christchurch since 2005, with its family-run dining room on Clarence Street providing a long-standing point of reference in Upper Riccarton. Warm timber and artwork from southern Vietnam give the room a distinct sense of place, while lunch and dinner service make it practical for both a quick bowl and a longer shared meal. The broad menu remains grounded in familiar Vietnamese combinations of aromatic broth, herbs, rice, noodles and freshly prepared vegetables.
Pho is central to the kitchen, with versions built around beef, chicken, vegetables or seafood. The beef bowl pairs broth and rice noodles with medium-rare beef and bean sprouts, while the vegetable option brings tofu, broccoli, carrot, tomato and mushroom into the same comforting format. A seafood pho expands the bowl with squid, fish cake, prawns, mussels and scallops, giving diners a clear choice between the purity of beef broth, a vegetable-and-tofu combination and a fuller shellfish-led meal.
The menu also works well beyond soup. Fresh and deep-fried rolls make natural starters, while rice vermicelli bowls offer a lighter base for savoury toppings and crisp vegetables. Grilled pork with steamed rice arrives as a more substantial plate, completed by a sunny egg, salad, soup and sweet garlic fish sauce. Several fried-rice combinations and the restaurant's Vietnamese pancake add enough contrast for a table to move between crisp, grilled and wok-cooked dishes rather than ordering identical courses.
Chicken, beef, pork, seafood, vegetables and tofu each receive their own selection, so the meal can be shaped around more than one appetite. Lemongrass and chilli chicken provides fragrance and heat, cashew chicken brings a nutty counterpoint, and coconut mushroom chicken is softer and richer. Tofu salad is especially distinctive, combining pickled carrot, cabbage, capsicum, ginger, cucumber and onion with peanuts and a sweet lemon dressing. Together with the stir-fried noodles and vegetable dishes, it gives mixed groups credible choices across meat, seafood and tofu.
Address: 184 Clarence Street, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
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