WWFB: You Had Me at “Miss Saigon” Edition
The scene: Philadelphia in early July, a uniquely soupy experience. The heat index is approximately 1 billion degrees and my delicate constitution is having NONE OF IT.
I’d never been to Philadelphia, so when my husband’s annual marathon 9-day work conference was scheduled there, I was excited to tag along as a tourist. (I work remotely so I’m generally game for tagging along to these things no matter when or where, but last year I skipped this conference when it was held in Orlando because #F’ingDeSantis. Sorry, Floridians.)
Anyway. Philly!
The husband of one of my husband’s colleagues often attends these events as well. We’ll call him “S,” because his name starts with an “S.”
S and I have become a dynamic duo of day-drinking and sight-seeing as we scout out the best museums, restaurants, bars, cultural events, and architecture boat tours each city has to offer, which we then gleefully report back on to our work-weary spouses after their conference day ends. They really appreciate our vivid retelling of our hijinks.
I mean, they need to believe there is hope for something better than lukewarm hot dogs beyond the convention center walls, right? They need to hear about the amazing tacos and ramen we had for lunch at a place called Taco & Ramen, so they can be motivated to wrap up their meetings in an expeditious manner and possibly experience the magic for themselves before last call. Really, we’re doing it for them. Not all heroes wear capes; we wear napkin-bibs!
In an effort to continue getting invited to join our long-suffering spouses at these conferences, we have taken up the mantle of responsibility to ensure that on the rare occasions they DO escape the convention center, we’ve got quality food and beverage options lined up for them. S and I typically meet up first thing in the morning for coffee in the hotel lobby, where we take to our phones to perform a complex multivariate analysis of highly rated, ideally walkable, non-generic-sounding spots we discover on Yelp, Resy, Tock, Toast, and Open Table. Occasionally we’ll Google (“best scrapple in philadelphia” for example…shockingly, Google returned no search results on that one).
Once we’ve identified a short list of dining spots for the night, we’ll typically play rock-paper-scissors to choose the winner. Sometimes are choices are constrained by the group size: In San Francisco we needed a place that could accommodate 20 of us, same day. (Challenge accepted and conquered, and it wasn’t even a Chili’s!) Thankfully in Philly our largest party was 5, so we had tons of flexibility given the city’s bountiful dining scene.
I think S and I stumbled upon Miss Saigon at the very same moment. We both practically spilled our coffees as we hastened to shove our phones in each other’s face. “OMG YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS PLACE OUT WE HAVE TO GO HERE I DON’T CARE WHAT ELSE YOU FOUND I DEMAND WE GO HERE TONIGHT!” we cried in unison. And so it was decided.
Miss Saigon is a modern Vietnamese spot in the Gayborhood of Philadelphia, just a short walk from our hotel. We loved the space as soon as we entered, and we quickly confirmed the food and drink are just as exquisite as the décor. It is a truly special vibe at Miss Saigon, whether you go for weekend brunch, dinner, or a night of inventive cocktails. We learned from one of the charming owners that it opened 7 months ago. We ended up eating here three times and sending others from the conference during the week–it is truly that good.
Scroll down for blurry photos and exclamation mark laden recaps of our amazing meals here.
VERDICT: 11/10 Would rent a room upstairs and eat (and drink!) 3 meals a day at Miss Saigon if I could.
