Date Visited: 25 May 2008Meal: Lunch
Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia
Experience: Sunday after church is a great time to explore new lunch restaurants. In our case, the third service at Cornerstone Chapel usually goes until at least 12:30, so when it's done we're ready to eat! Today we visited Xuan Saigon, described thus by their web site: "Our establishment is family owned and stands as the first Vietnamese Restaurant in Leesburg - still the first since 1999." In Vietnamese, Xuan means "spring", and Xuan Nguyen is the name of the chef of the family.
We started off with two orders of Spring Roll appetizers ("A1" on the menu). They were very nice and crisp, and came with a tangy sauce to dip in. I had Pho #10 ("Tai Chin - Pho Noodle soup with slices of steak and well done brisket"). Wendy had Pho #17 ("Pho Ga - Rice noodles and slices of chicken served in a hot chicken soup broth garnished with spring onions, cilantro, and onions"). All the pho dishes come with a "fresh plate of basil, bean sprouts, jalapeno peppers, and limes", so you can customize it any way you want, and make it as spicy (or not) as you want with additional sauces on the table. We both enjoyed our respective soups very much; the ingredients were fresh (especially the basil) and deliciously prepared. The service was also pleasant and welcoming, like a family-owned restaurant should be. You can also tell you're in an authentic Vietnamese restaurant when there's Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce on every table, and I certainly availed myself of it... :-) I also had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, and it was great! Predictably, Alicia got Chicken Fried Rice ("C5" on the menu). She said the eggs were "light and fluffy", and the bean sprouts (from our plate) were very good and fresh. She ate it all, and that's a good sign.
I can heartily recommend Xuan Saigon; there's something for everyone, and we'll be back often.
Location: 11 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176
Web site: http://xuansaigon.com/
Total bill: $29.43 + $6.00 tip = $35.43
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