Food & Travel Review: Eat Saigon- Au Parc Cafe

Au Parc is another one of my favorite hangouts in the town area. I went there 3 times during my stay in Saigon. It's located in a colonial french shophouse with high ceilings (i love these shophouse features), full of light and life and of course good food. 

Like many restaurants in Saigon or Vietnam, Au Parc does a Mediterranean as well as some French food and some American/English. This is typical of most cafes in Saigon in order to cater to the expats working in Saigon. 

There are 3 different spaces for dining. The ground level is bistro-style. You can watch the preparation of your food along with the madness of the service stuff during rush hour. That or take a seat outside, al fresco style and watch the world scoot by (literally). 

The 1st floor has a Mediterranean section. Really cosy space and very Middle Eastern. What i love about this space is the natural light that falls in from the roof and how it reflects off the yellow walls to create that warmth that envelops the space. Bright and cheery. :) It's amazing how all the contrasting designs, patterns, colors, shapes and textures come together so well. Love the mosaic tiled table tops! 

Happy us with our freshly squeezed juices and breakfast!
The bagel is the best i've ever had and this trumps anything we have in Sg. Seriously we've been eating crap all these while. Starbucks bagel is like a rock compared to this. I honestly have no idea how they can create such an airy texture and yet maintain the chewiness of a bagel. Even the ones i had in NYC weren't like that. I'm not too sure what exactly should the texture be- dense and chewy? Or light and chewy? Any bagel expert out there please do enlighten us.

Anyhow, they are so generous with the cheese and it's really good and light cream cheese with a tinge of sourness and saltiness. Beats the lousy Philadelphia cream cheese that we usually get. We had a side order of jam and it's made from mulberry. How exotic right? Fragrant and with the right amount of sweetness. It's certainly not as sour as the usual fresh raspberry or blueberry jam.

This would be a perfect place for a wedding luncheon. This is what i'd call a positive space.

Went back a second time for lunch after visiting Cu Chi Tunnels. I wanted to try their quiche but they didn't make any the day i went. So it was a different sorta bagel for me. Bacon with melted Camembert and rockets. This is absolutely awesome. I was surprised at how full i felt after a half of my bagel even though it is really small.
So what do you do when you eat alone? You entertain yourself with lots of silly pictures of yourself eating. :) You can still have fun when you are dining alone! Tested and proven. :))

After a glass of fresh mocha and my bagel, i decided that i should still stuff myself with desserts! This is the only downside to dining alone- there's no one to share my food with and i can't have a variety of dishes for tasting! :(( Anyway, i didn't try the Nemesis Chocolate Cake (it looks like a chocolate truffle block) but it comes highly recommended by Z and i trust her taste in desserts since we essentially have the same tummies.
The cheesecake looks fabulous too but certainly too rich for my overly expanded tummy.
I chose the Earl Grey Creme Brulee because it looks small enough and i love tea/coffee desserts. It certainly didn't disappoint. Very thick pudding, creamy too. I'm not sure what is the perfect texture because i'm not a Creme Brulee fan but it tastes ok to my picky tongue. :P

Z and i went back on the last day of our trip for lunch. Gave the dip a shot because it has spinach and blue cheese and some other cheese in it! Yums. I love the pungent and saltiness of blue cheese but this isn't too overpowering. I was surprised by how refreshing the dip is. 

My drink was practically a dessert in itself. It's a Strawberry banana muesli honey smoothie. High calorie drink! 

The apple crumble is to die for. Extremely soft and melt-in-your-mouth apple slices (not chunks) accompanied by the buttery and crispy crumble and real vanilla ice cream! Vanilla ice cream is only real if they come with vanilla beans. The ice cream is a tad too sweet though but well desserts are meant to be sweet.

I was craving for some toasted focaccia and this satisfied my taste buds. Ham cheese and avocado sandwich. The saltiness of the ham is complemented by the creamy avocado and this made in heaven pair is sandwiched between the buttery focaccia. -sighs in contentment- Ok now i'm craving for this. Think it'd have to be Toast for breakfast.  
I would really love to be back for the quiche. I'm sure they do their pastries well. The menu is pretty extensive and it'd take at least 2-3 weeks to taste everything? Or perhaps longer since i already have my favorites. Do check it out if you are in Saigon.

Au Parc
23 Han Thuyen
Saigon, Vietnam
Tel: +84 3829 2772, +84 3822 3080
Email: auparc@gmail.com

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