Lý Club Saigon Review: A Look Back at Its Menu

Our Lý Club Saigon review looks back at a French-influenced Vietnamese meal in a villa on Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street. We chose the dining room over the courtyard, listened to piano music and worked our way through soups, seafood, a surprisingly entertaining plate of chicken cartilage and dessert. The restaurant has since closed in Ho Chi Minh City, so this is an account of the food we ate there, not a recommendation to book the old address today.

Lý Club Saigon: What Changed?

Lý Club Saigon no longer operates at the address described in this review. The former Lý Club social page announced that 143 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa reopened under the CoCo name at the end of 2021. Today, CoCo Saigon’s official website lists CoCo Dining, CoCo Grill and CoCo Bar at that address. These are separate concepts; our review and score do not describe any of them. The current Lý Club website lists its restaurant in Hanoi.

The Lý name refers to Vietnam’s Lý dynasty. At the Saigon restaurant we visited, that historical reference sat alongside a French-influenced approach to Vietnamese cooking. The resulting meal had its own identity, which is why it is worth keeping this review as a record of the original restaurant.

Inside the Villa

Lý Club Saigon gave us a choice between the courtyard and the indoor dining room. Outside, greenery surrounded a water feature and the bar faced a broad area for dining in the open air. We chose the air-conditioned lounge in the villa, where the curved arches, darker lower walls and pale ceiling made the room seem spacious without losing its intimacy. The music was a welcome part of dinner, even though no one sat at the piano we photographed. Private dining rooms were also offered by reservation.

The Lý Club Saigon Menu We Tried

The former Lý Club Saigon offered à la carte dishes and several tasting menus. Our meal moved between familiar Vietnamese ingredients and more formal restaurant presentation, with a drinks list that gave cocktails and mocktails attention of their own. The dishes below belong to that earlier menu; they should not be read as CoCo Dining’s current offerings.

Our Lý Club Saigon Food Review

The Passionate Mocktail and Fish Balls

The Passionate combined coconut water, passion fruit and kumquat. Its balance of sweetness and tartness kept us returning to the glass between courses. We began eating with a fish ball that actually tasted of fish, a small point that mattered more than the size of the appetizer. Pickles and fresh chili supplied the sharpness it needed.

Crab and Pumpkin Soup

Serving the soup in a pumpkin let us scoop a little of its flesh into each spoonful with the crab. The base was gently sweet, lifted by lime, lemongrass, ginger and mushrooms. We added fresh mint and coriander as we went along. The pumpkin vessel was more than a bit of theater: it made the dish warmer and more interesting to eat.

Bird’s Nest Soup in Coconut

The aroma of coconut met us first. Bird’s nest was new territory for us, and the soup’s mild seasoning gave its gelatinous texture room to come through. Once we stopped thinking about how the nest is made, we enjoyed the delicacy of the dish. Its appeal lay in gentle flavors, especially after the brighter crab soup.

Crayfish and Sea Bass

The Mekong crayfish was steamed in its own juices and needed little beyond its chili and scallion vinaigrette. Young greens added crunch, while cherry tomatoes made the plate more than seafood with a garnish. The next dish asked us to do some assembly: we filled rice paper cones with vegetables and sea bass seasoned with onion, galangal and chili, then used the sweet-sour peanut dip on the side. It was a playful way to taste each component separately before putting them together.

Shrimp Paste on Sugarcane

Grilled shrimp paste on sugarcane brought a savory sweetness to the table. Carrot pickle and holy basil cut through it, with rice vermicelli, scallions and a sweet-sour dip turning the skewer into a fuller course. It was a combination we wanted to remember for our own kitchen.

Salt-Roasted Chicken Cartilage

Chicken cartilage sounds like an unusual favorite, though this one earned its place. Salt roasting gave it a satisfying crunch, and garlic, chili and lemongrass made each bite lively. We found ourselves laughing at how quickly the plate disappeared.

Snowfish with Vegetables and Mushrooms

Snowfish came with asparagus from the Đà Lạt region, finely cut carrots, chive flowers and steamed mushrooms. The asparagus still had a firm bite; the carrots were cooked al dente in oyster sauce. With the pan-seared fish, the vegetables held their own instead of disappearing behind a showy sauce.

Coconut and Taro Cakes, Then Lychee

Dessert was the quieter part of dinner. The coconut and taro cakes had a sticky texture and roasted coconut flakes inside, though we had hoped for more from the final course. The lychee compote worked better for us: light, aromatic and refreshing after the longer run of savory plates.

Our Verdict on the Former Lý Club Saigon

What stays with us is the range of this meal: the crab soup we could eat with a little extra pumpkin, the hands-on sea bass, the crunch of chicken cartilage and a mocktail we happily revisited between courses. Desserts did not quite reach the standard of the savory dishes, and the presentation was sometimes more direct than the villa suggested. The kitchen’s handling of ingredients still gave us a memorable dinner. Today this review is most useful as a record of Lý Club Saigon; anyone planning a meal at the same address should look at CoCo Dining’s current restaurant as a separate experience.

Lý Club Saigon Review Card

• 8.2/10
  ATMOSPHERE – 8.2/10
• 8.5/10
  SERVICE – 8.5/10
• 8.2/10
  PRESENTATION – 8.2/10
• 9.0/10
  FOOD – 9.0/10
• 9.5/10
  DRINKS – 9.5/10
• 9.0/10
  VALUE – 9.0/10

Lý Club Saigon Practical Details

Lý Club Saigon FAQ

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For another account of Vietnamese cooking in the city, read our MAM Restaurant Saigon review. If the contrast between a villa dinner and a street-side lunch appeals to you, our guide to bánh mì in Saigon explores another side of the city’s food scene.