With classes indisputably in full swing and nights consisting more and more of reading assignments and problem sets, many students turn to an old study tool: the telephone. Ordering in from that ubiquitous college-town staple, the Chinese restaurant, has always been a cheap-and-easy dining hall alternative.
Charlottesville -- being the restaurant mecca that it is -- boasts a number of these establishments, all of which serve up essentially the same menu of fried rice, lo mein, egg rolls and over-sauced meats. Quick, easy, cheap and positively unhealthy -- these are buzzwords for the college dining, and take-out Chinese food, experience.
We know you can do better -- dinner doesn't have to end with MSG seeping out of your pores and a stomach that feels like lead. When the craving for a taste of the Far East hits, please, resist the urge to order up some General Tso's. Instead, hop in your car and make the short drive to Saigon Café for fresher, and even cheaper, Asian delights.
A sign that you've discovered a good ethnic restaurant is when people of that nationality eat there. We knew we'd found a winner when the only other patrons in Saigon Café the night we visited were a large, Vietnamese-speaking group. We definitely kept our eyes on them to see what to order.
One of our favorite dishes -- and, coincidentally, the least expensive
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