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From familiar dishes to new experiences on the high floors of Saigon.
Located on the 66th floor of Landmark 81, Oriental Pearl restaurant has just introduced a brand new à la carte menu, focusing on modernized Vietnamese cuisine. Instead of elaborate presentation, the dishes on the menu explore the subtlety of familiar ingredients – with experimental yet surprising cooking, pairing, and presentation styles.
Amidst the expansive Saigon skyline, the experience at Oriental Pearl is like a culinary journey, taking diners on a culinary adventure from North to South – from stir-fried pho and bun cha to jackfruit curry and foie gras sandwiches. Each dish is a reimagined version, retaining the original spirit while offering a different perspective – lighter, more modern, and more layered.
Oriental Pearl's new menu is a collection of dishes that evoke familiar regional flavors – from Hanoi to Saigon.
Redefining familiar symbols
Starting with the "bun cha" taco, a dish inspired by Hanoi's street corners but presented in a completely new way. Perfectly grilled pork belly, fragrant and tender, is placed inside a crispy taco shell, combined with a skillfully prepared dipping sauce, creating a feeling that is both familiar and vibrant. A compelling blend of street food and modern presentation.
Conversely, jackfruit miso curry is a gentle surprise. The rich, creamy taste of jackfruit, the umami aroma of Japanese miso, and the crispy fried betel leaves are all arranged so that no ingredient overwhelms the others, but together they tell a harmonious story. The pristine white ST25 rice serves as a backdrop, allowing the curry to become the captivating centerpiece.
Taco "Bún Chả", a bold twist on Hanoi's iconic street food.
If pho is considered the national dish, then at Oriental Pearl, Wagyu Satsuma A4 beef stir-fried pho is a quiet tribute. The perfectly cooked noodles, coated in a rich, secret sauce, embrace the precisely pan-seared Wagyu A4 beef. The accompanying egg yolk and rich broth serve as a reminder of the dish's origins, yet the overall presentation is contemporary, neat, and refined.
Grilled pork vermicelli, a representative dish of Southern Vietnamese cuisine, is brought back with meticulous attention to ingredients and texture. Golden grilled pork and spring rolls, crisp fresh vegetables, and a flavorful dipping sauce... all are arranged as a multi-layered combination of flavors, making each bite a discovery.
Elevating the essence of Vietnamese cuisine.
The highlight lies in the Autograph sandwich – a statement-making version of the Vietnamese sandwich. Not a traditional sandwich, this dish combines minced Black Angus beef wrapped in betel leaves, smoked cheese, foie gras sauce, and herbs in a handmade baguette. Each element is carefully selected, resulting in a multi-layered experience: sophisticated, rich, yet retaining the natural spirit of Vietnamese bread.
The dessert was a delightful surprise: Lacàph coffee mousse with pineapple and coconut. The delicate sweetness, subtle sourness, and smooth creaminess intertwined in the mousse-jelly-sauce texture, like a refreshing farewell to summer. Coffee, pineapple, and cilantro – seemingly isolated ingredients – found common ground in the hands of the chef.
A captivating dessert
The 66th floor of Oriental Pearl is not just a place to admire Saigon from above. It's also a place where diners can re-examine Vietnamese cuisine through a new lens: it doesn't need to be unfamiliar to be special, nor does it need to remain unchanged to be considered traditional.
At Oriental Pearl, a restaurant located on the 66th floor of Landmark 81, Vietnamese cuisine is no longer confined to traditional boundaries, but rather a journey of experiencing the transformation of identity through a modern lens.
Landmark 81 from a bird's-eye view.
