| rev:text
| - Legit yummy! A friend and I met up for early lunch last Saturday and we loved the character and charm of the remade house, complete with potted plants and picket fence. As Yelpers suggested, I parked at the thrift store parking lot just north of the restaurant, but there's also street parking available on 57th Ave.
We showed up close to open because we were both starving and hate crowds. The inside was small, but I loved the nice touches like flowers on the table along with a full assortment of condiments, curtains on the windows, and fairly intimate setting.
I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of service after reading the below reviews, but it started off great - the waiter was friendly and offered to answer any questions we had. I had a Vietnamese coffee and my friend ordered a plain boba tea. Her tea was great, and my coffee was good, but not awesome. I enjoy watching the coffee sit and drip into the condensed milk myself and savoring that rich aroma, but here, they prepped the coffee in the back and just brought me the finished glass. It could have been a bit creamier, but it wasn't too sweet, and the coffee was delightfully strong.
We started with the shrimp and pork spring rolls (#2), which were a bit bigger (longer) than the ones I'd had in other restaurants, so they were sliced in half - $4 was fair for two of these bad boys. They were absolutely scrumptious and very fresh, but packed a little loosely, so the goodies kept falling out as I was trying to dip the roll. I'd recommend grabbing your spoon and scooping the peanut sauce as you need it. Also, try it with the red chile sauce on the table...yum.
We both had our hearts set on pho and ordered two bowls of sliced beef & shrimp pho, #12. The server remarked that it was his favorite menu item, so we were excited. The plate of goodies on the side did not disappoint, but we could have used some extra cilantro and basil. The flavor was just salty enough, the shrimp were more generously sized that I expected, and the beef was tender and not fatty or oily. I've noticed that some Vietnamese restaurants tend to add oil to their pho, and thankfully, Little Saigon did not. The bowl wasn't very greasy at all.
When we had gorged ourselves on delicious pho, we hung out for a few minutes and caught up. This is when I could see what other Yelpers had experienced in terms of service - as soon as the restaurant started to fill up, the servers became stressed and harried, checking tables with visible impatience. That's a bit ridiculous when you're making your way through a giant bowl of pho. I always tip extra if I stay a little longer, so I wasn't about to guilt myself into leaving. When we left a few minutes later, there was a grand total of two people waiting out in the foyer.
I also noticed that Little Saigon has a sizeable patio area out front with lots of potential, but a sign read "patio closed." If seating's an issue, guys, open up the patio. Shame too, it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately, indoors got a bit stuffy and warm, especially near our window seat. I even checked to see whether the window would open...lol.
Before tip, a boba tea, Vietnamese coffee, two spring rolls, and two bowls of delicious pho came to $30. Not bad for being stuffed out of our gourds.
Overall: solid Vietnamese cuisine, frankly the best (excluding homemade) I've had in the Valley. For you Vietnamese noobs, the menu details everything clearly and is organized by types of noodles - a must for gluten-free eaters (the rice noodles are great!). However, I'll be sure to get there during their non-peak hours to skip the attitude.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)