Taste of Saigon

[Jason Perlow]

Has anyone been here yet?  Comments?

Read Above:

It would be nice to know if this place has improved at all, since the loss of Little Saigon in Nutley and Pho Van Tuan in Bloomfield has undergone renovations.

[tommy]

i've been tempted to try this place again. but for me, the lack of parking keeps me away. i've had a few decent dishes there, and some downright horrible dishes. i suppose i should give it another shot.

[menton1]

It would be nice to know if this place has improved at all, since the loss of Little Saigon in Nutley and Pho Van Tuan in Bloomfield has undergone renovations.

I guess Saigon Republic in Englewood has become old reliable. The food is so consistently good there, why do we have to seek out a place in Ridgewood?

P.S. Jason, what happened to Truffle? He was a lot cuter than that sandwich!!

[Rachel Perlow]

When Jason posted, it was later in the day after we remembered that Saigon Republic is not open for lunch on Tuesday (their hours: Lunch Wed-Sat, Dinner Tues-Sun). We ended up going to Wondee's instead, hardly a disappointment.

[Jason Perlow]

It would be nice to know if this place has improved at all, since the loss of Little Saigon in Nutley and Pho Van Tuan in Bloomfield has undergone renovations.

I guess Saigon Republic in Englewood has become old reliable. The food is so consistently good there, why do we have to seek out a place in Ridgewood?

P.S. Jason, what happened to Truffle? He was a lot cuter than that sandwich!!

I like Saigon Republic a lot, don't get me wrong. KT and Joe are practically family. But Saigon Republic isnt a particularly authentic Vietnamese restaurant and sometimes I want traditional Vietnamese cusine.

Heres' hoping Pho Van Tuan or Little Saigon get back on their feet soon.

I'm waiting until Truffle gets clipped again, he looks kinda grungy in that picture.

[Montclair Diva]

After reading about Taste of Saigon on this forum, I decided to stop in after a singing engagement in Wyckoff a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. I found it to be roughly twice the cost of Little Saigon and Pho Van Tuan. The summer rolls were OK (my kids didn't like them). I also ordered a beef noodle soup, wonton soup made with chicken and shrimp, pork over noodles and (at one of your suggestions) the creme caramel. The latter, I thought, was pretty good. The rest were mediocre to inedible.

Also at your suggestion, I guess about a month ago or so ago I tried Pho Van Tuan on a Sunday evening. When I went in to order, the person taking my order told me that they only had a few things left to cook in the kitchen! I assumed they meant that because they were closed on Mondays. Turns out I think my family got the very last meal period! And, it was delicious!! My kids inhaled the perfectly done egg rolls stuffed with I believe pork and shrimp. The wonton soup was heavenly. Fantastic beef and chicken noodle soups. We also got a grilled pork dish that was divine.

I am tempted to drive to Englewood just to satisfy my yearning for Vietnamese. I am at a loss as to why there are no Vietnamese restaurants in my town where we have a bevy of almost everything else. Sesame was a big disappointment to me as I hoped for an interesting new Asian restaurant instead of the same old Cantonese, and not good at that.

[tommy]

well, i tried this place again for take-out. i gotta hand it to them: the food is ready in about 7 minutes.

this time around, the friend spring rolls were just OK. as rachel mentioned, i don't know if there's much if any meat in these things. but they're decent enough when you have the craving.

the fried beef with onion was OK, but lacked onions. there were about 3 slices. about 5 times as many would have made the dish twice as good. the chicken curry was dry-ish.

the portions are small, and the prices are not.

as much as i'd like to see a vietnamese restaurant in that area succeed, i'd like even more to see a *good* vietnamese restaurant in that area. still waiting...

Edited January 11, 2004 by tommy (log)