Vietnamese Restaurants in New Jersey

[byarvin]

More bad news.

Today I drove the entire length of Front Street in Plainfield - from the corner of Martine Ave. all the way past downtown and into an idustrial area I'd never seen before and could find no trace of La Viet or any other Vietnamese restaurant there.

I should also point out that several blocks of downtown were either recently demolished or appeared as if they were going to be torn down any day.

During the next few days, I should be able to visit the Vietnamese grocery on Route 27 in Edison and I'll ask there if they know what happened.

[Rosie]

La Viet is upstairs and easy to miss.

[byarvin]

Rosie, I did another web seach and came up with the address 129 E. Front Street. When I called the phone number, it was for a whole different sort of business totally unrelated to food.

When I put this address into MapQuest, I came up with roughly the location I spotted a second floor Mexican place. However, I'll be happy to go and look again.

However...however...during this trip I spotted at least four other interesting Mexican and Central American places. So if you go down to E. Front Street, you won't go hungry.

[babyluck]

So, anyone know if La Viet is still open? How about Pho Quyen (also in Plainfield on Watchung Ave) -- anyone been there?

[tommy]

just to keep this current, Little Saigon in Nutley burned down this morning.

[jhlurie]

New Saigon Gourmet update. Something else is being built in that spot. The permits in the window indicate it's still food, but don't give a clue what it is. The windows are all newspapered up.

[Rachel Perlow]

Hmm, maybe a BBQ Hut?

[laurenmilan]

Hey, I didn't see South Plainfield's Saigon here:

Saigon

2239 S Clinton Ave

South Plainfield, NJ 07080 Between Baldwin St and New Era Dr

I've been going there for about a year now, and I love their pho, following by a cup of cafe sua da, maybe I should change my order once in a while "They see me comin' "

[Jason Perlow]

I've updated the listings in the first post.

[larryc]

There's also Pho 99, near the Hong Kong Supermarket in South Plainfield.

3600 Park Ave

South Plainfield, NJ 07080

[larryc]

Two more:

Bien Hoa Restaurant

2090 Lincoln Highway 27

Edison, NJ 08817

732 287 9500

Bien Hoa Express (in the Kam Man Market food court)

200 Route 10 West

East Hanover, NJ 07936

973 503 0660

[bgut1]

I've got another one to add to the list - Pho Anh Dao, 1483 Rt. 27 South, Somerset, NJ 08837 (732) 246 1788. I came upon this place by accident this past Saturday. It was a cold and rainy day and a hot bowl of pho really hit the spot.

Edited February 7, 2006 by bgut1 (log)

[Jason Perlow]

There's also Saigon House in East Hanover which opened in late hours of 2005.

[hitmanoo]

The Little Saigon

19 Elm Street

Montclair, NJ 07042

(973) 783-3914

Excellent food at very affordable prices.

Great $6 lunch specials too!

[=Mark]

Saigon II

(732) 933-1964

650 Newman Springs Rd

Lincroft, NJ 07738

[hitmanoo]

Just went to Little Saigon for lunch. I'm still so suprised that it isn't more crowded.

Lemongrass chicken over rice with a delicious spicy flavor, and a very tasty and light wonton soup for an apetizer for $6.36. I just don't know where you can get a better lunch deal.

The food is consistantly delicious, and the prices are more than reasonable. They seem to do very well on weekends in the evening, but lunch is pretty quiet.

Located on Elm St. on the eastern part of town, parking isn't a problem like it is for much of the Montclair restaurants on or near Bloomfield Ave.

[tommy]

one word: service.

they drop the ball, and for me, it's not even worth the hassle anymore. and this coming from a guy who was perhaps their original proponent when they lived in Nutley. what a shame.

[hitmanoo]

one word:  service.

they drop the ball, and for me, it's not even worth the hassle anymore.  and this coming from a guy who was perhaps their original proponent when they lived in Nutley.  what a shame.

←

I have heard that they used to have service problems. I go there quite frequently, and it hasn't been an issue. Even when I went with a party of 6, they were quite accomodating and on the ball.

Maybe service issues are behind them. Maybe I've been lucky.

[menton1]

Don't know why it gets so little mention here, but Saigon R in Englewood forges on after 4 years as a wonderful dining experience. Food is creative and infused with complex and interesting flavors and spices. Staff is terrific, the place is very cozy. Always full, even on weekdays, so reserve in advance! (Closed Mon & Tues).

Menu is a bit more eclectic than pure Vietnamese, but the Pho is fabulous and authentic, as well as several other dishes, and all of the food is wonderful.

[dumpling]

Took in a very nice Vietnamese restaurant today. Always a lovely thing to discover a new place!

Rather by accident. Headed out to Sabor in Hawthorne for lunch with AlanZ and his son Josh. Well not clear from their website, but turns out they were not open for lunch. Thelunch menu listed on their website applies to their other location in Edgewater.

Anyway, we were turned away and contemplating our options on the way back through Ridgewood when we motored past a sign I saw flashing by, "vietnamese food". We turned around and came back to investigate. Turns out to be a little house with a vietnamese restaurant, "TC's Little Taste of Saigon". Haven't seen anything on it here but then recalled I remember reading a passing thing on it opening in Ridgewood.

We arrived around 1:30; there was no one there. It was quite cute, very clean and neat. One nice lady with limited English covering the tables, and pictures put up in the anteroom of some of their dishes.

Not having been there before we took a stab at leaving ourselves in her hands. She suggested grilled pork and spring rolls over rice vermicelli, and a grilled shrimp with curry and lemongrass. Then we added an order of barbecued spare ribs. We also had a cold coffee with condensed milk and a lemonade.

All in all, a very pleasant experience. Our servers suggestions were quite good. The vermicelli had beansprouts and mint running through it, and was nicer then most other versions I have had. The pork was served in slices over the top and the spring rolls, also cut up in pieces strewn over the top. The final topping was a little chopped peanuts. When mixed with sirracha, fish sauce and/ or a little soy, quite a nice combo.

The spareribs were meaty, and cooked well, the glaze slightly sweet.

The most unique dish was the grilled shrimp. I thought it was going to be served in a curry sauce. While they had been dipped in curry there was no real "sauce" sauce. The shrimp were dotted with little bits of charred lemongrass that were pretty intense when you gnawed on them. Very nice dish, our favorite.

This reminds me of early days of China 46 as in where are the people when they should be there? The location doesn't necessarily lend itself to foot traffic.

TC's Little Taste of Saigon

419 Goffle Road

Ridgewood, NJ O7450

201 445 5509

[PicnicChef]

Thanks for the post, Duplin'! I get my propane filled next door and have always been curious about the place, but not enough to venture in. Sounds like its worth a visit! Were you the only diners there?

CN

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, I think we went to TC's Little Taste of Saigon several years back and we thought that the Pho was lackluster so we never went back.

[Jason Perlow]

Here's the former thread about TC's Taste of Saigon, I found it:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=34226&hl=

[tommy]

for the most part i've found TC's horrible. it's minutes from my house and i never consider it.

[dumpling]

Ok, first time there, so I haven't tried the breadth of dishes but all that we tried was quite nice, especially the shrimp which alone would induce me back. There was a really nice hand on the way the lemongrass was done in that dish.

There was no one else there, Christine.

Jason, didn't test out the Pho; normally would have, but the sweat of the 102 degrees dripping down our brows discouraged us.

Looking back at the old thread, which I had not seen, seems that it may be a case of "hit or miss"; some good, some less so.

I'll go back and keep an eye on it and comment more as I found it worth the exploration and I have a Jones for traditional Vietnamese.