Saigon R (Formerly Saigon Republic)

[dodge621]

anyone tried the Garlic Shrimp here. looks good from the pics

[Rachel Perlow]

As the person who both ate the food and handed Jason the camera, let me say that, yes, the garlic shrimp is good. Nice and garlicy.

The garlic chicken is good too. As is pretty much everything except I don't care for the House Noodles. They are usually too oily. The other noodle dishes are good, especially the noodle soups and the Pad Thai.

[menton1]

Any suggestions on what to order at Saigon Republic in Englewood? It seems you can finally get in on a weekend, but the menu on line has a lot of seemingly Thai entrees. Should you just get the "Pho" soup, as they say, a meal in itself? Only one dish with lemongrass, supposedly the key ingredient.

[Jason Perlow]

One thing you have to understand about Saigon Republic is that it is not a TRADITIONAL vietnamese restaurant. It is a an excellent asian restaurant, period. The chef is trying new and inventive ways of combining different southeast asian ingredients and cooking techniques. So while she is vietnamese, she has stuff like "pad thai" on the menu but it really isnt pad thai, its a unique noodle dish.

The pho soups ARE traditional and are very good but you are missing out by not ordering her specials and other entrees. Everything on that menu is good.

[201]

My advice would be to go with a group of at least four. That way you can sample more of the menu, but I'm not kidding when I say that everything I've sampled there has been delicious. As Jason stated, it's really branching out from traditional Vietnamese, but in very good and creative ways. I believe the lemongrass dish to which you referred is the lemongrass chicken... it's terrific! Very moist with a subtle, yet distinct flavoring to it. You should certainly try the pho (it is the standard by which many [myself included] judge a Vietnamese restaurant), but you'll likely still have room to sample other entrees as well.

Enjoy!

edit: More of a postscript really... in case you haven't seen them yet, some pictures of the food might help you decide. Just order whatever looks good!! Chances are it will taste even better.

[Rachel Perlow]

I especially enjoy KT's fish specials, they are usually excellent. The only thing I don't like on the entire menu is the House Noodles. The pad thai with tofu, while not an authentic Thai pad thai, is a delicious noodle dish.

Edit: You guys make me nuts. Now I have to go there tonight!

[Rachel Perlow]

Congratulations to Saigon Republic on their 1st Anniversary.

They are still riding the review wave, it was completely booked on a Wednesday evening. You are still able to get a table as long as you call ahead by a few hours (for a weeknight) or a day or three (for Friday/Saturday), but walk-ins are frequently turned away because they are so busy. I edited the first post of this thread to reflect their revised hours, and there are some new pics on their website.

Saigon Republic Vietnamese Cuisine

58 West Palisade Avenue (across from McDonalds)

Englewood, NJ 07632

201-871-4777 phone

201-871-7477 fax

Lunch Hours: Wednesday - Friday: 11:30 AM to 3 PM; Saturday: 12 Noon to 3 PM

Dinner Hours: Tuesday - Thursday: 5 to 9 PM; Friday - Saturday: 5 to 10 PM; Sunday: 4:30 to 8:30 PM

BYOB, closed Mondays

Edit: I copied the link/address/hours to this post since it started page 2 of the thread.

Edited July 31, 2003 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[ngatti]

First Time this evening as a no problem 7:30 walk-in deuce.

Smokin' duck summer rolls, VG spring rolls. Forget the name of the chicken dish. Big coconut flavor, tasty, but the chicken was overcooked. The spicy beef also tasted good but was tough. Could've used a little needling.

A keeper. I'll go back. If only for the summer rolls. How the hell they do it with twenty seats is beyond me. Even with three turns. Figure an average check at 15-20 bucks. Power to them. anyone who makes food this tasty and works this hard deserves a place in culinary heaven.

Nick

[Rachel Perlow]

KT will be going on vacation shortly. The restaurant will be closed for about week starting Saturday, August 9th. They will reopen for dinner service on Tuesday, August 19th.

Also, Saigon Republic was once again written up, this time in NJ Monthy magazine, here's a link for the online article, Think Globally, Eat Locally (page down).

[larrymorman]

Saigon is a must eat asian, especially in the desert of culinary delights in north jersey. shrimp dumplings, duck summer rolls, and vietnamese spring rolls as appetizers. Pad thai spicy noodles with duck or shrimp, spicy beef, pork chops, and aromatic duck are all wonderful entree's. The food is all made to order fresh with a side order of love. It's light and tasty and very addictve, so if you are not looking for a new vice, don't eat here.

[Rosie]

Thanks Larry. Many eGulleters have discovered this restaurant and agree with you 150%.

[dumpling]

Went there today for take out lunch-met Jason, Rachel and larrymorman-a virtual Egullet fest! Nice to meet you guys in person. I think I was still half asleep from being out late last night-too much galavanting. Don't get over there to Englewood too often but I had to be there for a couple of things today and so decided to combine it with Saigon. I do have a confession to make - I had to go to the nearby Victoria's Secret. I confess that I have sinned; I looked at thongs other than those of Egullet. Please give me an appropriate penance.

[Fat Guy]

Finally had my first-ever meal at Saigon Republic. Definitely the best Vietnamese food I've had outside of Vietnam. (That was a little joke, as I've never been to Vietnam.)

Favorite items were the terrific, crisp shrimp toast made with little baguette slices; the pork chops; and of course the pho -- also the best I've had. Everything else was also quite good; not a bad dish in the bunch. The flavors coming out of this kitchen are clean and focused, the food has a handmade look and taste to it, and the quality of ingredients (the shrimp, the beef) is high.

The tiny dining room is overseen by a very capable server. He told us that they can cram 30 people in there -- not something I'd like to experience! At lunchtime, though, it was thankfully uncrowded.

[tommy]

the Times reports in tomorrow's paper that the people who own Republic, the place on union square in NY, want Saigon Republic to change their name or they'll face a lawsuit.

note to the people who own Republic: don't worry, no one is going to confuse Saigon Republic with that crappy bland restaurant that you have, and they're certainly not riding on your coattails. get over yourself.

and i see steven shaw is doing some pro bono work for SR. interesting bits at the end of the article with the lawyers going back-and-forth. good stuff.

Edited May 8, 2004 by tommy (log)

[Fat Guy]

A couple of points before I make a comment. First of all I need to make clear that my work on behalf of Saigon Republic is not in an official eGullet capacity. eGullet is not on anybody's side in this matter. Secondly, I hope you all will understand that I will have to limit my comments here, so I will probably not chime back in after this post.

I thought it was a very well done article. When I spoke to the reporter on the phone she had an excellent grasp of the issues, and that came through in the final product. My only wish would have been for the article to contain a quote or two from an impartial source -- such as a law professor who specializes in these matters. Because the first thing I did before agreeing to help out here was to reach out to the people in my network who are impartial experts, and they came back with the conclusion that there is no case here. Obviously, had that not been my conclusion and that of my best advisors, I'd have immediately advised Saigon Republic to change its name.

There are also a couple of factual glitches, it seems. The text says "Ms. Tran, who owns the Republic restaurant..." Of course, she owns the Saigon Republic restaurant. The text refers to "a five-point star reminiscent of the Vietnamese flag between the words 'Saigon' and 'Republic' as well as 'Vietnamese' and 'Cuisine' on her storefront," but as the photo shows there is only one star: "Saigon Republic * Vietnamese Cuisine."

The "dismiss[ing] of Mr. Shaw's homework" passage only deals (badly) with 2 of the 12 examples I cited in my letter, chosen from 603 registered marks with the word "republic" in them.

Serial # Mark

----------- ----------------------

75010712 REPUBLIC CHAI

75378719 RICE REPUBLIC

75594554 CONCH REPUBLIC SEAFOOD COMPANY

75769433 WINE REPUBLIC

76370148 STRAWBERRY REPUBLIC

76390695 TEQUILA REPUBLIC

78003774 JAVA REPUBLIC ROASTING COMPANY

78073502 PHO REPUBLIC

78327039 SAUVIGNON REPUBLIC

78354270 REPUBLIC OF BEANS

78268998 CHERRY REPUBLIC

78298269 HERBAL REPUBLIC

It is also utterly disingenuous to compare the term "Nobu" to the term "Republic." One is clearly not generic. The other clearly is. That could hardly be more obvious.

Many thanks to those who have offered to help so far. If there are any other lawyers reading along who would like to get involved in the Saigon Republic legal team, please feel free to contact me about that.

Signing off.

[pcbilly]

Good job, Fat Guy!

It is ridiculous that a Manhattan restaurant chain will want to pick on a family owned "mom and grandma" noodle shop in Jersey.

And how can someone trademark the word "Republic" is beyond me(I guess I am not a lawyer)

Hopefully the publicity from The Times will also help Ms.Tran and her restaurant.

Bill

PS Will the restaurant stay close for the time being?

[Rachel Perlow]

Unfortunately, there was an electrical fire in the basement of the building where Saigon Republic is located (which damaged their kitchen), so it is closed for a few weeks for repairs (the take-out Chinese place next door is also closed). Meanwhile, they are getting closer to opening their second location in Fort Lee, and are considering naming it Saigon Republic Cafe.

[snausages2000]

Regarding Republic's intention to sue Saigon Republic, the irony, to me, is that Republic itself has always seemed a flagrant rip-off of Wagamama in London - the communal wooden benches, the pan-Asian noodle menu, even the red star logo. And these are much more substantive elements to 'borrow' than a name, especially when that name is essentially the name of the nation which the food is from.

Unless Republic is in fact owned by Wagamama (or, even then too), it's laughable that such a derivative restaurant would go after a more authentic competitor, crying 'copycat.'

[jhlurie]

Basically, to me, it seems like the classic "nuisance suit", where the big fish is hoping to intimidate the little fish into surrender. Steven says above that he found 603 registered marks with "Republic", but I'm willing to bet that the actual number of active businesses with the word "Republic" in them is MUCH higher. It takes a combination of terms like "Saigon" and "Republic" together to make something unique, not the use of a single highly generic word. "Republic" is like the word "King" or "Star"--both which are used in thousands of restaurants. Or an even better comparison would be "Empire"--which is probably used in TENS of thousands of restaurants.

[ghostrider]

Basically, to me, it seems like the classic "nuisance suit", where the big fish is hoping to intimidate the little fish into surrender.

And what, one wonders, do they think they'll gain by this?

Only thing I can see them gaining is a lot of ill will.

Do they seroiusly think that New Yorkers are flocking to Englewood instead of Union Sq, having been deluded into expecting the "Republic" experience in NJ?

It boggles the mind.

[jhlurie]

Perhaps Saigon Republic has been better rated than Republic and they resent that?

[tommy]

google "saigon republic".

[menton1]

I'm not an expert on trademark laws, but it would seem to only make sense that the word "Republic" is of such a generic nature that it couldn't be trademarked. Plus there is little doubt that anyone would think that KT's place has anything to do with the restaurant in the city. The sad part is, I'm sure that it will be difficult and costly for KT to fight this lawsuit and she is just a little family business with great food. I do hope it all works out for her, and, that they reopen soon!

Perhaps we could start a letter-writing campaign to Republic saying that we will boycott their places if they don't drop the lawsuit!

Another David vs. Goliath issue, hope the David wins out!!

[Rachel Perlow]

Is the article only in the NJ version or section of the Times? I cannot find it online on the NYTimes site or the downloaded print version.

[tommy]

Is the article only in the NJ version or section of the Times? I cannot find it online on the NYTimes site or the downloaded print version.

jersey section.