Taipei Noodle House, Teaneck

[201]

Note: East Saigon is closed, so I've just edited the topic title. It was a sister restaurant to Taipai Noodle House, just down the road, which was much better anyway. Now Taipai has some Vietnamese items on its menu. Just stick with their excellent Chinese food, especially the noodle soups and hand cut noodles and chafing dishes. Rachel

I know this is largely my fault for poor planning, but I had a pretty unsatisfying evening tonight and wanted to vent a little. Maybe other people have had similar experiences or possibly some suggestions for other places I should have tried on a Monday night.

First, a friend and I headed out to try El Prado (Nuevo Latino Cuisine) in Ridgewood, but discovered that they are closed on Mondays. We were a little disappointed, but I figured it wasn't a big deal because there are still other Spanish/Cuban/Mexican/what-have-you places that I haven't tried yet. So we went off to Teaneck to try La Posada... who are ALSO closed on Mondays. My next pick was Rebecca's in Edgewater, but my friend was driving and he was unhappy enough that he had to drive "all-the-way" (10 minutes) to Teaneck. So we just turned around and headed for Mexicali Blues only to find out they are closed Mondays AND Tuesdays. For all I know, Rebecca's might be closed on Mondays as well.

By this point, I wanted to head to any of my favorite restaurants that I KNEW were open on Mondays, but my friend insisted that I pick a restaurant on the street where we were (Cedar Lane in Teaneck). His impatience with driving is only surpassed by his love of Vietnamese food, so it was quite obvious that he was angling for us to try East Saigon. I was skeptical, because I know that it's run by the people from Veggie Heaven, but we went in anyway. On the way in, I noticed that the neon sign in the window was unlit, making the word "Chinese" stand out much more than "Vietnamese".

That sign was most certainly an omen. The menu was in English and Chinese (no Vietnamese names to be found anywhere) and the food seemed to be overwhelmingly Chinese. Well, to be more correct, the MENU was overwhelmingly Chinese... the food was pretty underwhelming. If you're really looking for Vietnamese food, look elsewhere... such as at Saigon Republic in Englewood or The Little Saigon in Nutley. Of course, our experience wasn't helped any by the fact that the waiter was new and forgot one of our entreés altogether and never bothered to ask us if we wanted anything else (i.e. dessert, drinks...) before handing us the check. Oh well, at least I learned some lessons for next Monday (e.g. do some more research before trying new places that night and make sure that I'm the one who's driving)!!

Any Vietnamese suggestions would be appreciated. I've yet to find a place in Jersey or Manhattan to rival the Vietnamese food I've eaten in Boston, but I'm not giving up the quest!

Edited December 28, 2004 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Jason Perlow]

For crying out loud man, SAIGON REPUBLIC in Englewood. You'll be lucky to get into the place after July 7. The Times is writing it up. Look back a few weeks in the Jersey board or do a search.

[tommy]

east saigon is horrible. but, you know that now!

[Jason Perlow]

Saigon Republic threads on eGullet (click)

[201]

Don't get me wrong, Saigon Republic is very, VERY good and I highly recommend it. The only "problems" I have with it are that the menu could be a lot bigger and the prices could be a little smaller. Even considering those two wishes of mine, it's a GREAT restaurant and I'm glad to know it's here in Jersey.

And yet... I still get more excited thinking about Vietnamese restaurants in Boston. There's "great" and then there's "greater"... and of course, there's always personal preferences which come into play. I'm sure you can think of restaurants you consider to be the best in an area which are in turn bested by restaurants you know in other areas. And thus the search continues...

[201]

east saigon is horrible.  but, you know that now!

Tommy - Good to know we're on the same wavelength. It's just unfortunate that we had to get washed up on the shores of East Saigon BEFORE getting on that wavelength.

(My writing is usually better when fueled by a nice meal... apologies for the absurdity above)

[Jason Perlow]

Don't get me wrong, Saigon Republic is very, VERY good and I highly recommend it.  The only "problems" I have with it are that the menu could be a lot bigger and the prices could be a little smaller.  Even considering those two wishes of mine, it's a GREAT restaurant and I'm glad to know it's here in Jersey.

And yet... I still get more excited thinking about Vietnamese restaurants in Boston.  There's "great" and then there's "greater"... and of course, there's always personal preferences which come into play.  I'm sure you can think of restaurants you consider to be the best in an area which are in turn bested by restaurants you know in other areas.  And thus the search continues...    

The menu is more limited than other Vietnamese places in Jersey that I have been at, but Katie is a perfectionist and buys only the best produce and she really puts her heart into what she cooks. So what she does cook she cooks REALLY well. She is more expensive than your typical Pho house, but her style of cooking is very inventive, not at all traditional Vietnamese, and well worth it. Englewood is an expensive neighborhood in terms of rents, its not like Jersey City. I'll also note if you run out of stuff on the menu, she is always more than happy to craft something up exactly to your taste -- she enjoys inventing new dishes for people and frequently comes up with some very impressive stuff.

[Rachel Perlow]

Oh, I'm so sorry you ended up at East Saigon. If you had only done a search, the thread titled Vietnamese Restaurants in North Jersey mentions and dismissed that place pretty quickly.

On the other hand, you could have had a decent chinese meal at Taipai Noodle House, owned by the same family that owns East Saigon. I think it is the best of the asians on Cedar Lane.

Here's a Monday suggestion that I wish Jason and I had taken. Ciao Bella in Cresskill is open 7 nights a week. We were heading there when we did our usual, "let's see if the diner is packed again" detour. Since it wasn't (well it was packed, but there was a table available w/out waiting), we didn't go to Ciao Bella, to which we've been recommended several times, but it always has a line. I called, they were open and not packed, we should've kept driving. Well, there's always next Monday.

[201]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their condolences. We can only hope that others will see this thread and the other one about North Jersey Vietnamese before it so that they will not make the same mistake of walking into East Saigon expecting to find good Vietanamese food. Obviously, I walked out the door this evening on a Latin kick (as usual), so I didn't have any Asian restaurant knowledge fresh in my mind.

Also, Jason makes very good points about the reasoning behind my only "little issues" (I think "problems" is even too severe a term for these issues) with Saigon Republic. I also attributed the area's rent and the chef's specialization to be the reasons for the prices and menu, respectively. To anyone who hasn't been to Saigon Republic yet, I say "GO! GO NOW!! BRING ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!" All this talk about it is making me hungry enough that I just might have to show up there for lunch tomorrow.

Rachel - Italian's usually pretty low on my "to eat" list, but if you get to Ciao Bella, let us all know if it's worth special consideration.

[Rachel Perlow]

The Ciao Bella was in answer to the 'what's not closed on Mondays?' part of your original post.

[dodge621]

I went to East Saigon once for lunch and have not been inclined to return. Found it ok for a 20 minute lunch. I pass it many times and often it is empty during prime dinner hours even on weekends. I was surprised that it got 2.5 diamonds from the Record and a Good rating by the New York Times.

[Rachel Perlow]

On the other hand, you could have had a decent chinese meal at Taipai Noodle House, owned by the same family that owns East Saigon. I think it is the best of the asians on Cedar Lane.

←

East Saigon is closed. Since there is some discussion here about Taipai Noodle House, I've changed the topic title so we can focus on Taipai. I love their homemade noodles, especially in soups and chafing dishes. And they make an excellent Ginger Chicken. Also, while the crunchy noodles on the table are ubiquitous, they are really good and crunchy! They are always packed to the gills on weekend nights, but make an excellent choice for a weekday dinner.

[Curlz]

TNH was a favorite of an ex-bf of mine; there were times we were in there 3x a week, as it was near his folks' house. We would drop in for a visit with them regularly b/c it gave us an excuse to go to TNH! The great thing about the place is that they have both Japanese and Chinese food as well as terrific sushi available, and it's BYO. Many a bottle of sake was consumed at their sushi bar, and it's where I learned a little about sushi and sushi chefs; the guy who was there was a DOLL, and was always happy to answer our questions and explain what he was doing. It was like watching an artist in his studio! He was also very generous with tastes of things that we hadn't tried or weren't sure we would like. We dropped lots of $ there (it's not an expensive place), and appreciated the special treatment--that's for sure. We also had numerous dinners there with friends who didn't eat sushi, and their Chinese food was EXCELLENT. Oh, how I with I lived closer...!!!