saigon 60's

this was my first experience for vietnamese dining in rotorua. my rating is based on food quality, wait time, affordability & service.

the greeting at the door from staff was inviting, allowed us to choose a table (i dislike sitting by the door). it was clean, warm & cosy. unlike other establishments where the menu can be overcrowded & i often find myself ordering based on a picture of the dish or someone else’s preferred dish, the menu here was easy to read & well laid out. we ordered the vietnamese spring rolls, chicken pho, summer spring rolls & seafood stir fry. vietnamese spring rolls were great, served with a sweet chilli sauce, they complimented each other well, but that’s to be expected. the chickenphobroth was delicious, i even suggested it to family, i’m not a fan of coriander but it didn’t over power the dish so i was even happy to have had that. the summer rolls were good & the peanut sauce they served with it was yum. the seafood stir fry was an extra $1, and was expected. prawns, mussels, crab meat & squid rings were very average served with your usual stir fry vegetables. all was served hot & within 10 minutes of our order being taken. very happy with the service. i would recommend & return. i hoping to try their beef stew next visit.

an authentic and tasty vietnamese restaurant!

we ordered
spicy beef pho, classic beef pho, spring rolls, and vietnamese iced coffee.
the highlights would be
- the texture of the classicphonoodles: they were not too doughy, and did not break easily (meaning it wasn't overcooked), but instead were light and springy.
- the tender and thin slices of sirloin
- the deep flavours and fragrance of both broths

i thought the spring rolls could have contained more filling, because they were quite skinny and were therefore too crunchy.

the iced coffee was good but a bit expensive at $6.50 for a small cup (most of the cup was ice as well)

the raw beefphohere is absolutely amazing. live in auckland but have come here three times whilst on holiday. definitely would recommend anyone who wants a refreshing bowl ofphoto come try saigon.

last weekend is rotorua we found this place by chance, and i was surprised by the cosy family atmosphere of the place. i looked around and noticed with how much love everything was arranged and decorated there. the food was excellent too. i had a roast duckphosoup (my first experience with vietnamese cuisine). the place is so clean and tidy. no wonder it's popular with locals (i saw quite a few people ordering while other places around were quiet in this touristless time). well, guys you have to visit this lovely cafe!

great authentic pho, the vegetarian 🌱photaste really good with whole lots of veggies. my other two friends ordered classic beef and pork pho, they said it’s just perfect 👍

i feel this is quite a polarising restaurant. the words used to describe the flavours to me by a local was “heavy” and “gamey”. my chefs special pork pancake was perfectly crunchy with a strong fish sauce on top, almost to the point of oily but balanced by the zing of the citrus in the salad.
my wife’s classic beefphodefinitely had a few extra flavours in it i couldn’t quite identify. as an asian she found it authentic and delightful, i found it different and somewhat unexpected. not your run of the mill chain restaurant, i felt it was a bold take on vietnamese style.
the staff were helpful and informative, the restaurant seemed full of difficult people with strange requests that were all handled well and politely while we where there. busy on a monday night post covid!
it did feel crammed and not much in the way of privacy, other than that a great food adventure.

had the beef pho, lemongrass chicken and summer rolls which were all super tasty, especially the beef pho, way better than all the vietnamese restaurants that i’ve ever had. beefphosoup was full of flavour and the beef was super tender. highly recommended.

beefphosoup is very authentic and very good, the prices are affordable. the vegetarian dishes of theirs are also good. visited on saturday at lunchtime, almost all our dishes arrived within five minutes. waitress is quite helpful.

stopped by for late dinner. the place was really quiet which was exactly what i needed, but was wanting it being a bit busier! beefphowas very nice, the taste was great though far a bit much noodles. would come once again to try out more dishes.

enjoyed real vietnamese dishes. it's been much time since i left the country of mine. discovered the actual taste of vietnam right here in new zealand. what a surprise! highly suggest the beef salad and beefphonoodle soup. the chef is very skilled and artistic in how he mixed the ingredients and also do the plating.