saigon restaurant

rediscovering an old favorite. we have dined periodically at saigon over the years, and always liked it. but the lure of newer and arguably flashier asian restaurants has gobbled up much of our dining attention recently. so, after about a year's absence we decided to return to this oldvietnamesestandby in bel air plaza.
shame on us for being away for so long!
first off, the place visually hasn't changed since our last visit. it remains a very pleasant dining room, with high back booths along the wall of windows, and tables and a small bar filling out the remainder of the room. the tv was muted, but had the food network on. whatever...
and the background music remains as odd and vaguely off-putting as ever. mellow pop and country. seriously? it's just wrong for this sort of restaurant.
but, they have a new menu. and it is chock full of absolutely wondrous delights!
the first clue that diners are in for a nice experience comes quickly: the ice water glasses come complete with a thin slice of cucumber. better than lemon. better than lime. it really jazzes up plain old h2o. only a few other omaha restaurants do this. every one ought to.
then there is the beer and cocktail menu. while i usually stick to hot tea while eating asian cooking, they have some excellent beers here, including one new to me...saigon. it is wonderfully full bodied, and is now my favorite asian beer!
the new menu is 4 full pages long, plus a 2 page special menu advertising new dishes. i must have spent 15 minutes debating with myself what to order. everything sounded soooo good, i wanted to order something from every section: the soups, the vermicelli bowls, the meals for two, meat items, the seafood dishes, and even the interesting vegetarian offerings. i ended up with the pork clay pot, and my husband chose the grilled pork vermicelli bowl with thinly sliced raw veggies. the pork clay pot was attractively served with the meat, sliced peppers, carrots and onions still sizzling in the pot. and the flavor of chargrilled pork permeated the vermicelli and raw veggies, creating a fascinating blend of barbeque aroma amidst the noodles and thinly sliced veggies. we loved every bite! each main course was large enough to take a portion home.
we had started with the always good spring rolls, plus a new item, flaky pastries filled with pork in the center. yum!
and a word or three about the hot and sour soup: it is much lighter tasting than the chinese version i am so familiar with. and it has just a touch of sweetness. believe it or not, it was a perfect soup for a warm summer evening.
our service was excellent. water glasses were refilled seemingly every 5 minutes, and the wait staff checked back on us regularly. only when we asked for take out containers did we have to wait longer than expected. still, we were in and out in about an hour. that included my delay in deciding what to order.
and meal prices are really dirt cheap for such high quality food. there is no way i could ever cook these foods at home for a lower cost, and it would take me hours. in contrast, the beer and wine prices are more typical of most restaurants in the city.
if you enjoy asian cooking, you will take joy in saigon restaurant. it is absolutely one of metro omaha's finest asian dining options.
food: a
atmosphere: b+
service: a-
menu sophistication: a
value: a


-----23 oct, 2010-----

vietnamese done with style. saigon has been open for many years, and offers consistent quality food in an attractive atmosphere. the lunch menu is a bit streamlined as compared with other asian restaurants, but it offers a nice selection of soups, noodle dishes as well as veggie, shrimp and meat dishes served with steamed rice. i wish some of the appetizers could be ordered in individual sized portions. most come in shareable portions.
lunch entrees are all less than $10. expect to pay a bit more at dinner.

authentic and delicious!. my husband and i have been coming here for years, and i have to say it's the bestvietnamesefood in town! the price is amazing, too! don't be scared off by the location either... not all business opened when sw fw was being developed so you get what you get! i also have to mention how amazing the two waitresses are that work there. they been there for years (i feel bad because i don't know their names... but it's a little too late to ask at this point) they work so quickly and efficiently even though the place is always packed. they both know our typical order now and even go out of their way to brew our tea just the way we like it! you must try this place.. and get the "noodle #5" and egg rolls!

hidden gem. i never would have thought to eat her if a local wouldn't have dragged me here. everything is awesome.vietnamesecoffee is great & best egg rolls you'll ever have. cash only. ask server for suggestions on menu. most likely the descriptions on the menu will be confusing ;)

genuine cuisine. i only went there once, but generally speaking the food is really close to thevietnamesecuisines that tourists would find in vietnam. it has great good, service, and amazingly low price. recommend to anyone who loves asian food, especially who likes rice, and noodles.

this place has been open since, well, before i would have been willing to tryvietnamesefood. now, this is on my short list of "let's go somewhere different for lunch" places.

the decor is like a cross between a diner and a chinese restaurant. clean and well lit, but nothing special. atmosphere isn't the reason to come here, or a reason to stay away.

the staff is polite and service is prompt. i would appreciate a little more help in the way of offering advice and suggestions, but it may be that i am the only person that needs the help.

appetizers here are good, and come in small portions that won't ruin your appetite. the pate so is a very interesting meat paistery that i love, and the spring rolls are just what you would expect.

the stir fry dishes are​ all good - but the best i've ever had, but they are good enough to scratch the itch. the soups and stews, however, are the real reason i go to this place. the pho and the seafood soups are big, well prepared a always satisfying.

this isn't my favorite place in town, buy i've never had a bad meal here. in a competitive market like omaha, you can't stay open for not than 20 years without good did at reasonable prices. that is what you seek find here.

delicious food and attentive caring owners.. being from california and eatingvietnamesefood and pho several times a week, i was not getting my hopes up for finding great pho in maine. what a nice surprise and a great find! delicious and expertly prepared pho, fresh meats, veggies and and perfect broth. their homemade "spicy" satay sauce (a sauce you can choose to dip into or add to your food for spice and flavor) was the best i've ever had and of high quality. deliciousvietnamesestyle chicken wings are hard to find anywhere but saigon restaurant has "chicken wings in garlic and tamarind" (a fruit type spice from a tree). hard to describe, but a dark sweet and slight sour sauce and garlic over a fried wing. they were very unique and tasty. the owner is in the store and cares that your dining experience is a great one.

unbelievably good food, amazing service, reasonable price!. i noticed that this restaurant had an excellent rating and decided to give it a try. the moment i walked in the door, i was immediately charmed by the cozy, out-of-the-way feel -- and the delicious scent of the meals being served.

while i waited, a waitress brought me over a cup of tasty lotus tea, and a man placed in front of me a cup of quite possibly the most delicious cup of soup i've ever had. i settled in for what i thought would be a long wait since i ordered three entrees and a couple of appetizers. but i hadn't even finished my soup when the food came out, less than ten minutes later--and that was only because one of the entrees i'd ordered was apparently more "time consuming" to make. they were very friendly and welcoming and unlike many times i might order takeout, where you feel awkward and out of place while you wait around for your meal, i actually enjoyed the experience. considering it had been one of the hardest weeks of my life, i appreciated their collective kindness and great attitude.

the drive to my destination was close to torture, so overwhelming were the delicious scents coming from the bag in my back seat. i drove a little faster than normal, risking a speeding ticket to get it to my boyfriend's house sooner so i could try it.

i barely got in the door before we both ripped into the bag and dove into the feast like two starving beasts. normally, we have more manners and decorum, but honestly, the food was so damn good, it should have a warning label. i had the bun bo nuong (vermicelli with roasted beef), which had the most flavorful and deliciously spiced beef along with a generous assortment of shredded lettuce, mint, cilantro and pickled vegetables. my counterpart had the vit quay chien gion sot (roast duck with sweet and sour sauce). our dinnertime conversation, which is usually philosophical and interesting, consisted of "mmm. oh god. so good." rinse and repeat.

"where did you find this place?" my boyfriend asked, the first complete sentence he'd uttered in nearly a half hour. "that's the bestvietnamesefood i've ever had."

was he ever thrilled when i reminded him that he still had some egg rolls and another entree waiting for him. but he was too stuffed to even consider it.

his two standard poodles sat dejected in the corner, pouting. you see, he usually gives them a taste of his meal. but not this time--he was not in the mood to share a bite. better luck next time, guys.

i don't know what my dreams consisted of last night, but i seem to remember dancing in fields of mint and cilantro. a happy tummy usually equals happy dreams.

you would think that a meal of such quality would cost you. but three entrees, two of which were seafood and duck, plus two appetizers cost a little over fifty bucks. pretty reasonable, i'd say.

my sage diner's advice for the day? you need to try this place.

unexpected surprise. we were looking for a sit down oriental restaurant and happened to find this one listed close to where we were. it would have been worth the drive whether a mile or across town. the waiter, yujid (jerry) explained the menu, gave helpful advice and was very respectful of our lack of knowledge ofvietnamesespecific menu items. he made several suggestions- we had the seafood lo mien, sweet and sour pork and cashew chicken. we didn't go adventurous for food choices, but what we had was excellent. good ingredients, fresh vegetables and cooked to our liking. i would recommend this and will go back again. it was clean, friendly and was an actual sit down restaurant- not a buffet.

expect nothing. several of the reviews on here note how terrible the service is here. i went by myself last night, sat at the bar for some pho tai and avietnamesecoffee (no room for the egg rolls, unfortunately) and had a wonderful experience. i went in with no expectation of good service due to the mixed reviews and was very pleasantly surprised. the whole floor was staffed by one woman (aside from a man that came out to cashier at some points) and they had 5-6 tables occupied so she couldn't hang around waiting on me, but she was very friendly. she showed me how to make the coffee, and smiled at my barely-passable pronunciation. in addition, the pho tai was incredible. i think i let the beef cook a little too long in the broth, as some of the last pieces i ate were a little tough, but other than that it was a perfect experience. i look forward to coming back and trying the egg rolls, which i've heard a lot about from friends, and exploring the rest of their menu.

favoritevietnameserestaurant in omaha. we’ve had lunch at this restaurant a couple of times. the appetizers are excellent. the noodle soups have a rich and luscious broth and the rice dishesare some of the best we’ve tasted. on the down side, there is a definite odor of heating gas or oil. reminded me of shopping in seoul, south korea back in the old days. it’s off-putting but one gets used to it within 15-20 minutes. and the first time i ordered the seafood noodle soup, the broth was lukewarm and the shrimp still cold; the taste was excellent though. it was a cold wintery day and i really wanted some piping hot soup. we mentioned it to the waitress when we paid the bill and she said the next time to let the staff know and they would immediately correct it. the next time we visited, i ordered a different noodle soup and it was piping hot...so delicious. the restaurant is clean and the service attentive and pleasant. the location a bit far for us to drive, but the food is worth it. we’ll be back!

being unfamiliar withvietnamesefood, i really wanted to try it. while the decor at saigon isn't the greatest, the food sure is! a friendly and extremely helpful waitstaff helped with my order and even mixed my pho gau all sorts of spices and sauces. broth was amazing along with the chicken, noodles and veggies. try the egg roll with he waitstaff's special mixing sauce.

i intended to go to the loft the other night, to pursue this burger that is served on a donut instead of a bun. i have not given up on my mission, but on this night, the loft was closed (rat infestation? doesn't phase me), and i was momentarily stymied, since i was on foot.  faced with the relatively bleak dining options of out forest avenue (dominos? takeout?), i was excited to see saigon, avietnameserestaurant i haven't tried. i wrote about the pho at thanh thanh 2  during an o-rama, but have yet to make it across the street to the othervietnameserestaurant in that block.  some fairly standard soup, dumplings, and crab rangoon started out our meal. they didn't indicate much about the quality of the food to come - they were fine, but forgettable.  a. and m. ordered pho, which came accompanied by a giant plate of fresh vegetables and herbs to add to the soup.  m. fixed his soup and dug in, but a., not having had pho before, was a little slow to start. one of the employees, maybe se

bestvietnamesefood around.

wonderful place!. great place! reason i am writing the review is how impressed we were with how they took the time to help us properly enjoy the main dish. this was our first time in avietnameserestaurant so our background was basic at best. often we choose things on the menu that we are familiar with and wont deviate for fear of the unknown, this place is the place to give something different a try. they showed us how to blend the extra ingredients such as a little ginger and pepper spice to give it just the right flavor and just the right kick. so many places will serve and come back at the end but they were so friendly even though it was one busy place.  place was very clean with silverware that was better than home, price was not bad at all hence a nice tip was very easy to figure in.
this place made trying new cuisine a fun delicious experience. looking for a new place to try? this is a must to put on the list :)

best dish is bun bo xao!. you cannot find this anywhere else! this is the onlyvietnameserestaurant i will visit!