New Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant

I normally do not write reviews. I will try a place three times before I make a decision as to whether or not I will be a frequent diner. I have done take out twice and dined in once at New Saigon.
First, I ordered two banh mi’s to go. They were the size of twinkles and not what I expected. (To be fair, I’m used to $ 2.50 banh mi’s served on a fresh and warm baguette) However, the flavor of the chicken and pork were seasoned very nicely with lemongrass, the pickles were tart and there was cilantro and cucumber. It was very slow, when I entered they were prepping raw meat on one the tables near the entrance. The second time, I was planning on getting takeout next door. They were closed. So I picked up two vermicelli bowls at New Saigon and brought them over to Richardsons. It was very good. Had hints of mint which balanced the dish and cleansed the palette. The dish had a healthy portion of egg rolls and heavily seasoned chicken and pork. The third time, I dined in. Once again, I played it safe and ordered the vermicelli bowl with egg rolls and chicken. My friend ordered the Phở with beef. We both ordered iced coffees. The phở was bland, it was basically noodles in water with four pieces of rubbery meat floating in it. The two iced coffees had globs of brown powered chunks at the bottom that did not dissolve. It was undrinkable. But when I mentioned to the waitress that we did not drink the coffees, a lady from the back came out and told me that vietnamese coffee is sweet and since she made it I do not get a refund. That was the end of my vermicelli bowls… Vermicelli bowls are great, Banh mis are small, phở is bland, Iced coffee is overtly sweet and mysterious. The restaurant is semi decent/​clean (besides my first incident with the raw meat) and the customer service lacking.

Really authentic Vietnamese food. We ate here for the second time today and the beef tendon is so incredibly good. I think it must be that beef is raised on the big island and not on Oahu, but I’ve yet to have a great tendon Phở in Honolulu. Language barrier with ordering is a bit tough, but they were super patient with our rambunctious two year old and that made up for it.

Not a lot of taste in the broth, ice coffee a miss also. Meat rather tough. Hate posting a bad review, but…

Not a fan of this place… Upon entering, it smells like delicious, authentic Vietnamese food, but I guess I was mistaken. This restaurant was actually very small, and rather dirty. I know it’s Hawaii, so humidity is pretty inevitable, especially in Hilo, but they did little to alleviate it. There were a couple of weak fans that did not help with the heat nor the humidity. There were also many bugs crawling and flying around, which was very unappealing to me and my appetite.
In terms of food, the spring rolls were VERY dark and oily after deep frying, but the fish sauce made it much better. I also had their beef phở, which had very little noodles compared to most bowls of phở that I have had. Also, their beef was not sliced very thinly and wasn’t very tender…
I don’t know what I would have expected from a Vietnamese restaurant in Hilo, but I was not very satisfied with my food nor the cleanliness there… Definitely wait to get better phở on the Mainland!

Too slow Wait forever till I’m starving

Budget dinners seeking something special & different. This restaurant serves Vietnamese food. Prices are affordable, average plate $ 8.00. Portion is not big, nor small, but just average. Settings is okay, tables somewhat too close to each other but okay., clean, good service. The owner & waitresses doesn’t really speak well English or understand so you need to really speak up and use your hands & head, body language, lol. They are friendly and eager to help you. They allow you to bring your own drink, wine, beers, but of course no large cooler filled with beers.
Quality of food is average. I recommend this place to anyone is seeking comfort food after a mean bad hangover. They have varieties of Vietnamese soup, I think they call it «phở». For me, the best item on their menu is the seafood egg noodle with their in house gravy.
Happy Eating!

I’ve eaten here many times and the same thing. The food is great no questions asked, BUT last few was the smell of cockroach shit. You know like a stale cabinet that hasn’t been clean? The vegetables were like that smell I thought it was me until again I ordered and a roach was in my food. No personally and family owned, love the place but due to that I will never go back!

Wow this place gives me memories of my trip last year to Hilo… me and my cousin have dined here a few times. The vietnamese food is delicious. I’m vietnamese and it tastes authentic enough. Of course there was plenty of seating and a laid back crew.

Prices are right and portions are nice sized! In particular, i enjoy the pork chop and the beed stew with rice noodle.

I have sensitivity to MSG which runs in the family. Having said that, Im thrilled to share with you that this is one of the few places where I really enjoyed my food and I had no reaction from the food itself (Plum sauce of course has msg so I try to very little of it). Everything was so fresh, packed with great flavor and my only issue was that my stomach couldnt stretch to accommodate when I wanted to eat more. The struggle was real.
It is a small mom and pop shop with one chef wonder who does it all. By the way she is absolutely amazing. I say hello whenever I see her but it is rare because she cooks everything in the kitchen. Yes things can slow down sometimes but oh man, when her food arrives, it is worth every second and drop of my drool (I was hangry…)
Our family staple order at this place is the vietnamese beef stew (the best I ever had), spring roll and grilled shrimp with vermicelli, phở of course (clean and flavorful broth).
Everything is made with love and care. I highly recommend it!

Had some Phở for takeout. Yum, yum! Really hit the spot!

The Banh Mi is spot-​on, with excellent meat and perfect, crispy bread. The Ph gà (chicken) needs to be cooked with dark meat chicken for better flavor but I’m sure the Americans push for «healthier» white meat chicken. The Ph bò (beef) is pretty good and both come with a respectable plate of herbs to add to them. We were looking for some passable Hawaiian or western food and were so happy to find this place! The owner is very nice also and it is definitely a family atmosphere with a lot of Vietnamese people eating there.
I would definitely recommend the Banh Mi gà And also the beef phở. The rice dishes with grilled meat looked excellent also.

Hidden gem located across the street from the Hilo Bay Hotel.
We went for lunch.
GF had the grilled Pork Chop with rice and Vegetables. I had the Phở with meatballs and steak.
Very tasty and inexpensive. Plenty left over for a snack later. Only $ 25 with tip.

Ordered the phở with beef and meatballs. The soup seemed to have a lot of msg and not a lot of flavor. The beef was was also fairly tough. The portions were pretty big and the owner who came to talk with us was friendly, but the food was definitely lacking.

Yum! I always order the Bun Cha so i can’t speak for any of the other food but the Bun Cha is flavorful, really nicely seasoned and packed with herbs. The service is good, the ladies are really sweet and I like the location. Perfect for eating and going for a swim after. The best Vietnamese I’ve found in Hilo, which isn’t exactly saying a lot but I’ll take what I can get!

Yummy veggie fried rice. The summer rolls tasted good. The veggie chow fun didn’t have as many vegetables as I expected. It had good flavor, but was greasy.
I wish they would filter their water.
Sweet older man was our server. He got my order wrong once over the phone, but was very apologetic when I arrived to pick up and had to wait.

Discovered this place while staying at the Hilo Seaside. Ordered the cold noodle salad with grilled pork and spring roll. Very tasty. Nice texture with the daikon, cucumbers, bean sprouts, lettuce, vermicelli. A little skimpy on the meat, though. Served with a fish-​based sauce on the side.

Great Phở and Pad-​Thai… ok so it’s not perfect by any means. The noodles were not the right sized rice noodles and my Pad-​Thai that was supposed to be spicy was barely hot, however, you have to consider location and one thing I have learned about Hawaii after living here for three months, the foods not that good. So, for a meal I would give three stars to on the main land gets 4 in Hawaii.
P. s. The ambiance is tacky and badly done. Even had a painting that was falling off the wall.

**OK, the funny shirts (iPho etc) and the hilarious baby do in fact add up to another star, so I’m bumping this review up from 3 stars to 4 stars.** If you’re looking for chicken soup in Hilo, this is the best I’ve had…
… but of the two dishes we ordered, the other one (chicken with sweet and sour sauce) was not good. It was just a greasy fried boneless thigh sliced up and served with a tiny dish of chili sauce out of a bottle. Almost inedible. BUT, my chicken phở soup was really good, and had nice chunks of white meat chicken in it and a nice accompanying plate of herbs and sprouts.
Some funny shirts on the wall and the waitress’s baby in a playpen at the end of our table were all quite entertaining as it was a very good natured baby.

I think that New Saigon has the best phở in Hilo. The broth is rich and flavorful, and the portion is generous. The service is always good. Some of the servers do not speak English well, so some non-​verbal communication is good to use.
Also tried the sweet & sour fish, but it was only okay. Too sweet for my taste. Chow funn is good though.