Sugarcane

I think this place is actually called New Saigon. Whatever the name is, I could not have been more disappointed. I was craving for phở and saw this place with good reviews. And had phở on the menu… They do not know how to make phở. All the essential ingredients were missing. I also ordered spring rolls. Again, disappointed…

The food here was fantastic. Crispy duck which was fried but not too greasy. Steamed Chilean sea bass cooked to perfection with ginger soy and scallions and steamed vegetables that came with broccoli sugar peas, red peppers and asparagus. Far better than the usual fare of carrots cauliflower and onions that you often get at casual Vietnamese restaurants. Ambiance isn’t much but food is great.
Not sure about the name though. Sign on the building says Saigon 98. Menu says Sugarcane. Check and take out menu says A New Saigon. Go figure!

My neighborhood asian spot. Try their honey ginger, terrific and loaded with veggies. Or the Lemongrass. $ 8 for a lunch special, with a great portion. I’m a veteran of all cuisines asian; you can trust me.
I know, I know. There’s some bad reviews on here. Idiots who claim «it’s not authentic vietnamese» blah blah. These assholes had a Vietnamese grandmother, and they think that makes them Ho Chi Minh. The dumb asses who claim they «were in Vietnam, so they know», were probably there an afternoon on a Royal caribbean cruise.

Very nice place. It’s got a new name now… «Saigon 98», I think. The food is really nice… I think the chef is the same as when they were «Saigon Grill» on Amsterdam Ave. I often get ginger iced tea… delish. The soups are good. I get the chicken with noodles. I also like the lunch specials. Ga Sate— chicken with peanut sauce is very good. Pork chops are good… Curry Tom (shrimp)— very nice. And Bun Xao (noodles) with chicken is also really nice. Very nice staff, too.

Steak sandwich was (5) noting special
The strawberry dac was ok — nothing frozen
I didn’t see the whole place
Tight space —

A little strange that the décor hasn’t changed much since this place was called Hunan Balcony. Don’t go here for the atmosphere.
Goi Cuon Chay (summer rolls) are a bit awkward, Ga Sate (like Thai chicken satay without the wooden skewers and sauteed instead of grilled) is delicious. Phở Bo broth is a bit weak, but flavor is good. La Sa Ga (curry chicken soup) is amazing as is Crispy Hot Beef (shredded beef fried till crispy tossed with pepper and onion sweet spicy glaze).

Stopped here to eat. Definitely this address, but they had a different name (Saigon98 I think) on the menu and signage. My friend insists its the same place.
The food was good. Ordered the La Sa Ga soup which was very tasty, though it could have had a bit more flavor. Also had the marinated beef skewers, which were great. They didn’t skimp on the flavor there, with a strong marinade and wonderfully robust peanut sauce for dipping. My friend snagged some kind of grilled pork chop which looked and smelled great.
The service, though, was mediocre. The young man who took our order was bored and listless and seemed like he’d spend the last three nights partying hard and now he was stuck hung over, coming down, and without any sleep. Yeah, that bad. The older woman who seemed to be running the front ended up bringing us our food. She was fine.
Really not a bad place. My friend says they deliver and he orders from them sometimes. I know if I was in the area, I’d definitely place and order or five.

I was surprised how good the red soup was.
It had plenty of veggies.
I requested extra mushroom and added lemon myself with hot sauce.

Checked this place out with a few of my friends after a night of drinking as phở as always been our hangover food and this place was solid. I’ve had some pretty good phở in the past so I’m pretty particular about how the taste and how authentic the broth is. This isn’t your traditional bowl of phở and while it’s not bad, it just didnt hit the spot. There wasn’t as much meat (tripe, tendon, etc) that i’m used to and overall was not what I’m accustomed to having. We also shared an ordered of fried rolls and dumplings as well. They were both alright but nothign special. I would come here if I lived in the area and didn’t travel too far but I’m sure there are other places that you could venture to.

Fantastic! A girlfriend and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner here. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the food was well-​priced, tasty, and came in good portions. The fried vegetable spring roll appetizer was wonderful. My friend enjoyed her noodle stirfry (some type of meat and veg) and I enjoyed my noodles and veggie dish as well, which came with a thick «brick» of rice noodles and sauteed veggies.

I didn’t think takeout phở was ever a good idea until I tried this place. First, having never had their phở at the restaurant, I was hesitant about ordering it as takeout but it’s not only been one of the best phở I’ve tried in NYC (with delicious broth) — it still arrives hot and delicious! I have very high phở standards so this means a lot coming from me! Also — the small takeout phở is less than $ 5 and it’s the amount you’d get at a sit-​in place! Ok — now I have to go since I need to order my phở!
Ps. Their vegetable fried rice is amazing too!

I give this place 1 year before it closes, and only that long because there are a lot of people like me that have been craving a Vietnamese spot and will continue to try it out. There is nothing authentic about this place, and 1 star because its the 2^nd time I tried this place. I live across the street and wanted to give it another shot. Now I won’t be back, the second time was worse than the first too.
On my first trip a few months ago, I had the phở. I’ve had much better, they really just don’t get the concept. Get a lime on the side, get some fresh sliced jalapeño like you might see in a photo if you googled phở. Instead they have pickled jalapenos that have been sitting on the table for god knows how long in an open jar, are you serious?! The was a general lack of quality in the broth, a little bit of sliced onion does wonders too instead of old flakes they tossed in. The thing that burns me up too is these aren’t even hard things to accomplish, i’ve made better at home myself working with a 49cent phở package.
Today I ordered the Vietnamese spring rolls and the Bun noodles with chicken. First of all, the spring rolls were nearly unedible, total garbage. I ate one half of one in a bite before unwrapping the other one to see what was inside of it. I couldn’t make out jicama or carrot or basil or lettuce or anything fresh or whatever the menu described. It was a pile of mush, I picked out one of the pieces I thought was chicken or pork to taste it by itself and I still don’t know what it was. It was like a paste of a carby substance. I didn’t eat any of the rest. I pushed it aside, no one came by to see how I was doing or ever asked if everything was ok. This was not a Vietnamese spring roll, it was some sort of fried roll they came up with and plated it to look the part, but no… eww.
I also ordered the Bun with chicken, again they just don’t get the concept at all. There were no herbs, no basil, there was some green onion at the bottom but it didn’t do much, again nothing fresh tasting about it. There was one lettuce leaf on top, I cut that up myself to try to mix into the mound of flavorless noodles. The Nuoc Cham sauce was also not good, basically sugar water not even a hint of the fish sauce flavor. The grilled chicken on top also wasn’t great, it felt boiled in fact although I saw grill marks, it was pretty bland not marinated or anything.
Who are all these people giving it high ratings on here? are you serious? This is not Vietnamese.

Ordered online. One hour later, still no food. Called, and the woman at the place said they’re busy so it will probably be another twenty minutes.
Sorry, I think you’ve lost my business. I’m going back to Saiguette next time.

I remember when I first moved into Manhattan in 2009, I lived in a quiet corner of Manhattan Valley, tucked up near the northwestern corner of Central Park. That section of Columbus Avenue offered nothing stimulating to me at that time, so I’d fine myself wondering up and down Broadway. I’d always giggle when I got to the corner of 98^th and Broadway and see Hunan Balcony. For years, I always read that sign as «Human Balony» as first glance. Eventually, there was no more human balony to eat (…heh…); it was replaced with Vietnamese food instead. It’s some damn good food, at that!
The Beau and I were wondering his neighborhood one Sunday, caught up in an early spring street fair along Broadway, already filled with zeppoles and Mozzarepas and looking for something a tad more substantial. I was feelin’ phở, so in we walked. It’s pretty, shiny, clean. The large phở bo was definitely a dish to fill you up until dinner, and the chicken fried rice was better than most I’ve had. The menu was full with typical Vietnamese and Asian dishes at good prices. It’s certainly nothing fancy or mind-​blowing, but just a pleasant and simple place to get a good meal in the neighborhood. I’ve had better Vietnamese, but this is still great for a neighborhood that’s wholly devoid of it, save for Saiguette. I’d definitely come back for more phở! Their broth is on point, most definitely.

I had a terrific if simple meal here last night. The Basil vegetables were fantastic — well seasoned — crispy, fresh snow peas and great tasting tofu. Plus mushrooms, lotus root and more. Very refreshing to not have the usual carrot, celery mix in here. True asian veggies well prepared. It’s amazing how hard this can be to find in NYC.
Also had the shrimp sugar cane app — the sauce was a bit bland but the shrimp was generous and tasty. The sugar cane had a nice char which was a great balance to the sweet shrimp, sauce and cane itself. Service was just slightly «off» — there’s a large guy who seemed in charge and smiling wasn’t a habit he has. Perhaps they need a more cheerful head of the house guy. Also had to do the wave to get water refilled. But I as a confessed Aquaholic my water needs can be hard to keep up with. They could up it to a 5 star by being a bit more SE Asia style friendly and perking up the dipping sauce with special something… not sure what — some ginger or vinegar perhaps?

I loved the food. I have been longing for a good Vietnamese spot that is within walking distance of home since my favorite place closed and I am really glad I found this place!
The service was good and the prices were more than reasonable. I give them 4 stars because I have been craving good Vietnamese and every place I have been to was a real disappointment until I walked through the doors of this place.

First, the menu itself looks old. I ordered a small bowl of Phở Ga. That’s soup. It came 12 minutes later! I told the waiter that I thought that is a long wait. Mediocre broth, which should shine and sing. Then, I ordered the chicken summer roll. 15 minutes later I spoke to the manager and made the same complaint. When it did arrive, I was mistreated to large pieces, too large for one mouth, of mostly rice noodle with about ½ ounce of shredded chicken. i left two pieces untouched and complained to the manager about that much starch for $ 7. This yutz did not take the hint and take it off the bill. The smarter waiter did.
Don’t bother.

The place is supposed to be staffed w the same chef from Saigon Grill which closed last year. The menu looks the same as Saigon’s but the taste is different.
I’ve only tried their sauteed spinach, which is supposed to be cooked w fish sauce. But to be honest, it didn’t taste any different from regular sauteed spinach. For $ 11, I felt completely cheated as I could have sauteed the spinach myself at half the cost. It was nothing special.
I plan on trying my fav dishes at Saigon Grill, which was the green papaya salad and the bun xao to see if this place will be on my list of takeout restaurants. Saiguette has kickass phở, so I plan on continuing to order that from there instead of Sugarcane (too bad as Sugarcane is within a 5 block radius from my apt).

Unfortunately, the arrival of Sugarcane has not made it any easier to fulfill one’s cravings for Vietnamese food on the UWS.
The phở bo was unremarkable, with only a few pieces of thin slices of beef that had already cooked through by the time our bowls made it to our table. The cha gio (fried spring rolls) were better received, although without anything in particular to separate it offerings to be had elsewhere. The cha gio chay (vegetable spring roll) and goi cuon tom (shrimp summer roll) were $ 6 to $ 6.50, respectively; not much shrimp in the latter, but still a lot to pay for what was predominantly rice vermicelli.
Although the menu appears to have much to offer, I was not particularly impressed with what are some of my regular go-to’s when I have Vietnamese food. I’d be willing to come back to try some of my other usuals, but I don’t think I am in any particular rush to do so unless I’m in the neighbourhood. But if it’s delivery I’m after, I think I’m going to stick with Saiguette for the time being.

I went to the old Saigon Grill before it closed. The food there is pretty comparable (same chef, menu and staff). I never thought SG was as good as everyone else did.
The food there, like at Sugarcane is decent and not too greasy. My issue is that it’s not that authentic. The phở broth is mediocre at best. The other noodle dishes like bun xeo is good, but nothing special.
Being that this is the only Vietnamese place that has this variety that delivers to my apartment, I’ll order it again. But it makes me pine for the great places in the Northern Virginia area or Cali.