A New Saigon

Delivery was very quick. The food was excellent and the prices reasonable. The spring rolls were just like what you would find in a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. I will definitely order from here again.

I love phở, so I was very happy to find a place that delivered to my apartment in Harlem that was pretty tasty (the other two I tried weren’t great). The first time I ordered was for my boyfriend and I. Everything came as it was supposed to. We both got phở ga, and they both came with hoisin sauce and a mixed Sriracha sauce that was very good. We were happy. It went down hill from there however, the next 5 times we ordered something was always missing. Either we’d ordered two soups and only got the sauces for one, or no hoisin sauce at all, the only red sauce. The few times I called about these issues I was told different thing. 1. They must have forgotten. 2. That they must have written it down wrong, although I had explicitly written each time (seamless) to make sure to include both sauces for both soups. 3. My personal favorite, the woman tired to convince me that their phở ga doesn’t actually come with the hoisin sauce, but she’d note that for the future I wanted it than why in the past or in my first order had it come with it without my asking? However orders it once more after that. Still missing. I called again and they just don’t care. «Sorry sorry, next time you’ll get it.» Each time I called. I’m done. They took an hour and a half to deliver, and couldn’t even check their delivery before it went out? And when I said I wouldn’t be ordering from them again the response was completely apathetic. Spare yourselves.

Although officially operated by a new owner, this is the long-​anticipated reincarnation of the legendary Saigon Grill — which, to the public’s dismay, closed after years of operating an avenue over on Amsterdam.
I found this restaurant (which apparently has just switched names from «Saigon at 89» to «A New Saigon») purely by accident while walking on Broadway the day before Thanksgiving. Loving great Vietnamese food, but never finding anyplace that matched the recipes of Saigon Grill, I decided to peer in the window at the nondescript menu taped to the glass.
When I saw the names they used for certain dishes, the presence of my favorite La Sa Ga soup (coconut milk curry, with vermicelli noodles and chicken) and Beef Bun Xao (rice noodles with beef, egg, veggies and shredded nut) and the option for delicious sticky rice with all dishes, my immediate reaction was, «Holy sh-​t, this is the Saigon Grill!» I was right.
The manager explained that the owner of this new incarnation, though Chinese, was aware of Saigon Grill’s popularity and the fact that people missed it, so they hired Saigon Grill’s chef, as well as some other staff, to bring it back, menu intact!
The dishes tasted exactly the same, and, as per Saigon Grill, were amazingly priced for a restaurant anywhere in Manhattan.
As legions of fans from the predecessor Saigon Grill can attest, their recipes were unlike other Vietnamese restaurants, even for dishes bearing the same or similar names. I must have tried 15 or 20 other Vietnamese places since SG closed, from Jackson, MS to St. Petersburg, FL to Parsippany, NJ, and always left disappointed.
For those of us with taste buds tuned to the old Saigon Grill, and lovers of sticky rice, A New Saigon is really a great find! Good tip: Lunch prices (with dinner-​size portions) go til 4pm, allowing you to eat for under $ 10. Hope this place is supported, despite the confusion of the new name.