Golden Sai Gon

This next review update is for the #70 Banh Hoi – Chao Tom (shrimp ball on sugar cane), Nem Nuong (pork ball), Bo Hanh (beef roll). Think DIY Summer Rolls.
As I walked in, the co-​owner, Trang, greeted me with: «You’re late! Where were you earlier?!!» She got me, she was right in that I normally come much earlier for early lunch. It got worse when I sat down and ordered a #70 since I had seen many other locals scarfing the massive platter with glee. She frowned and said: «No more. All finished!» Sadly, she wasn’t joking. But as I pressed and asked what else she recommended that I try, she asked: «You have 20 minutes? I make just for you!» Of course I’ll wait for an offer like that. Apparently, she is the sole chef for the beef roll. She also warned that she was completely out of Nem Nuong (pork ball).
So began my highly anticipated wait for the mega Summer Roll platter.
When it arrived, it did not disappoint. The slightly sweet, caramelized savory beef rolls had a core of delicious marinated vegetable. The shrimp balls had a bit of snap, char and wrapped sweet, tender sugarcane sticks. The vibrant greenleaf lettuce, mint leaves, plump bean sprouts, snappy cucumber sticks, pickled carrot and radish strands, mats of rice vermicelli dusted with crushed peanut, fried garlic chips, and green onion all came together within a disc of rice paper you soaked briefly in hot water. The whole presentation had a flair about it.
So began the joyous process of turning a disc of translucent rice wrapper in hot water and watching it transform into a transparent, stretchy sheet that is tacky and tricky to handle as you lower it over the small plate provided. You let just enough overhang so that you can pick it up to wrap. It’s like handling a sheet of packing tape. It certainly tested my manual dexterity.
Next, you layer your ingredients in any order or ratio. I liked experimenting and changing it up for differing tastes and textures, then draping the rice wrapper to overlap. The tackiness helps seal and hold the roll together. I got better making decent rolls that did not have awkward mutant shapes but never the perfect cylinders of summer rolls you see sold at Vietnamese Bistros.
Finally, you bite a hole and drizzle some of the Nuong Cham (sweetened fish sauce with carrot and radish strands) and devour it as neatly as you can. I added dribbles of SriRacha later to add some zest and liven up the combos.
The portion is clearly huge with enough for 10 colossal summer rolls. I could barely finish the platter myself.
Trang proudly proclaimed that she is one of few Viet Cafes that serve these Summer Rolls in the DIY format. Shoot, few places do the shrimp surimi over sugarcane!
If you are willing to try a tactile adventure. Do order a Banh Hoi platter! #68−70 are various combinations of meat.

Really nice people and the food is great here. If you’re around the area this is the phở place to go!

The first time I came here, I had great service; the servers were really friendly and I got my food in a timely fashion. Due to that good first impression, I came a second time but the service went down a notch. There were barely any other customers in the restaurant, yet it seemed like it took forever to come. Also, I found a hair in my phở right when I got it. When I told them about it, they were really nice and apologetic about it, which made me over look the hair. I was served another bowl of phở quickly and they even gave me and my boyfriend free flan. I actually enjoyed the phở soup because it had a lot of flavor. I also got the three colored drink but never again. It was way too sweet and I seriously couldn’t drink it after a few sips. It was just not what I was hoping for at all. My boyfriend also got a drink and his was also, for the lack of a better term, gross. Definitely not the place to go for drinks.
After that visit, I decided to go there once more just the other day. I chose #37 which enabled me to choose three toppings for my phở. The server took our order without writing it down or anything. In my head I was like «ok. That’s impressive I guess.» But when my phở came, they gave me one of the wrong toppings. Again, they were really apologetic about it and gave me quite a large portion of the topping I originally asked for.
Despite their apologetic gestures, I would not consider coming here again. Something just always seems to go wrong and it’s not worth the trip.

only have gotten delivery from them and it’s always yummy. love the vermicelli with imperial rolls.

My parents live in the neighborhood used to be in the Vietnamese food business. This location has notoriously been just not lucky for multiple reasons: the restaurant didn’t serve up to the customers needs combined with a bad location.
But I’ll tell you, since this owner took over, this is my new go-​to Vietnamese food spot on San bruno Ave! Everything I’ve had has met my expectations for good Vietnamese noodle soup.
The atmosphere is super casual and often times the family is all hanging out there eating and being loud, but they’re having fun (!) and that’s what a family owned/​run Asian restaurant is really like. They’re friendly (yes, even when they’re speaking Vietnamese and it sounds like they’re tearing each other’s heads off), and most importantly, the food is good.
So don’t come expecting some fancy pancy, black bow tie service, with bright shiny décor, but come for good food and to support a real @$$ Vietnamese family. ;)

Never did I notice this vietnamese restaurant on San Bruno I’ve been living near by for about a little over 1 year. It happens to be my day off yesterday so decided to eat here with my old lady for lunch. there is a very good reason why this place is a 5 star. Is for the excellent services that the lady gave. this is the 1^st time that I feel like eating in a restaurant. The Services was so good she greets you right away as u walk in to the restaurant brings you the tea right away. unlike some restaurant u sit down and have to wait 15 to 20 minutes b4 even bringing u the menu or tea. when u leave she also thanks you and welcome back next time. That is the services we need in chinese restaurant. Any way I order the combo #41 and the old lady order Bun Rieu Soup #46 also we got fried calamari.
The combo noodle soup I order well 1^st I have to say the soup taste pretty good not too much MSG. but it was obvious the soup needs a little bit more beef bones as it was too strong on the pork bones. I only can taste pork sweet but no beef flavor. they can improve on making the soup a little stronger with more beef bones and also missing cumin and onion flavor.
the best part about this noodle is they actually gave u everything it came with beef tendon balls, beef tendon, tripes, brisket and ofcourse the eye of round raw beef. I can say they use pretty good quality products. alot of the vietnamese restaurant for the comb only comes with either tripes or beef ball or tendon but not all 3. the 2^nd bad part about the combo is that they gave too much noodles (phở). Is good that they give u a big potion but sometimes u have to even out the potion of noodles to the soup. but overall this still a good bowl of noodle soup.
The Bun rieu soup my old lady order was just ok.1^st we can;t even find a piece of pigs blood. and somehow the soup itself was a little blend. I can taste more of fish sauce than tomatoes. I think is the brand of fish sauce they use is not 3 crab fish sauce but is squid brand fish sauce. both have a different in taste for cooking. they can improve on the soup as well.
the fry calamari we order was very different than other places. I have to say the they make it taste like tempura style but this is actually pretty good. at lease is not as thick as the other fry calamari we had in other vietnamese restaurants. I kind of like it this way is much more crispy.
Overall rating for the food is 3 star but get 2 extra stars for the excellent services the lady gives. If anyone of you wants to experience really good restaurant service and some good food this is the place to go.

Friendly staff and decent food for good prices! Not at all snobby to youths who wanna get lunch

To sum it up: meh. Phở No. 1 was closed for Chinese New Year, and out of desperation for my phở fix, we came here. It’s changed management or ownership over the years, but still, the meh persists.
They serve southern style, with bean sprouts, basil, and peppers, but they only use white meat in their phở ga, which is invariably dry and lacking flavor. The fixins aren’t enough to save it, no matter how much fish sauce you pour into the broth.
We gave this place a shot, knowing it was under new management. New management, same bland phở. We’ll definitely get our fix elsewhere. Also interesting to note that while Phở No. 1 down the street is generally packed, this place never is, in the handful of times we’ve been here.

I was so close to giving this place a perfect review — the food and service was pretty good, and a great deal for the price — but the screwed up our bill in the end, which left me pretty upset. A friend and I wanted to pay separately and put different amounts on our cards to split the bill — we told one of the waiters (who probably didn’t speak very good English because we reiterated this multiple times) how we wanted our check split but in the end they still messed it up. Disappointing at best.

Customer service is average which is how it usually is in a Phở restaurant. Food was good & super fresh and price is reasonable. They play Vietnamese music, environment is casual, and owners super nice and friendly.

Hands down best and most authentic vietnamese food with a budget price ever. Every item I have tried on the menu was a pleasant surprise to me. Legit phở with big portion. But please come here for more than just phở. Superb Bún bò Hu and wonton egg noodle. Incredibly tender and juicy bbq chicken with shrimp skewers and rice combo. Super refreshing vegetarian rice paper roll with tofu. They even have vietnamese program playing on their tv, I felt I was transported to a family style restaurant in Vietnam.

I try to come every time I do laundry up the street. The owners of this place are so kind. Every time I come in with my daughter, the owner, her son and daughter in-​law are so welcoming. Every time I pick up or dine in, I always get the seafood rice noodle soup and my daughter always gets the phở and let me just say, it is DELISH! I’ve tried phở and other noodles soups at about 4 phở joints on San Bruno Ave and by far this is my favorite place.

Extremely generous portions with the to go orders. I come here very often to get my take out and I’ve never been disappointed. I knocked one star off because of the loud music that comes out of the tv against the wall

THIS PLACE IS AMAZING… real talk
Minimalist service, LEGIT service. Omg I’ve been to fine dining and upscale establishments, but this has theee best service or less service possible, you walk in like wassup, Asian grandmas posted, you order, and they let you be, super chill grandmas. Food is Dank too, also they take card totes, but $ 10 min. Anywho’s this place is cool, also it has really cool back seating, best phở I would say in the barrio.

3.5 stars
I always get their food to go.
I like that they offer different sized phở with xlarge being the largest for ~$ 10. I also like that on the menu you can make a custom phở bowl and pick any 3 meats. Plus they’re quick.
I do not like that the restaurant is kinda gross. It’s spacious but there’s lots of crap against the wall. I also don’t like that they don’t put a piece of paper between the noodles and raw beef when you order to go.

My parents and I were craving for phở. Sure enough, Golden Saigon came to mind. I stepped in at 1:00 pm seeing seats available and was seated immediately. I was given the menu upon getting seated. The service was very good and the ladies were very attentive, polite and friendly.
After looking through the menu, I ordered the #40 — Phở Ga with an added side of Spring Rolls on a lettuce leaf. The broth for the noodle soup base was delicious and flavorful. The chicken meat was tender and delicious. Spring Rolls are also delicious and I enjoyed it. I am craving for another bowl of phở ga with a side of spring rolls while writing this review.
Here are some reasons for my rating:
— spacious facility (+1)
— prompt service (+1)
— friendly staff (+1)
— location is easy to find (+1)
This is the best restaurant to visit when looking for a place to satisfy Vietnamese cuisine cravings. Overall, good experience here so I am definitely coming back. Props to good food, good service and friendly staff members.
*Parking: street and metered spots only

I came back today and I am raising the stars. Yayy!
The phở tasted OK. Much better than before. The bad thing is the lack of service, theres only one old lady working as a server.
One bowl of phở + tips I paid $ 10.

Your local neighborhood phở joint. Nothing special to write home about but definitely hits the spot when you need your fixing of phở. Service is fair and speedy. They do have tendon and take credit cards though, so I’ll give them that. The one distinct area that could be improved is the cleanliness — I definitely spotted some gunk on several pairs of chopsticks! Be careful which ones you pick folks!

I initially came here to get my phở fix since it’s pretty close to me. but I’m sad to say that I was pretty disappointed. I used to come here all the time (it just changed names recently and maybe the ownership?).
The reason why I’m giving them 2 stars is because the broth in my phở was way too fatty. I can usually finish a large phở by myself but I only ate about half because it was just too salty and oily. Maybe I’m not used to the flavor, but I like my broth a bit lighter to balance out all that meat!
What was cool to see on the menu was a «the choice of phở noodle” — it’s basically a make it your own where you can choose any 3 items.
I didn’t try anything else on the menu so I can’t speak for the other noodle/​rice plates, but I’m not sure if I will come back the next time I have a phở craving.

New phở place in town, now let’s get started. This place has average pricing, honestly a little on the pricier side. Four pieces of spring rolls for $ 6.25, hm… what do you think?
PROS:
–Plentiful seating, it’s a pretty big restaurant. Big group, small group, they can accommodate!
–Clean, has TV, owned by Viet ladies.
–Accepts card, they have a square! Much wow.
–Ordered the pork chop rice plate and it was quite yummy! Very flavorful although the pork chop was a little fatty. Unlike other restaurants, they actually give you two big pork chops. ⁴⁄₅!
–Spring rolls were quite good, loved the sauce. 3.5÷5
CONS:
–Ordered the beef phở and the soup was incredibly OILY. It was the first time I had to drink super oily phở soup — wait, scratch that. My friend and I ended up not drinking much of the soup. There was not much flavor to be honest. I will say the noodles and beef balls were good. but even the meat was a little too hard. This phở was definitely a ²⁄₅ (in comparison to other phở places in the city).
–Waitress doesn’t speak English too well. There’s definitely a language barrier here. My friend and I were very patient with it though, it’s not so much a con — just letting anyone going know.
–Service is quite slow. No one providing water refills and it was difficult flagging down the waitress. We ended up just going up the register to pay for the meal. Not even sure if there’s a check or anything…
It’s a new restaurant so I understand things are still being worked out. All in all it is at a convenient location for the neighborhood. It’s definitely one of those mom and pops restaurant so I hope to see it grow into a popular phở spot in the future. Good luck Golden Sai Gon!