Saigon Noodle

Last two times I’ve stopped by they were closed… odd.

so i jus wanna put my 2 cents in.
there bun bo hue wasnt even the right kind of soup it was supposed to be and the meat seemed old it was rather disgusting.
i thought there sandwiches would be decent but it was the worst bun mi i ever had. stale bread chewy meat? wth are they trying to feed me?
and the bobas are far from fresh. with some old ass pearls. which took some time to make. but it wasnt enuff.
no wonder this place doesnt get alot of business im surprised it’s still standing.
the end

Ohhhhhhh… boo-hooooooooooo…not pleased. Gramma Sunshine does not run this little place anymore and the coziness went with her. The new owner has removed some of our favorite items but because he was so friendly and eager to please we will go back for some yummy-​sounding and CHEAP sando specials. Good luck & we wish you success, Phở King Jr. Will be an all-​up-​hill climb to take Gramma Sunshine’s place.

Saigon Noodle is owned by Phở King, and I decided to give this place a try. The inside is very much like a small locally owned restaurant. They did have a TV showing the news.
I tried the spring rolls, which were OK, but $ 5.75 for two rolls cut in half? I can’t remember what I payed at other places, but I don’t think they were this expensive, right?
I also had the Bun Bo Hue. Now, to be fair, I’ve never had Bun Bo Hue before. I’d say, it was decent and fairly spicy. I’ve decided that it isn’t quite my thing, but I’m sure if you like Bun Bo Hue, you’d think it was pretty decent.
I had some of my mom’s Phở. Again, to be fair, it was cold by this point, and my mom squeezed way too much lime in it for my taste. All I’m saying is that after eating Phở in San Jose and in Westminster, this is nowhere even close. I suppose that’s what you get for getting Phở in Seaside. Maybe I’ll try one of the places in Marina someday.

So after religiously going to only this place for month, I took a break. I come back and find that the place was SOLD to PHO KING!
Not that I have anything against phở king, it’s ok. BUT I was seriously disappointed when my soup came out with cloudy broth, commercial noodles, and in a smaller bowl!!!
WTF!
AND my beloved egg rolls are no longer on the menu. I lament your passing, Saigon Noodle. Gone are your charms of broth and noodles made fresh daily…
But that’s not to say it was bad, just not AWESOME.
Now, for all of you who like Phở King… rejoice as there are TWO places now in Seaside!
Also, they now serve Boba drinks, which I found to be far superior to those at Noodle Bar. I recommend the ones made with fresh fruit: Strawberry, Watermellon, Mango (sometimes they said), and peaches. I got the Strawberry/​peach and was quite happy. I’d go back for the drinks.

This has definitely become one of my favorite Vietmanese places. I went there by myself one day for lunch, and was surprised by the packed tables. It must of really picked up business since they first opened, which is when I first went. I have been there about 3 times, and the food is consistently tasty. I really do love their phở, and it’s a generous portion. I love the toppings for it as well: fresh basil, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and all kinds of other goodies. It is always very clean, and the service is always super friendly.

Canh Chua Ca Bong Lau! (Sweet and sour catfish soup! Yum! Not Tom Yum, which it is similar too, but Yum Yum!)
Also serves Bun Bo Hue, the spicy noodle soup from central Vietnam!
Sunny, the owner is so sweet, and her grandaughter Van, is great too!
Like family!

Went there last night and had the most disappointing meal in a long time. The large Phở I ordered had barely any beef. It did have plenty of beansprouts, green onion and cilantro. I would never go back again! GF ordered a chicken Bun that was made with slices of breast meat, it had quite a bit of the wiltted lettuce. I thought it supposed to be BBQed? We paid and went out to Papa Johns!!!

The food is absolutely delicious and the prices are great. The phở is one of their best dishes they serve. Also the service is great.

I had dinner at Saigon Noodle with my girlfriend. I had a small Phở Tai with added meatballs and it was really great! The broth was nice and clear, and the condiments were fresh and abundant (except for just one spring of basil). They make their own chili sauce, have dry chilies at the table along with hoisin and the other condiments that you will usually find.
The only thing that struck me a little bit negatively was that the noodles are a just slightly wider than I am used to, and not quite as abundant as as I like, but that’s my own preference. Next time I will just order a large!
My girlfriend had the Seafood Phở which looked awesome, with BBQ pork, shrimp, calamari, and a whole crab claw in it! We also tried their chicken egg rolls, which are homemade and really good (I’d love to see some veggie ones).
We eat Phở on a regular basis at the Noodle bar, the Orient, and Phở King, with one trip out of town to Santa Clara where we ate at Phở Thanh Long. Even so, I still would not consider myself to be a Phở aficionado by any means. I haven’t been to Vietnam yet to try it. The food here still seemed very authentic, which to me is important.
What I do know is that when I spoke with the owner at the end of our meal, I was very impressed with her, and felt as though I had just eaten a home cooked meal by someone who cares a lot about her craft. She shared with us that she gets up very early in the morning to start the Phở broth cooking, and you can tell that she takes pride in her Phở. So I am giving 5 stars because that means something to me.
I’d say if you are feeling like you are in need of some comfort food, or some good Phở, this is a great place to go, as it felt like a very warm and friendly atmosphere.
Dinner, drinks, and an appetizer all for $ 21.
Bottom line: We will definitely go back!

I went here because there was a huge line at the Noodle Bar and I had a craving for Phở on a Sat morning. Googled Phở and this came up, so I figured I’d try something new.
The wait to be seated was at least a few mins during an off time. Service was slow, but not unfriendly. I ordered the phở w/​rare beef, brisket and flank.
Was a little disappointed it was the thicker rice noodles, they don’t get as soggy as fast, but they also don’t soak up the usually tastely soup. In this case the soup was a solid «meh.» Didn’t really have a good beefy flavor, just kinda saltly like canned broth instead of the usual stock from bones. The beef was all bunched up, thick slices that wrapped around each other and was already cooked, the brisket and flank were way over cooked. Came w/​a very small amount of basil and a small corner of crappy dried out lime.
I would likely not come back unless I was pretty desperate or someone else really wanted to go. I would definitely not get the phở. The other tables nearby ordered the rice plates and they seemed to like it. They do have the egg meat side item, which is rare for the area.

Been there twice and really impressed. The Phở is wonderful, and they have all the sauces you would want. Good service when I’ve been, and good prices ($ 5.50 for a ‘small’ bowl). Thumbs up.

and to Ted Bitch, FUCK YOU!!!
Pros: friendly, good number of tables, and it stops there
Cons: took 30 min to receive 2 bowls of Phở to take out, over charged my card, their waitress didn’t know what she was doing, and the list just goes on and on.
This place is fairly new and I can understand why I didn’t have a great first experience, but that should be no excuse. One waitress ran the floor as if her head was cut off, you could have literally dine-​n-​dashed and she wouldn’t have noticed.
The Phở was not worth my wait and I regret even waiting that long. On a scale from 1 – 10, I’d give their Phở a 3. I’m better off making my own Phở from the toilet and have a better chance at it tasting better.

WATER Service (¹⁄₅):
There were probably 3 other customers in this restaurant. I asked for water with my order and did not receive it. After receiving my food, I still did not receive the ice water I had requested. I eventually got water after getting up and asking for water from the cashier. Man, what does a guy have to do just to get a cup of water these days. OH! On top of that, after finishing my glass (actually plastic cup) of water AND watergirl’s water… still no refill. :(
Food (2.5÷5):
Water aside, the food was nowhere as spectacular as previous Unilocalers had celebrated. This being a phở restaurant, my expectation was Phở Hoa or anything around it at the very least. The large beef phở we got was not only scanty, but also had unfavorable noodle to soup to beef ratio. I really wanted to like this place.

I have to say that I was surprised and impressed with this hole-​in-​the-​wall. We ordered the spring rolls which had a very fresh, minty, «spring» flavor.
We also got the Sour Soup (catfish soup) from the (permanent) «Specials» menu stapled to the front of the actual menu. This soup is the main reason I am raving about this restaurant – it was aMAzing! It’s for two people (but I would argue that you could share it with four) and costs $ 12; you MUST try it.
Make sure they show you how to eat it. I know this sounds weird, but trust me on this – it’s not entirely intuitive; there’s some additional fish marinating that has to be done at the table and a particular layering of rice, broth, and fish involved in the process, but it all makes the dish worthwhile.

I came here for the first time tonight with a friend. We both really liked the food and the PRICE! It’s so cheap! I almost felt bad because it was so inexpensive.
We started out with the spring rolls and the second we got those our soup was ready. I had the phở with meatballs, which was delicious. I got the large bowl and it was definitely a lot. They do not skimp on the portions!
The broth was very flavorful and seemed to be cooked with love. I will definitely be coming back here!

Lunch here was interesting but not exactly phenomenal. Ordered the spring rolls, which came with a warm dipping sauce. Me, I like the fish sauce or hoisin sauce. Whatever this was didn’t quite do it for me. Also, it made the inside of the roll warm. I just can’t get behind warm shredded lettuce.
The phở was okay but nothing to write home about. I still think The Orient Restaurant has the best phở in Seaside.
As an aside, I hope one of the Vietnamese restaurants in town gets with it and starts serving some sammiches. I love phở to death, but hook a guy up with a banh mi.

Too lazy to cook dinner, again, and feeling a little under the weather with a sore throat and general crumminess, I went to Saigon Noodle last week for soup. The menu looked pretty limited, but our server was more than happy to adjust to accommodate our diet idiosyncrasies. Service was very attentive, and you really feel like you’ve been welcomed into owner Sun’s home as if you’re an old friend.
We started with some appetizers – eggs rolls (fried) and spring rolls (fresh). The egg rolls, with chicken, were great – just lightly fried. I thought the veggie spring rolls had a nice flavor, especially when paired with peanut sauce, but ironically the vegetarian at the table was less than thrilled. But the real star of dinner was the soup – chicken noodle in my case. The broth – very light and smooth – really made the soup. I ordered the smaller of the two bowl options, and still found it to be a very generous portion with lots of noodles and chicken for a great price. The soup really hit the spot, and when I woke up in the morning, my sore throat was gone. Was it the soup alone that cured my ailments? Maybe – but I’m guessing the Airborne chased with a gallon of OJ probably didn’t hurt.

Vietnamese food ain’t easy to cook and, WOW, is this place ever Super Duper TASTY!!!
Many Thanks to my Unilocal «Bro» Wanugee N. for telling us about the food here right before we left for our trip to Monterey!!! We stopped at Saigon Noodles before checking in to our Hotels and intend to so do EVERY chance we get!!!
There really is nothing like Momma’s cooking, no matter what ethnicity you are! The food here is made with so much love that you can literally taste it!
When we walked in to this spotless place we were the only ones for lunch. Within 40 minutes, every table was taken. They have specials listed on the front of the menu and what’s totally cool is that ALL of the varieties of soup noodles are the SAME prices, with the large costing slightly more!
The shrimp and pork rolls were super plump, soft, and juicy! The shredded pork rolls were filled with intricate flavors and were larger than some of the ones I’ve tasted in SF.
I asked our server what was her favorite soup and she recommended the «Seafood Special.» The broth was light, without MSG, and filled with original flavors! I asked for egg noodles and they complimented the shrimp, squid, pork, and scallions in the soup perfectly!
My friend Helen and my Spouse ordered the beef phở, which I also got to taste since I was mega-​hungry. Helen asked why their rice noodles didn’t fall apart after spooning and why they weren’t mushy like some of the places in SF. I replied, «Because fresh rice noodles have texture, are slightly al dente, and hold their shape.» The noodles here, both the rice and the egg ones, were the freshest I’ve ever tasted!
We are so looking forward to trying many of their other menu items! Coming to Saigon Noodles now makes me want to plan my next surfing vacation in Vietnam! Rock On!!!

Hot & Spicy Phở Soup!
Three generations of a very friendly, sweet Vietnamese family own and operate this new «Noodle Shop» centrally located on Broadway Avenue, in Seaside. The pretty little shop seats about 40 people, with take out available.
I enjoyed the large flat screen television on the wall showing videos of Vietnam. Makes me want to hop a plane and visit. The ethnic Vietnamese music is quite lovely, too. The «Grandmother» chef will probably drop by to say «Hi!» and thank you for your visit.
Prices are very inexpensive for the excellent fresh noodle/​Phở soups. They just opened and I believe accept only «Cash», at the moment. They receive their beer and wine supply next week, from what I understood. I have been trying to recover from a cold: so, all the extremely spicy condiments went into my phở soup mix. Yes, after turning up the heat… I am feeling much better already, thank you.
Our family adores these Vietnamese noodle shops. They have excellent healthy fresh food that is easy on the waistline and wallet. Drop by & Enjoy!