New Century

I came here on a whim with a friend, after I had been craving some Vietnamese food for the longest time.
When we arrived, the front parking was pretty full, which was certainly a good sign beyond the reviews. We were seated quickly, though the seating area is quite large anyway, and waited on promptly afterward for drinks. My friend ordered the Vietnamese coffee, while I ordered hot tea and water.
After giving us adequate time to look over the menu, they came back with our drinks and to take our orders. We got the Spring Rolls and the special Egg Rolls for appetizers, while he ordered a Salmon dish and I ordered the Chicken in Chili Peppers and Lemongrass (#54 or #56).
The appetizers arrived first, and they did not disappoint. The Spring Rolls were fresh and had a delicious peanut sauce, but the Egg Rolls were more of a favorite with their crunchiness and the sauce that complimented the dish.
When the entrees arrived, I was pretty excited, and my dish was very large. My friend’s dish, however, seemed quite small in comparison, which was slightly disappointing for him. One critique is that they should have similar serving sizes for their entrees. However, it worked out that he had eaten a large lunch earlier.
I did not taste his meal, but he was raving about it and finished every last bite (5 bites of salmon, but mixed with the plethora of rice, and it was a bigger meal than it looked… just more rice to meat). My dish was amazing!!! The only downside was that it was listed as being «hot,» which I tend to enjoy and have a good tolerance for. However, it wasn’t even mildly spicy for my taste. Fortunately, they do have a container of chili pepper at the tables, and I used a substantial amount. Enough for the neighboring tables to laugh and take notice, so maybe the dish was spicy and I just couldn’t tell? I finished the entire dish, and found that the flavors were quite delicious. It was a tangy flavor, and when mixed with the Lemongrass and rice, it was a knockout. I did take some of the sauce from the Egg Rolls and used that, which was quite good too.
For a Vietnamese Restaurant, and in Syracuse, I was very pleasantly surprised, which was a plus for someone who is not only a foodie, but who has been to Vietnam a few times.
I will definitely go back again and again.

This is as authentic as it gets anywhere, let alone this region in New York. I’m from the bay area in California where we have Little Saigon down in San Jose and orange county. These guy really do their dishes perfectly. The phở broth steeped to perfection and the barbecued pork noodle and rice dishes are crisp and delicious. Don’t expect fancy table whites, as it is essentially the bottom floor of a residential home. What you should expect is amazingly authentic Vietnamese food.

My time in Memphis leaves me with a pretty wide spectrum of feelings from happiness to disdain. Overall, I cannot say that our short residency in Memphis was positive, but there were certainly some bright spots! One of which was being introduced to Vietnamese food — and more specifically, phở. Since trying it for the first time in Memphis, I have been actively seeking a phở place that is equal to or greater in quality. New Century is definitely equal to in nearly every single way.
Food: Like at all phở places, I ordered the Phở Tai. It is always easiest for me to order something I am familiar with at a new restaurant before venturing out too far into the unknown so that I get a good baseline to compare it to. In addition, we also got an order of their House Specialty pork and seafood roll (eggroll like).
Eggrolls: They are not eggrolls, but it is the closest thing I can compare them to. Instead of using a traditional egg roll wrapper, they used (what seemed to be) vermicelli noodles. Meaning, they put the filling in the noodles, wrapped it, then fried it. This was certainly interesting, and the pork/​seafood mixture was unique; but I wouldn’t order them again. I prefer spring rolls way more so than this (the cold ones with the rice paper wrapper). For me, these just tasted funny and had a strange texture. They are unique though, so I recommend trying them.
Phở Tai: Ridiculously good. The broth was completely on-​point. Full of flavor, with a perfect mix of spices that ranged from cinnamon to star anise… maybe even some cardamom. The vermicelli was cooked perfectly, and the beef was nice and rare when it arrived in my soup. This was served alongside a heaping plate of Thai Basil, EXTREMELY FRESH Bean Sprouts, lime wedges, and habanero pepper slices.
I have been to phở places that have bean sprouts that are limp, and obviously old. These were super fresh, crisp, and had a bright-​white color. The freshness was indisputable — not only for the bean sprouts, but regarding all things. This is tied for the best phở tai I have ever had.
Food: ⁵⁄₅ (No deduction for the Egg roll thing)
Service: I have found the service at most establishments such as this, very respectful, prompt, and efficient. New Century was no different. We were served expediently, and with great attitudes. The manager even stopped by to check on our food. Nice touch!
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere: Such a warm and inviting place to come and eat. Extremely spacious, was clean, and had a feeling about it that just made me feel at ease. For me, Phở may be one of my ultimate comfort foods … and I have only been eating it for about one year. Overall, I could feel my whole body warm up as soon as I entered. I would come here frequently if I lived in the Syracuse area.
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Price: For what I received, I would gladly pay more. Such an excellent quality phở. The only thing that disappointed me was the cost of the soft drink. I think it was 2.00 for a can of Pepsi. That is ridiculous. I must not have read where it mentioned that soft drinks were cans. My mistake … maybe … but I usually catch this. Regardless, I would gladly pay for this meal again — just not the can of soda.
Price: ⁴⁄₅
Final Thoughts: I have had slightly better experiences at other phở places, but the food here is dynamite. Even though this was only a 4 start review for me, this is a place that you must come and visit if you like this type of cuisine. One last thing to note is that I have found that you can judge how good an establishment like this is based on the number of patrons. There were a lot of people at this restaurant, and all of them seemed to know what good Vietnamese cuisine should be.

When i pulled up to New Century, I was slightly afraid to get out of the car. There was only this one sign with its name and extremely poor lighting and no windows. Its location is a bit tucked away and surrounded by residential. When I proceeded to walk through the entrance it felt like i was walking into a home. Once i walked inside its décor reminded me of bingo. Basic wood tables and chairs. But who cares about décor. I am here for good food. And this place serves just that.
Ordered vietnamese rolls and New century egg rolls. Both were really good. I ordered the small shrimp, pork and jelly fish dish for my main course. I was once step away from licking the plate! If you like jelly fish then i advise on ordering the large!!! My hubby ordered beef phở and that was also delicious! How do i know? Bc after my meal i had to try out his order and i could not stop eating it. I have been to a lot of vietnamese restaurants in manhattan and queens but i have to say this is def my new fav vietnamese spot. Just wished this place would move to queens!

Authentic, satisfying food, but disappointing service.
After hearing about a decent Vietnamese establishment in Syracuse serving phở, I was interested in learning more. My family and I ended up visiting here on a chilly Sunday for lunch after some persuasion from me. The place is tucked in a quite neighborhood on a corner lot. It seems like it was a refurbished house with many walls knocked down to create one giant dining area. I was a little hesitant at first, the interior seemed a bit rundown and dirty, but this did not sway us. We were seated at one of their giant table and left to peruse the menu.
It took quite some time for the server to just come take our drink order. By the time he came, we had already decided what we wanted for our meals; not a good sign considering we had our indecisive mother with us. We all decided on splitting the New Century Egg Rolls for $ 5.95. We were given a total of 5 smallish pieces. This crispy egg roll consisted of a shrimp and pork mixture stuffed inside a fried noodle exterior. While I wasn’t crazy about the sauce it was served with (it seemed a little too fishy or something) the roll itself was bursting with flavor; it didn’t even need the sauce. Between the quality and freshness of the ingredients, I thought it was a solid dish. All of us ended up ordering a giant bowl of phở for $ 8.95. I decided on the rare beef, brisket, and tendon (#13) phở. I was quite surprised to find I utterly enjoyed my steaming bowl of spicey goodness. This was only my second time trying phở and I was turned off from it the first time thinking it always was drowned in coriander. This was a perfect blend of flavors: enough to know they were there but not consuming the entire dish. They served it with the traditional basil, bean sprouts, lime and habanero (last time I had jalapeño), which enhanced the flavor even further. I was surprised how effectively the steeping process of these ingredients were. With just 3 small pieces of habanero, my mouth was on fire. I liked adding a little hoisin to the noodles as I ate them since they didn’t soak in as much flavor from the broth as I expected. While there wasn’t a significant amount of meat in the bowl, I thought that the serving size was quite generous. I had about half the bowl left of broth. I hear this is a traditional amount but, for $ 9, how can you go wrong? The meat was okay to me. I probably wouldn’t get the tendon again; it was super chewy and fat-​like. The other meats were very tender but didn’t add a significant amount of flavor for me (it was probably already steeped out in the soup). The broth was my favorite part. I look forward to adding my own noodles for a future meal.
The service was quite sparse and not very welcoming to outsiders. Some of us ran out of water and never did they come over once for a refill. They only arrived to drop off food and hurriedly ran off to help other tables. Not even a «how is everything going?» during the meal. It was probably obvious to them that most of us weren’t very knowledgeable of Vietnamese food, but that doesn’t call for them completely disregarding us. I could definitely see improvement here.
Overall, I was quite impressed with their food. The atmosphere and service wasn’t the best but it was good enough where I would come back here, probably for take-​out. I definitely thought we got our money’s worth for the quantity and quality. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for authentic Vietnamese food.

New Century is located in a residential neighborhood on Syracuse’s North Side. The building itself appears to be a converted older home. There is both street and off street parking and it is quite easy to locate. The neighborhood looks sketchy but, so do other parts of Syracuse. Don’t let this fact prevent you from trying New Century.
I had my stomach set on some fabulous Vietnamese food from what is probably the most well established and known Vietnamese restaurant in this region. With that in mind I arrived, found a spot on the street and walked up the steps and through the entrance to this restaurant. One is greeted by what appears to be a large wooden old fashioned bar, sans stools or alcohol, and an otherwise barren entrance. A small Buddha statue and «altar» like display is nearby. Step inside a bit further and someone will greet you eventually and bring you to their main dining area to the right side of the building. The atmosphere screams old home in a time warp complete with floors that bounce when people walk by. By no means did I expect the atmosphere of a Bouley but, I was surprised that it was not that warm and inviting inside, however, nor was it a dive.
While service is awkward and no better than an average diner, the prices and ambiance are well aligned. Meal prices are a bargain and someone got a bargain furniture shopping. Ultimately, I am only describing this for the purposes of this review and I really want to focus on the food. I broke my predictable mold and didn’t order some form of phở or seafood. I chose from a section of their menu, Súp Bò Viên (Soup), for an appetizer and Cm Tm (Steamed Rice Dishes) for my entrée. A small bowl of meatball soup quickly arrived after I placed my order. A very nice yet, not complex broth surrounded a generous portion of what I consider to be standard Vietnamese meatballs. In other words, I have had almost identical meatballs at other restaurants in this area which makes me wonder if they’re ordering form the same supplier. They were good but, eating at a new restaurant I expected some difference.
My Grilled Pork Chop with steamed rice arrived as my entrée. It was two very thinly sliced shoulder cut pork chops which had been marinated/​tenderized in a mildly sweet sauce and grilled to a well done state. These were tasty and fairly tender but, too well done for my liking. The steamed white rice was perfectly done. I don’t have much to describe because this is such a simple dish and I regret not getting my phở fix. I’ll have to return and stick with the soup… soon