Little Saigon Fine Vietnamese Cusine

Great vietnamese food at an OK price. Don’t expect the staff to fawn all over you, this is not the place. I tip according to service and I’ve never really had a problem here but I find the owner’s daughter amusing. She’s no shrinking violet.
Last time, I was there she remembered she had a pumpkin pie in her knapsack, in August. Where did she get a pumpkin pie in August? After gesturing at us interrogatively, (is that a word?) we declined and watched her devour the pie. Then, she went back to her laptop before bringing the check unannounced.
The food was great and the service was entertaining. I was actually a lil disappointed, that she did not smack anyone as the other reviewer stated. Maybe next time? Don’t worry, the place is Kid friendly. They provide crayons for the paper table cover and post the children’s artwork on their walls.
The Bhan Mi is quite good and I’ve had several versions of it. I usually get the Beef with Lemongrass platter as well. I’ve yet to have the Phở but it always looks and smells good when it leaves the kitchen.

Enjoyable experience!!!
Except for the LOUD talking Marlboro types that come in and share an order of spring rolls and share a soup!
spend some $ for god sakes you cheapkates! The girl works hard here.
GREAT curry soup and pork chop! Rolls are crispy.
sandiches are only for lunch BOO!!! But they are yummy!

This place could be a hit or miss depending if time is your enemy or ally. Beside that hiccup, this place is where I will usually go to have soup. The phở and and the curry soup I what I purchase. The summer spring rolls are also fresh and crisp. However, the special are small for the price. Other than that, place is great to have for cold night.

I’m a big fan of Vietnamese food. Big fan. I’ve had really good Vietnamese food in North Jersey so I feel awful writing this review. I’ve had lunch at this place a few times now but so far I’ve never really liked any of the food. The service was great but the food was just so-​so. The phở was ugh. I feel like I could make better Phở than this restaurant. The pork chops over rice was alright. The shrimp roll was okay. It’s affordable, all right, but unfortunately this place has yet to wow me.

Initially I entered 4 stars because the prices are a little high aside from the lunchtime specials menu but then I felt bad and switched it to 5 because Little Saigon serves among the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had.
The summer roll was way beyond what’s typical, a beautiful combo of warm, probably poached shrimp and cool veggies which were super fresh and unusually cut.
I also ordered the pork chops over rice. They serve the best broken rice I’d ever eaten and though my son insisted he wasn’t hungry and protested our being there from the start, he somehow polished off 1 and ½ of 2 of my pork chops, definitely a bummer but my impulse to parent slightly trumped my impulse to feast. Next time I’ll know to ask for a double order.
This is really solid, traditional and slightly surprising Vietnamese food that’s worth a detour.

I love their Fried Spring Roll and their Sweet and Sour Chicken with pineapple! This resto is a little bit pricey but the food is really great!

Lunch today for us consisted of summer roll, which was just ok, steamed pork dumplings which were pretty good and a very nice chicken banh mi, which was very tasty. Service not very friendly but passable and the ambience was just ok — rather plain and pedestrian.
We would return but there are now a few other Vietnamese restaurants at the shore worth investigating first.

This is NOT a fast food place. They make good fresh food here and after coming here 2x a month for over 14 months i have learned that. I think I can speak with some authority because I have had just about everything on the menu.
My fav is the Shaking Beef, or The BBQ Chicken Phở, Got to have the Satay chicken or lettuce wrap for 2 as apps.
Man I am getting hungry just writing this​.Pro tip: Order some apps, drink some tea and then when your main course comes out you won’t realize that it does take time to cook from scratch good fresh food.
BYOB See ya here

This is the type of place where you always feel at home– from the servers who remember you to the home-​cooked, made-​to-​order food.
Great for the kids– ask for their cape bib, crayons, and kid sized utensils and plates!
Solid, not-​too-​bad-​for-​you food at a decent price. How can you go wrong?

The secret is out, this place has fantastic food!
With Mama in the kitchen and daughter in the dining room this is truly a traditional Family owned and operated restaurant.
The soups are fabulous. We love the barbecue, lemongrass dishes and also some of the salmon and calamari dishes.
The only negative is that the secret is out and now on peak times you will have to wait to be seated.

Well we always drive by this place but never gave the place a second thought. We stopped by one Saturday night and the place only had two other tables filled.
Anyway we sat down and looked through the menu and ok well a typical Viet restaurant menu.
So hence the true way to judge a Viet resturant is the PHO!!! Ok it came and looked good but the verdict it was the Worst!!! My wife tells me not to get upset until the rest comes it might get better. The Pork Chop sucked!!! The spring roll… just Ok… The ice coffee (café suda) all condensed milk no coffee!!! Only thing they got right was summer roll!!!
But then again all the ingredients are just boiled!!!
It doesn’t take much for that.
The wrap up. I would never go back and the are other Viet restaurants in the area I would go to before this place. Oh and the tea is too dark like they don’t get enough customers so they just sit there… it’s only water change it!!!

I owe this place a review as I’ve been going to little saigon for over a year on a monthly basis or more.
I have not explored the menu as much as I should, but I just cannot get myself to stray away from my typical meal here. We start off with the fried egg rolls, which are always consistently good. Then I get beef phở and my boyfriend gets the bbq chicken with veggie phở. It is always so damn good and we always leave satisfied for about $ 30.
I know there are ton of bad reviews on the service here, but I never have a problem. We are always greeted by the staff and they know exactly which table we like to sit at. They take our order, the food comes, we eat, we pay and leave looking forward to coming back. I don’t really expect much more than that, as long as the food is just as good as the last time.
People need to understand that this isn’t a fancy restaurant. Lisa keeps it real and we admire that about her.

I’ve been coming to Little Saigon for a while now and I felt remiss not having reviewed one of the best bowls of soup I’ve ever had! This place is your typical hole in the wall eatery; apart from it’s size, it has your requisite lack of visual appeal (excepting, of course, the random painting of majestically glittering-​actual glitter-​horses galloping across a shore with some lettering at the top), convenient location along Rt. 9, and has decent prices. Every time I have come here, though, I have found the service to be much faster in the early-​mid afternoon rather than dinner. It makes sense considering there is really only one waitress (the owner’s daughter) who whisks around like a dreidel on crack. On good days, she can be funny and shoot the breeze with you; on bad, her temperament can be as desirable as landing your derrière on some cacti (my family once left because she was noticeably ignoring their table).
Aside from the basics, however, Little Saigon offers up an authentic and extensive menu. We’ve tried a lot of different dishes there from the traditional vermicelli with beef to the squid to the shrimp spring rolls. All of them have been decent enough, but nothing worth ordering again. The real reason to head here are it’s vast array of soup offerings. The one in particular I’m talking about, however, is the Coconut Chicken Curry Soup. Heaven in a bowl. When this massive mothership of a bowl heads your way, it arrives with a smattering of accoutrements: crunch bean sprouts, delicate thai basil, sliced jalapeño peppers, and fresh lime wedges. Go for gold! Dump this beautiful garden of goodies into your bowl, squeeze in the lime, and watch as the octane level of food-​gasm is realized as the ingredients mix into the rich broth filled with potatoes, your choice of noodle/​rice/​or even baguette (though I say stick with the phở rice noodles), scallions, and the generous cuts of poultry. Spicy, sweet, tangy, savory, hot… this soup has everything! Grab a bowl, enjoy some delicious complimentary wheat tea (!), and, if you’re still not full, order their amazing home made bubble tea selections (go for their frozen interpretations of custard, taro, and/​or avocado)!

The pork chops that I ordered for my kids was marvelous. I expected something a bit dried out (as per my usual experience in Viet restaurants). Instead, it was juicy and marinated perfectly. My son could not get enough of it!
The noodles were good, the vegetables obviously fresh. My wife and I enjoyed our soup and tea. Thank you =)

I agree with the other reviews about the bad service. I would recommend you not going here.
Service: Lacking. The waitress there was very unprofessional. She would constantly go talk to other customers who I suppose were her friends. The conversations was very inappropriate. In one conversation she spoke so loud for everyone inside to hear and said the owners saying she did everything and they were lazy. Then later commenting that she took off work in the middle of work to go swimming. I also saw two people going to order take out but it took her over 20 min to finally go to the front and take their order, no one else were in front of them and no one needing to be waited on. In my eyes it was ridiculous.
Atmosphere: I thought it was cute that they hung up drawings (possibly from their children or relatives). However, there was one picture that was extremely inappropriate given that this should have a family atmosphere.
Food: The food here wasn’t as good, compared to other Vietnamese restaurants but it was okay. I ordered phở, there was so little noodle and big chunks of meat, usually there are thin slices of beef.

I agree with the other negative reviewer. The service is disgusting. That one and only short waitress with pimples all over her face is not only rude, but nearly started a fight with us. I’ve never met such horror. The atmosphere and décor of this place is weird and uninviting.
Go to Phở Le in Red Bank — they have MUCH better food and service.

I came here recently with my parents for dinner. There isn’t much of a staff, and although I had no problem with the female employee (that everyone says is the owner’s daughter?), I can see why people can be put off by her demeanor. As for the food, the phở was good (XL can pretty much feed two adults), but lacking meat and noodles. I liked the fried egg rolls, but the spring rolls weren’t too fresh (already starting to brown on the inside). The lemongrass beef was my least favorite… it might have been better with large lemongrass pieces instead of minced lemongrass which made it hard to pick off.
Prices are fair, and I had a groupon which made this a great deal.

Not ready for prime-​time. Waitress was overwhelmed and dour. The busboy was more friendly.
Forgot one appetizer. Otherwise food was pretty good. Unfortunately does not overcome poor service. We saw two couples leave due to excessive wait time once seated.
Without groupon coupon, we would have been hopping mad. Just not worth drive of 30 minutes.

This place brings some spice (literally and figuratively) to the dining scene in Manalapan. Coming from Philly, I am used to the fact that there are about 17 Vietnamese restaurants within 1 mile of my home. In Manalapan, all we have are about 17 Italian restaurants in a 1 mile radius. Seriously, there is really not a whole lot of variety in the dining scene of Monmouth County in general.
When my mom told me this place opened near her home, I was pumped to try it out with her. We went in early, about 6ish, and were the only people in the restaurant. The service was friendly, accommodating, helpful, and fast. Also, within 30 minutes of us being there, the restaurant was PACKED! Couples, families, children… everyone was coming to this place.
The quality of the food we got was phenomenal. I had a vermicelli noodle bowl with BBQ chicken, and my mom had a grilled pork platter. We had a couple of various appetizers including the crêpe which was outstanding and one of my favorite things I ate the whole night. Also, like any Vietnamese place, there is a huge variety of sauces on the table to accompany your meal.
It is BYOB, making it even better (always). We didn’t try the phở, because the menu was so extensive that we needed to put it off until next visit, but it looked awesome. Note that the banh mi are only available during lunch hours. Also, they deliver. I will most certainly be back!

I’ve only had their banh mi and egg rolls. The egg rolls are disgusting and orange and chewy.
The banh mi is not bad, but the bread is not made fresh. Unfortunately, that’s a huge deal breaker. If the bread is stale, the banh mi tastes a bit off.
If there’s nothing else when you just want banh mi, it’s better than nothing.