Saigon Restaurant

Super nice people, great food. The phở is well made and delicious!

This is a great little Vietnamese restaurant on Forest Ave. Very diverse menu… the apps are very good as I have tried most of them. The Phở is very good, with lots of options. Their Vermicelli noodle dished are crisp, clean, healthy, and very flavorful. Try a D-​7 with chicken… yum.
Solid place with good price/​value. 4 stars

LOVE Saigon. Their Q2 (egg noodles with beef, basically beef lo mein) is so delicious that even though a lot of other things on the menu look great, I always go back for this dish. The staff are always friendly and welcoming and it’s really nice to support this family-​run business.

This rating may be from my own stupidity, but I ordered delivery the other night and was not impressed.
I have never had Vietnamese food before and ordered a pork fried rice kind of dish because I know I like it. $ 8
I was then told that there was a $ 15 minimum for delivery. I had heard about the phở on Unilocal so I ordered a medium. $ 7
Somehow my bill was $ 21 (maybe the delivery fee?)
When I got my food the pork fried rice was good, but I didn’t know how to put the phở dish together as there were 4 different containers. This is where my own stupidity comes in, I kind of just wung it and put a bunch of stuff together. Whatever I did it was terrible.
Not sure if Vietnamese is my thing…

My sister and I had lunch at Saigon today. The food was excellent. Lunch started with a tasty egg drop type soup with tofu. We both had bun which was delicious. The meat and shrimp were grilled and very tasty. The raw vegetables were marinated which gave extra flavor to the dish. The broth/​sauce had good flavor. The serving size was large. We also really enjoyed the tea. This is my new favorite Asian restaurant!

I believe.
I believe that they will win.
I believe that they will win!
If there is a Vietnamese battle on Forest Ave between Thanh Thanh 2 and Saigon, I know who the winner is and it’s just by a hair.
I had my first (and definitely not last) meal at Saigon this past weekend. I’m a phở fanatic. If I could marry it, I would. But our marriage would be a short one because the bowl would empty in no time and then I’d be married to an empty bowl. Anyway.
The phở was wonderful and inexpensive for how much I got. It came with the usual extras: bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos and lime, but there was a twist with some spicy chili oil that almost killed me with awesomeness. I opted for the medium which was really reasonable at $ 8.95. The broth should ALWAYS be the star of phở and in this case, it was shining bright. Flavorful and hearty, I couldn’t stop eating it until I was too full to move. The noodles, beef, onion and scallions were great as always. I’ve always enjoyed having to give my phở a swish to break up the noodles. I knew it was a good meal when my glasses fogged up from the soup because I couldn’t wait for it to cool down.
I liked that we got small bowls of soup to start with. We weren’t told what it was, but that’s okay. It was creamy and delicious with big chunks of tofu in it. We shared an appetizer of saigon rolls which are a mix of pork and taro. They were what you’d expect, nothing special to write home about it.
We received some really great service including a little table demonstration on how I can make use of my chili oil. One of the waitresses put some hoisin on one of our plates and mixed it with a tiny bit of the chili oil. She told me I could then add that to my phở or take a piece of the beef and dunk it in the hoisin on my plate. I was glad for the suggestion because otherwise, I would have probably just ignored the chili oil altogether. I ended up adding a bit too much of the oil to my phở and my face was on fire, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I did my best to eat the whole thing but I just couldn’t make it through.
I’ll definitely be back. The lunch prices look really reasonable and they have a huge variety of things to try. I’m always drawn to a good bowl of phở so it may be some time before I try anything else.
I believe that they have won.

Thanh thanh 2, Veranda Noodle Bar for phở?! Phở getta bout it! Saigon has the best phở fo sho’. Seriously though my fiancéè and I ate at thanh thanh 2 and then Veranda Noodle Bar always ordering Phở then we tried Saigon and we both agreed Saigon was the best. The meat tastes better as well as the flavor of the broth. The pork spring rolls coming out like little sushi bites was cute. They also will serve an XL Phở you just have to request it. The place was clean, quiet, and the service was quick and very friendly.

Best phở in Maine. Excellent phở for anywhere. Great apps. Vermicelli bowl can be beat by Veranda noodle close by, but Saigon’s phở is miles above.

5 stars for the clean ambience and friendly service.
4 stars for the phở — good portions, flavorful broth, and reasonable price.
3 stars (unfortunately) for the bun, which is the vermicelli noodle bowl — I felt like they skimped on the «toppings,» as the shredded cabbage was just meh and scant, not a lot of meat, and overall bland flavor. I prefer the bun at Veranda Noodle bar.

My friend raves about their Phở, I’m not a big meat person so I opt for their seafood selections. I love their seafood noodle soup, for less than $ 10 you get a massive amount of food, the bowl is the size of your head and I love how you can customize how much or how little bean sprouts/​spice/​cilantro/​basil you can add.
It takes us an hour to finish our meals.
You also get a little cup of complementary soup and hot tea, win! Service is friendly, a bit of an outdated building but you go there for the food, not the décor.

Update 11÷4÷15
I came here for dinner and shared the phở dac biet, bun bo hue, and Saigon eggrolls. The phở was good, but a little too sweet for my taste. The large at $ 9.95 was very filling, but I prefer the broth at Thanh Thanh because it is more complex (stronger ginger and star anise flavors). The bun bo hue aka spicy beef noodle soup was tasty with a few extra dashes of fish sauce. The eggrolls stuffed with pork, taro, and cabbage were hot and crispy! Saigon also has better service than Thanh Thanh.
******
This is an authentic Vietnamese restaurant located near Baxter Woods State park. I was feeling crazy homesick and in desperate need of some Vietnamese food. Saigon restaurant did not disappoint this former SoCal gal! This is a family run restaurant with a diverse menu. I decided to play it safe by ordering the grilled shrimp and egg roll noodle bowl for $ 8.95+tax+tip. It was delicious with the addition of some garlic chili sauce. Service was on point and parking was a breeze. They have a decent size lot they share with a few other businesses. I will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu! P. S. they take credit and debit card.

Three stars for the phở. The flavors were there but the noodles were essentially one massive clump and required heavy stirring and separation to become edible.
The service was good, not outstanding but also not horrible. I was told by a friend that you get tea whenever you come in and we had to ask for it so that’s a little bit of a bummer. The tea was tasty and hot when we did get it though!
I’m not giving up on this spot. I’ll likely be back but I won’t be having the phở. I hear the tofu soup is good (they were unfortunately out when I came), so I’ll at least be back to try that.

I came in to warm up from the Maine «Spring» weather, and I was craving some delicious phở. We walked in with a couple other groups and executed the seat yourself policy. Normally, you’re immediately greeted and brought a piping hot pot of tea… not this time. We were told by the waitress that not only had they run out of tea, but they had also run out of their famous tofu soup! I’ve been here numerous times and this has never happened. We ordered our phở and it was good but not great. The noodles came in one huge dense clump, which was a little unappetizing. And the broth was not piping hot as phở should be. I was very disappointed as I come here often and have had great meals and service. I’m hoping it was an off night.

This place has made me fall in love with phở! It looks really small, but I have always been able to get in for lunch. They have been consistent and I have tried other restaurants that just don’t compete. Come here for the # 1 phở in Portland! — Oh and get an order of the pan fried dumplings and add them to your soup. (You’re welcome)

My boyfriend and I discovered Saigon a little over a year ago. We have tried several dishes and we have never been disappointed. The place is always clean and servers are friendly. The owner started recognizing us after the third time we came. Food always takes just a couple of minutes and while you wait you get some complementary tea and soup! Which are always comforting.
I encourage anyone to stop by and try the Phở

This was the first time we tried this Vietnamese spot for take out. I wished we dined in because the aromas were so pleasant along with the cleanliness. Service is definitely great for take out and our order was ready in a matter of 10 minutes.
I have had different types of Vietnamese dishes, but the rice noodles were very sweet and tangy. I should have settled for Phở, but take out Phở isn’t the same as dine in Phở. I tried mixing paprika into the dish, but that didn’t take away the sweetness at all. The main delight was the complimentary soup that was given to us and believe it was egg drop soup with tofu pieces.
I will not give up on this restaurant because I know I’ll find a dish other than Phở that I will fall in love with!

I don’t think there is a place in town that you can as much good food for as little money.
The beef phở is so freaking good. It will warm your heart and soul like no other.
I love the fresh springs rolls and the glass noodle curry as well! Eat in house and get complimentary tea, soup and fresh fruit!
Service can be spotty but food is always good and wallet is always happy.

Loved this little Thai gem. Looks smaller than it actually is. First time I have tried phở! Dumplings were really good as well.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been here because I’ve moved down to Florida. The owner is friends with my family and so I use to frequent here quite often.
I can’t remember what anything tastes like EXCEPT for one dish that I got most of the time I was there. Every once in awhile, I crave this.
Get the Mi Xao Don! It’s so good!!!
Last time I went though, which was a few months ago during a visit back to Maine after two years — the portions seemed to get smaller. But still good!

Wow. One of the best Vietnamese restaurants that I’ve ever been to. This place has so many options to the point that even though I was craving phở, I second guessed myself and strongly considered another entrée. I’m pescetarian, and I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t any vegetarian or seafood phở on the menu, but you can just ask the servers for them. I’m sure that they are very flexible with dietary accommodations because everything seems to be made in house.
Some of the differentiating factors: 1) they serve tofu soup with each entrée! So refreshing and yummy! 2) Oranges AND fortune cookies after the meal. 3) The servers are really sweet anseem like they really want to converse with everyone that walks in the door. 4) Free tea!
The phở we got was pretty authentic as well as the summer rolls. All in all, a must go if you’re a huge phở fan or just love Asian/​Vietnamese food!