New Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant II

An okay option for downtown grub. Service is straight forward — no jokes or up sales. Go before noon– it can get busy and they don’t seem to always serve in order (i.e. Often people that come in after you get their food first).

This is a good place for Asian people especially the visitors like me who need some hot soup food to warm my stomach.
I have been here every time in downtown area, especially for lunch. It is hard to see very good, just normal phở soup. It is crowded during lunch time.

This place made my apartment smell like a hot dumpster.
My girlfriend ate here with her mom, and got to-​go for me. So she brought some kind of vermicelli tofu dish. Most greasy, nasty thing I’ve eaten all year. There was sauce on it, but I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to taste like. Generic Asian sauce flavor I guess…
There was a side of shredded lettuce — the kind you get in a prison or an elementary school cafeteria from the 80s. And there was a plastic cup of… piss. It looked like piss.
On opening the piss, a strong dumpster smell filled the room — almost making me gag. So I dumped that into my kitchen sink, and now my whole kitchen smells like crusty hobo sex.
I’ve lit four sticks of incense, and it’s not helping. I’ll be going out to grab some bleach.
As for the spring rolls, I didn’t eat them. I assume I was supposed to dip them in the piss, but I’m done. Lost my appetite.
AVOID.

Interesting that I wrote my original review of this place prior to my living in Seattle. Oddly enough, I eat here on average about once a week.
What’s also interesting is that in my original review I complained about the blandness of the broth. Fast forward 6 years later… I can say that in general, Seattle’s palette is blander than L.A.‘s palette. I said ‘in general’.
That said, I don’t know if my palette has adjusted somewhat but I don’t find the broth as bland as I used to, HOWEVER, it isn’t as flavorful as the phở place that is number one on my list. Is theirs more fatty? Do they cook the broth longer with the bone? Who knows, but there is a difference.
What is the same from 2009 to now though is the lightning fast and friendly service. And this place has been a convenient 2 minute walk from my work so I can’t beat that on days when I want to get the hell out of the office and enjoy some A-​OK fast phở.

This is my first time to eat here. The store is located underground that I think is amazing. Tried their rice meal instead of vietnamese soup and found out that they make really good grilled pork. The cashier is very patient and nice in taking pictures of us. Also, the store is clean and spacious!

Surprise! It’s a full size restaurant hidden down a narrow staircase. Clean, good service, decent prices. I was not blown away by the veggie phở, but the meat-​eaters in the place seemed happy. Nice to find affordable (if somewhat unexciting) food so close to the convention center.

Flew here from boston for 2 days & headed out to ketchikan ak. I decided to stop in for some asian food considering it’s across the street from my hotel (sheraton) because chinatown was several miles away. Order phở & found hair in it service was quick & not so friendly.

My friend and I were in desperate need for Vietnamese coffee! We ordered one Togo and the wait was too long for a single cup of coffee. The place was pretty empty too. Although I didn’t try the food. I don’t know if I’d want to come back.

While the service was pretty reasonable given a pretty busy weekday lunch crowd, the food is just okay. The Vietnamese stew was watery [which, since I’ve tried it now at four places, at least happens at least half the time] and the beef was rather tough, though there was a goodly amount and it had a decent flavor. The noodles seemed to be wheat and did not seem as soft as the rice noodles I was accustomed to. The carrots were plentiful and were from fresh, but seemed a bit old (as in sitting in the fridge for awhile). [I’d gone once before and also thought the food was just okay, but can’t tell you anything else about the experience.]
Additionally, the ambiance is really subpar for such a location. I suppose it’s to keep their prices (relatively for downtown) low, but has luncheonette tables and chairs and the carpet leading down to the restaurant (in a basement, so artificial light only, another minus) seemed worn and not all that clean. The fish tank, though, is a bright spot, and there are a few chairs where one can sit and wait.
I am surprised at the slow or neglectful service comments, though. We got our order soon after ordering and, when another joined us, got that entrée quickly as well. The new addition didn’t get her water as quickly as I would expected, but she did get it. On the other hand, none of us were offered refills (although, admittedly, before the other two diners arrived, I had said that I wanted no more water).
My friend, however, who invited me, loves the place. She lives over Long Provincial, which I really like (and which I have previously reviewed), and thinks they’re comparable, but actually prefers this restaurant! So, apparently, it’s a matter of taste.

Horrible service and okay food. A hour and a half for phở is crazy. Rude slow service. It’s a shame, I really wanted to like this place.

I went there during lunch on Friday ⁸⁄₂₈ and was thoroughly disappointed. We had an easy party of three and were ordering when the waiter kept cutting us off. I tried to order one of the vegetarian dishes (I cannot eat meat) and the waiter said «that takes long (er)» [to cook]. So he pointed at another dish that wouldn’t take as long. I said, no thank you, I want my original order. The other two people in my party ordered just fine (meat).
Now when the food comes out they get my friend’s order completely wrong and he said the prawns tasted soapy. My husband’s food was just meh. My food, the one that took longer, didn’t even come w/​tofu but instead was just noodles and some salad and I’m not even sure what kind of egg roll. Definitely not what I ordered.
I’m generously giving two stars because the food wasn’t terrible, but I will not be back again.

I had no idea this place could attract such a big lunch crowd. I went with my coworkers for the first time today, and it was so busy. Minutes later, as we were eating, there was a line of about 15 people up the stairs!
As a result, service was slow, and we never got asked for additional water or anything after our orders were delivered. We had to flag down 3 staff members before someone actually paid attention when we needed the bill and a box.
Food was okay! I ordered a vermicelli bowl with grilled chicken and prawns. The base price was $ 10.50, but I asked for extra chicken. I thought the bowl was deep, and I got plenty of noodles. Pretty much what I would expect from similar Vietnamese joints. Flavor — same. Nothing sets it apart from others either. My coworkers, who both ordered phở, complained that the broth was too bland.
I like Spice Orient better. It’s the one on 2^nd and Pike. Friendlier, more attentive, and better prices.

I loveee this place.
When you walk in, you assume that the entire restaurant would be right there, like most places, right? No. It’s underground. You go down these stairs and into a completely different level, and you’re greeted by a plethora of tables — there’s also a small bar, from what I saw.
The place is decorated super cute and all of the employees that work here are very nice! We took a while to start on our egg rolls cuz they were so hot, and the waitress was like, «Is anything wrong with them? I can get you something else!» so it was cool to see that she really did care.
The phở itself is REALLY good. Like… Really good. There’s something about the broth that makes it seem… stronger? than other phở places I’ve tried and I really like that. The pork egg rolls are okay — and they take foreverrr to cool down.
Only reason I give this place a 4 is because it’s FREEZING. Maybe it’s because it’s underground, or maybe it’s because they just have the AC blasting for summer??? Who knows.
I’ll definitely be back — this is a definite go-​to if you’re looking for phở downtown.

Compared to the rest of the available eateries, I walked in here based on price alone. The food came out quick, which was perfect for my tourist timetable as well.
I have had phở in other establishments and I didn’t think the broth had the same depth and complexities. Perhaps it was a different style, but for my own palate I would go back to other Vietnamese restaurants before returning here. One bonus was the amount of vegetables within the soup itself.
Service was quick and extremely friendly. Facilities were clean and the place had a lot of diners as well as take-​out customers.

Don’t waste your time.
Had a short lunch break. It was raining and cold out. Soup? Done. This was a across the street from a meeting I was having.
Service: slower then peanut butter going uphill in January
Phở: small and lacked everything. That’s what she said.
Price: cheaper then a hoe at hoe convention
Place: in the basement of a building and felt like a crypt
Worst meal I had in Seattle

The soup has little beef flavor, the waiter was extremely slow. The steak was not as fresh.
They add 15% tip on bill to 6 of us at lunch time.

The food is decent but really nothing special to rave about. It’s weird how it’s in the basement of a building so it felt kind of weird eating down there. Almost felt like an illegal underground place to eat haha.
The service here was slow and the waiter kept on forgetting our Thai tea and spring rolls. After we reminded him at least 3x he finally got them. When we got our Thai tea both glass had more than half way filled worth of ice.
The Phở portions were small and the ice tea with half glass of ice… Will never be coming back here again. The phở cost like $ 8 – 10 and that’s for regular.

Convenient location but the food and portion size wasn’t worth the price. I’ve only ever had the phở here but it doesn’t taste like anything special. Just okay.
I also feel like the workers are always bitter or grumpy. Definitely makes me want to not come here anymore.

This is bad! Don’t come here! I was attracted to the neon sign that said VEGETARIAN FOOD. And since I’ve just had 2 very good experiences with another Vietnamese restaurant nearby, I thought I would try my luck. Should’ve checked Unilocal reviews first.
The vegetarian wontons were frozen store bought pot stickers that were deep fried. The egg rolls were weird. They had a lot of curry powder in them. We also had a stirfry tofu thing with rice and onions. BAD and barely warm.
Rickety stairs to a basement dungeon-​esque piqued my interest because I wanted an adventure. Argh! Should’ve kept to street level restaurants.

I went with my gut that New Saigon would be an adequate lunch place. The dining area was about half full and the atmosphere seemed inviting enough. Ordered a Vermicelli noodle bowl (Bun thit nuong cha gio) and a Beef stew rice noodle (Hu tieu bo kho).
Bun thit nuong cha gio — egg rolls weren’t up to par (not very crunchy with filling that’s nothing to write home about) and the grilled meat was on the cold side. 2.5 stars.
Hieu tieu bo kho — beef not tender and not easy to chew. Broth had no hint of any… flavor. 2 stars.
Fast service and good staff, one star added.
No more gut choices; lesson learned, check Unilocal first before spending $.