On West 23rd Street, tucked in a busy corner, you can find Little Saigon Cafe. Though this restaurant is very small and a tiny bit cramped, they use every last inch to its very fullest. With only a few tables, all of which seat four, and a few chairs at a bar, they manage to not only run a successful restaurant but also create a very cozy environment. The couple that own the restaurant are the only people working there, yet they are able to serve everyone efficiently and quickly, which is very impressive. The restaurant offers a wide variety of pho, bun (cold noodles served in a bowl with fish sauce at the bottom) and egg noodle soup dishes. They also offer a diverse list of Vietnamese appetizers.
When I dined at this restaurant for the first time, all the menu items looked so good that I had some trouble deciding what to order. I was also shocked that the restaurant was quite busy, with only two tables remaining unoccupied. I decided to order two appetizers, their fried egg rolls and fried barbecue quail. The egg rolls, which I was expecting to be nothing special, were amazing. They tasted like normal egg rolls that could be found anywhere, but the shell was so flavorful and crunchy that it really set them apart. The quail was also delicious, though it was quite small. These dishes arrived within five minutes of sitting down, and the service was so lightning-fast my pho arrived before I was even halfway done with the quail. The combination pho, a warm noodle soup with thin noodles, tripe, tendon, meatball and beef meats, was absolutely delicious and was the highlight of the trip.
If you are a fan of inexpensive, delicious Asian cuisine and enjoy having smiling servers with quick service, Little Saigon Cafe is definitely the right place for you.
