Saigon Cafe

I get delivery from here often. It’s one of my go-to spots for Vietnamese food. I always get the fresh spring rolls. The peanut sauce is spot on and the shrimp is fresh. You can never go wrong with this appetizer. The beef vermicelli is really good too. Love all the fresh vegetables they use and the pickled radishes and carrots are absolutely mouthwatering.

This neighborhood spot is quite nice. They offer a good selection of dishes, but the flavors are just average, and the prices are a bit steep compared to other places. On the bright side, the service is excellent. Our server offered helpful suggestions for customizing any dishes how we wanted. We ordered summer rolls (good and freshly prepared), veggie Asian noodle with beef broth (they initially gave me chicken broth and changed it to beef broth) and chao ga was good with extra veggies on the side. In general, the food was decent, and the standout service definitely enhances the experience, even though we found it slightly pricey.

Great food and great service. Thai chicken curry soup was flavorful with fresh ingredients. It's got a good spicy kick. The fried spring rolls were excellent too.

We ordered the vege spring rolls and a beef pho which was better than what i expected. Would definitely recommend.

This is the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had! I am a fan of this soup and it has given me a hard time finding one that is good. But this soup is perfect! And it's close to my home😍

My friend wanted to try Viet food so we came here for a small bite. Honestly, I don’t have much experience when it comes to this cuisine, but the waitress was so kind to give great recommendations. We actually ate beforehand and regretted it, should’ve came on empty stomach because the food was so tasty and flavorful. 🥺 Also although the curry bread puff(?) took some time, it was worth the wait. They actually made it fresh?! I was expecting them to just microwave hard bread or something but they did not disappoint, it was freshly-made, soft and flaky. Def revisiting in the near future 💖

Such a pleasure to be a patron at this delicious decadent authentic cuisine made by the matriarch of the family. The ambiance is so friendly, inviting and comforting. My family and I love this well cared for family gem in Jersey City, NJ!

None of the Asian restaurants on Grove Street really make the grade, and this one proves no exception. The clientele was boisterously loud, and most good restaurants invest in sound proofing their ceilings so that it isn't bouncing off the walls. I love how the owner says to just do takeout, and certainly the service was lackluster (no chopsticks, had to call out to get attention), but the food was forgettable and a shame, not representing good authentic Vietnamese food at all. The soup broth for the phô, a fundamental element for any decent Vietnamese place tasted like water. I mistakenly thought this was the relocated Saigon Grill, where the food was delicious. Save the time and money - don't go here.

The lunch menu has something for everyone. The food is fantastic. The staff exhibited genuine niceness, plenty of smiles, and authentic friendliness. The serving size is good, the preparation thoughtful, and flavor delightful. Weekly dining here would be a pleasure!

Vibe: 6/10 Value: 8/10 Service: 7/10 Chicken pho: 7/10 Beef pho: 8/10 Overall: 7.2/10 (3.6/5) [To clarify our review system: 10 = we'll never have anything else as good as this in our lives (we use 10 very sparingly!) 9 = extraordinary 8 = great 7 = above average 6 = average Anything below 6 is being critical]

Super chill Vietnamese restaurant in JC! We ordered 2 dishes to share: - Clay pot curry: 9/10 (this is my first time trying Vietnamese style curry and it was pretty good! It wasn't as thick as other styles of curry, but I liked how warm it was) - Beef pho: 9/10 (pretty good pho! Definitely will come here when I'm craving some pho in the area.) Service was fast and super friendly and ambiance was very chill.

Holy!!!! Most flavorful pho ever!!"pho house specialty noodle" So so yummy. Def have to order Also I ordered the viet- style chicken wings they were so crunchy, the meat fell off bones and there was mint leaf on them also insane flavor. Have to order

Love the noodles soup here. My wife really like the Clay pot curry and summer rolls. The curry has nice flavor and well-balanced of spices. The chicken was tender too. Its perfectly good to warm her stomach. I just had beef pho with good noodles texture and pleasant flavor of broth. The spices were great too. The prices were just right and we really like the place.

Tried this place for weeknight dinner. We tried fried tofu with lemongrass sauce and Bun Ga Nuong (Noodle Entree with Chicken) -- both were fresh and tasty, my tofu dish was portion-wise on the smaller side. I think this place is pricey at $20 a entree dish. Ambience is good, service is decent. Definitely worth a try. But nothing that will make me go back to this place.

Great Vietnamese spot in downtown JC. The soup was delicious (and huge). I thought the summer rolls were also especially fresh!

Excellent! Sauces so good you should ask for extra white rice to sop them up. Big menu full of tasty choices and creative cocktails to boot! Friendly attentive service. Interesting uncommon (at least to me) options, eg Living Buddha beer, a good one. Great place in a fun location (downtown JC).

I rarely leave a review but this one has been a slow burn. Put up with their lack of customer service because their claypot was good, but my most recent experience was really bad, and the claypot was spoilt, which made me and my friend sick. I ordered takeout.. tried to call them like 8 times and kept cutting me off. So went to the restaurant to order it.. turns out I was blocked for reasons they couldn't tell me but "it must've been something I did or said"!!! I got my order (the claypot used to be really good).. and my friends curry was lumpy and slit.. almost like spoilt and mine tasted meh.. but ultimately made us both sick. I'm done with completely rudeness and bad food

Great food, friendly neighborhood staff. Wonderful selection of choices on the menu. Porridge is good for feeling under the weather. The limited-item Jersey Tomato special is very tasty. Recommend curry dishes, sticky rice with pork and acorn squash. Small but good selection of spirits too.

I came here as a party of 4 on a Saturday evening. The restaurant doesn't take reservations, but there was no wait, so we were seated immediately. My boyfriend ordered the old fashioned - it was good, but watered down. I ordered the spiked guava lemonade, it was very good, but didn't taste the guava that much. For appetizer, we ordered the pork spring rolls, vegetarian summer roles, and chicken wings. I ordered the lemongrass tofu for dinner. It was very flavorful and had a nice spice to it, but the portion size was a bit on the smaller size. Overall, we had a nice experience and enjoyed the food.

WOW GO HERE! Was recommended by a friend who went and finally decided to come. HOLLY COW, this place will blow you out of the water with its flavor. The inside isn't super flashy but you don't need that. Tucked away at a side table provided a perfect date night atmosphere. Not to mention the service was amazing very understandable when I took forever to decide on what to get. The price is a little expensive but worth it for the flavor. Getting a little deeper. Food was amazing. So flavorful and the tomato stew had rice noodles under all of the flavorful sweet potato and chicken! The curry puffs were so good. GET THEM! The pastry was flakey and the indies had the perfect balance of curry. The clay pot curry was so good and really warmed your belly in the best way. Could not recommend this enough!! Please go you won't be disappointed !!

Very good bun vermicelli noodles and Thai green curry. Great spot in downtown grove street. Lots of options on the menu too and lots of people at the restaurant but not so many we had to wait in line. Highly recommend!

Food delicious and service is great. The price is reasonable. Nice decoration and quiet atmosphere for a family dinner

Although the staff were extremely kind, I was disappointed by the service and food we received. Staff were extremely kind but because they were short-staffed and we visited on a busy week night (Friday night). The waitress was very apologetic which I appreciated but forgot to bring us the lime slices and jalapeno peppers we ordered. It also took a very long time (about 15 to 20 minutes after being seated) to get our Diet Coke. (Pho Bo) It was alright, but the broth seemed to be watered down and not that flavorful (Seafood Rice Noodle Soup) The broth was very odd tasting and for the price we paid, wished it had more actual seafood than the imitation crab sticks. The only thing I liked was the shrimp cracker (which I've never had anywhere else).

Portions smaller but food is good. Porkchop OK. Shaken beef was overcooked but tasted like it could've been great had they not. I hope that was a fluke? Viet coffee decent. Bun grilled shrimps were big and not too over cooked. Will try them again for sure.

Place is overpriced. if you want good vietnamese food go to Corner Pho or kung fu pho. Staff can also be incredibly rude, especially during lunch. Lastly, don't ever order the banh mi for takeout. For some reason it is so much worse versus dining in. This place gets most of its business cause of its central location next to the path. Don't be fooled !

Definitely good food. Service ok. Don't know about drinks, but the bartender is working too hard. Overall boring place. Try to order in or carry out.

Hmm... based on my most recent experiences, I might sadly have to dock my rating for this place. I haven't seen the really good server from my last review in a while, and the most recent staff serving me has been less than warm (with my most recent visit being served by the owner himself). The food quality has also slid quite a bit. During one recent visit, I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I came in specifically excited for a piping hot bowl pho to comfort my soul. My server soon showed up with a bowl of tangled noodles, few lukewarm toppings, and nearly no broth... This was a $15 small bowl, and I could not see the broth unless I tilted the bowl 45 degrees and pressed down the noodles with my spoon. If anyone has had pho before, I am confident they know that pho broth is a key ingredients in pho. When I asked my server about it, the conversation went as follows: Me: "Hi, excuse me Miss, there seems to be a lot less broth than usual in my pho. Can you guys please fill it in a little bit more?" Server: "Sure, let me check with the kitchen." Server comes back: "I can give you a little bit more, but that will be $2 extra." Me: "Oh... that's kind of unusual. There's supposed to be more broth. Currently, almost none of the ingredients are submerged and they are cold. I don't want extra broth - just the normal amount." Server: "Let me check again." She comes back: "So... we're giving you less broth because most people end up throwing it out." Bizarre... as a way of background, I deeply understand that it takes a lot of work to create a good broth and it's heart-breaking to see customers waste it... WHICH IS A BIG REASON WHY I always drink all of my broth, and if I am paying full-price for a not-so-cheap bowl of pho, they should be giving me the appropriate amount of broth regardless of what other customers do with it. It was very odd and disappointing, as I have spent a lot of money at this place as a frequent customer. On another recent visit, I came in for lunch and while the pricing of lunch specials went up by $2, the portion size decreased (or at least, the amount of filling in the lunch banh mi decreased compared to previously). The service was also off, where the owner was really warm toward a couple sitting near me, then suddenly cold whenever he turned to me, for no reason that I can think of. It was very noticeable in a nearly empty restaurant, a bit unsettling, and not a great way to retain regular customers.

Really good food but the ambience is just okay due to the pandemic. We really enjoyed the food :)

We ordered summer rolls, the traditional beef pho and the spicy pho special. All were tasty and good portions. Prices are a bit steeper than another Vietnamese restaurant in the area. I'm not sure if the servers that night were new, but the service seemed disorganized. After our entrees the waiter forgot about us, and we sat for a while with our finished entrees. Another server took our dessert order and got us the bill.

Great Vietnamese food in downtown Jersey City! So glad to see this business survive with to go orders through COVID and now coming back with inside dining AND to go orders. The food is authentic and there are usually specials that are worth checking out. Great place for a date night or groups. Full bar stocked with several rare items. Eating here is a must!

Great place. Excellent whiskey options especially for a Vietnamese restaurant. Go here

Best Vietnamese we have been to! Our family comes here every week and we love eating here. We recommend getting the fried spring rolls, shrimp chips, and pretty much everything. The owner is very friendly along with the staff. It's a good place if you have allergies such as gluten, dairy, egg and nuts (my son can eat spring rolls, shrimp chips and pho with no problems). They also give large portions of food too. The atmosphere is very cozy.

Saigon is the best! Literally the best food in Jersey City and Steve is an amazing host! I was just sitting here at the bar, a customer came is asking for a Bahn Mi which is a lunch item and since they were out of bread the waitress said it was unavailable.. Steve jumped from behind the bar ran to the bakery and got a baguette! Customer service to the max!

I picked up the grilled pork bahn mi. So can't say much about the place but it decent. The bread seemed burnt but didn't taste burnt at all so that's good. A bit too much bread for me though. I would come back to try anything else.

Decent Viet food in JC! I came here a little shy before they closed the kitchen on a weekend. We were practically the only ones in the restaurant so service was very speedy! We quickly ordered the "Pho Bo" and less than five minutes later, our hot bowls came out. The broth was delicious and flavorful. The Pho Bo ($14) comes with beef brisket and eye of beef round. You also have an option to add beef balls for an additional $2. Prices seemed a bit high for the portion size. Overall, a good place to grab a warm bowl of pho (or to come steam your cold face, whichever you prefer...)

Ordered takeout pho and classic baguette. Food was prepared fast and ready to be picked up. Pho broth was a little light but the beef and meatballs were all very good. Veggies were enough too. The baguette was very good and filling for 8 bucks. Was a nice meal.

I love their Phô! It's so die for, i definitely recommend this place if you're looking for some good noodle soup

I've walked past this Mom and Pop style Vietnamese restaurant many times but only recently eaten here and I'm kind of mad at myself that I didn't do so sooner! The decor is really nice with lots of dark wood and the focal point is a small bar with an impressive array of whiskey and sake. The waitstaff was friendly, attentive, professional and well organised. The menu is pretty big and offers all manner of Vietnamese and SE Asian specialities. Prices are reasonable and the dishes are carefully prepared with well-balanced flavours. There's also an extensive drinks list with house cocktails. We ordered a variety of dishes and loved them all. The Summer Rolls were the best I have ever had (and I have had quite a few!) as was the accompanying peanut sauce, salads were refreshing, and the squid was extremely tender. All in all, it was a wonderful meal and we will be back soon. Note: it's not a big restaurant so you may want to call ahead if you are a large party and strollers are not allowed inside the restaurant (there is an enclosed porch area for them and high chairs are provided).

Amazing restaurants - we came just before kitchen closed. Never did we feel we should not have come or made the staff stay late. Food of out of the world as always please thank your staff for serving us dinner when we came just before kitchen closed. Your waitress was always smiling and never asked us to hurry or leave. No wonder I love your restaurant so much (food and service )

I can't imagine anyone rating this any less than 5 stars ! The food quality is 10/10. I have been coming here for years and have never tried anything that wasn't great. Consistency, Quality and good food - always !

This is was the most disappointing Pho I have ever ordered. A pound of noodles with a couple pieces of meat. 2 leaves of basil :( :( :(

Food is good, however, the quantity for the price is too small. I get that the food prices have gone up everywhere, but please don't cheat us by giving only half the mixed seafood curry in a large box and replacing seafood with potatoes. Curry taste is great, but not worth $27.

Originally my friend and I were headed to a different restaurant, but this one caught our eye! I am a sucker for fairy lights, so that was definitely part of what drew me inside. My friend and I were seated very quickly, despite it being a Friday night, so that was certainly a plus. We ordered the Goi Du Du (green papaya salad), Ca Ri Kho (Claypot Curry with Shrimp and Potatoes), Purple Yam Dumplings, and Sweet Sticky Rice Pudding with Taro. The green papaya salad was a great start to the meal and was a good portion size for 2 people to share. The fish sauce made the salad flavorful. I am a big fan of the Claypot Curry, which also comes with rice. If you want the same curry but with noodles, you can get the Tom Ca Ri Mi (Egg noodle shrimp curry). I can handle spice well, and I did not find the Claypot Curry too spicy. The broth had the perfect balance of creaminess. I personally wanted more diverse veggies in the curry without paying more, but I would get this dish again. The desserts were great and stood out in comparison to other desserts I have gotten at other Vietnamese restaurants. My favorite was the Purple Yam Dumplings, which were not too sweet. Both desserts were easy to finish on top of the appetizer and entree. While I enjoyed the food greatly, I did find it pricier than other Vietnamese places, especially since I eat often in the Central Jersey area. A lot of the Soup Entrees range from $15 - 22. Furthermore, you most likely have to pay for street parking. This restaurant, however, would be an ideal place for a date!

Walked by and decided to try this place. Quick tip: its not true Vietnamese restaurant, it has Malaysian and Thai as well. The owner is pretty cool and came and talked to us about his and other restaurants in the area. We ordered the Banh mi and Randang Curry, both were pretty solid. The prices are affordable and we are definitely going to try other items on their menu. The owner had some good recommendations for sure. They have kept it very safe, only outdoor dining and you give your order through their entrance.

#SaigonCafe was the choice for our Yelp ladies dinner date. Vicky L. recommended it for a few reasons ---nice ambiance, great food, and full bar --she was right on point. the Kentucky Mule ($10) was a great cocktail choice. There are several items to choose from as the menu is extensive (signature entrees, seafood, noodles, soups, chicken, pork etc). I decided to try the Com Chien Cua ($18)--Blue Crab Meat Fried Rice: crab meat, eggs, peas, carrots, onions, fish sauce, & soy sauce. It was delicious! We all agreed that it was nice to hear ourselves chat with one another, as a lot of the restaurants now are always playing the music really loud (hehe). The service was good from start to finish. They were kind to split the bill with the five of us and even smiled when we asked our waiter take a picture of the group :) . I'll be back to Saigon!

Everything I've had here is really flavorful and delicious. The pho's are great, dumplings and spring rolls also great as was the banh Mi. Prices also are very reasonable.

Great range of selection. Mainly Vietnamese dishes, but you can find some Malaysian and Thai dishes here as well. Good food. Nice dessert. The most exciting thing here would be the "steamed sticky rice and banana inside" and banana cake.

Hands down, best Vietnamese food in jersey city. The Saugon beer is available too sometimes which is great. The best item is the coconut meat curry. You will love its flavor. Papaya salad with meat is good too.

Horrible food and expensive, I ordered chicken fried rice, and it was the worse bland rice I have ever tasted. I am used to Vietnamese fried rice and this was not even close, in top of that I paid over $20 for a small portion. I called and them to let them know and all they said was "this is how we make it" not even an apology. The Pho I ordered was in a broken bowl as well with the bag. DO NOT WASTED YOUR MONEY.!! Also BE AWARE IF YOU DONT EAT PORK! I ordered shrimp spring rolls and it came with pork. VERY DISAPPOINTED

Grossly overpriced. A bad sign of things to come for Newark Ave with all the yuppies. 2 spring rolls and a shrimp curry (with only 2 peices of shrimp and a ton of canned coconut milk) for $35? $15 for a bowl of Pho? There are places on the LES with 8x the rental price for the same square footage of store, that charge $8 RIP OFF Jersey City estate fund yuppies...this aint Brooklyn! And dont you forget it! These owners must be laughing all the way to the bank No place to park or pickup

Came allll the way from Queens because it had so many gluten free options! We were very grateful for how knowledgeable the owners were on how to make sure everything we had was celiac safe! Will definitely be coming back, we'll worth the hour long trip!

This place was awesome! A very traditional Vietnamese restaurant that focuses more on real entrees instead of sandwiches and pho. Their food is very fresh and and has great creativity. I got the special which was pork belly and vermicelli cakes in lettuce wraps and OMG they were so good. I could have eaten three times the amount and still wanted more. The pork was so tender and every paired so well. My boyfriend got the pho and it was also very good. The broth was much more salt based than other pho broths that tend to have a sweetness to them. The meat was good but the portion size was a bit small. I would definitely come back here. The only down side is the price is very expensive for Vietnamese food. Luckily it's very good to justify it. Try the iced tea with evaporated milk( or maybe it was condensed milk?) it's like a Thai iced tea only with regular black tea and a little less sweet

I called to place an order. The staff advised against eating there if you have Celiac Disease. I asked to speak to a Manager or Chef so I can ask about their process and decide for myself. The staff member came on the phone and said the Manager said no it was not safe. I could hear the Manager in the background yelling out that they have flour in the kitchen. My issue is that the Manager NEVER came on the phone. Just could NOT be bothered. Terrible service!

Kind, helpful staff. Nice and clean restaurant. Good crowd. I'd definitely recommend if you are looking for amazing pho!

Stopped by while walking the JC street fair this past weekend- we tried the Banh Mi sandwich with slice pork. It was good, had some fresh vegetables and was a solid lunch choice. We felt it could have used a bit more dressing or slaw and the bread was a little tough/hard but overall great choice. The service was very kind and we would happily stop by again!

Totally not worth the price!!! Also, $10 for each sharing plate!!! A Vietnamese restaurant violates a basic Asian principal: sharing food. What's going on in their owner's mind? Their menu is pricier than most Vietnamese restaurants. A Vietnamese restaurant at this price is easily considered upscale. However the experience is just meh. Food is particularly not much better than other Vietnamese restaurants, and definitely not as good as some Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown Manhattan.

In my opinion, it is not only the food that determines if I go back to eat at a restaurant,  but also the service from the workers.  -Short story: I will not be spending any of my money at Saigon Restaurant, nor will my work associates at my company, as well as others.  -Long story: I am a rep and I have accounts all over New Jersey. I book breakfasts and lunches with offices, so I order from restaurants all the time, and when I find one I like, I usually stick with it. This time, the office wanted to order lunch (which was delivered ONE block from the restaurant on Newark Ave).  It is a standard company policy for me to retrieve an itemized receipt on the day of delivery. The office informed me that they did not receive the receipt. Weird. But, this usually is never an issue for me because restaurants can forward me the receipt from their POS system.  When I called Saigon, John answered. I asked John if they sent a receipt to the office, they said they did. I explained that they didn't receive and asked for a copy to be sent to me. John said that the only way that I can get my receipt is if he mails it to me via USPS, or I can come pick it up. Waiting for USPS mail was just not an option for me. And during these COVID times, the LAST thing I want to do is DRIVE 1 hour from my home to pick up a receipt. John said there was no other way and refused to e-mail me or send a picture via SMS. He said that was his policy, not the restaurants. They would not travel ONE block to drop off the receipt. John then recommended me to commit FRAUD and to call my CC company to say I never got the food delivered, so that I can get my receipt.  So guess what I did. Drove down to pick up the receipt (2hours there and back), putting myself and others at risk...just horrible... A few days later, when I check my Expense Reporting service, I see that the total is a flat $180. My itemized receipt shows $173.80 So what happened was THEY TIPPED THEMSELVES on my card. John, enjoy the $6.20 tip. Just be sure to let the owner/manager know that you lost that restaurant consistent business. Not only from me, but my counterparts and I will advise any other rep or potential customer reading this, to stay away! During our phone conversation, John refused to call the owner/manager bc he said that he doesn't answer the phone when he is not in the office. I told John to pass along my number to the manager, so he can call me. Still haven't heard from anyone, and don't bother calling. Good Day Sir.