Saigon Annam

I come here occasionally with my mom when we’re too lazy to cook. It’s close to home. They just changed owners. The menu has change too; plenty of options to choose from. I ordered #51 it was delicious; portion size is large could not finish it myself. The restaurant manager was very friendly and attentive. Nice improvement from last owner. Would come back again.

Just happened upon this place and decided to give it a try. I had the phở satay beef and found the soup flavourful and packed with good heat, both spice wise and thermally. It was a decent bowl of phở bit they only have one size so the smaller eaters are out of luck. I would come here again if I was in the area.

Did the owners change? Staff sucks here and they seem to run out of everything I want to order. Something is odd… use to be good.

So I made it back for my favorite #68. I was expecting much of the same from my last visit but to my amazement the place was packed with happy looking customers and all new wait staff!
None of the complaints I’ve had were present with this visit. The food was great as per usual (mind you I only order #68) The service was terrific, the staff was friendly and responsive.
What happened?
There is a new sheriff in town, a nice gentleman that had recently purchased the business and still has the same chef. I was really impressed with how the front staff behaved and treated all the customers.
A big thumbs up to the turn around and if this keeps up then it will sure to be the «go to»
place for Phở in the S.E.
Keep up the good work.
Chris

Called ahead to make a reservation for a group. Upon arrival we were sat at a table far too small for our group and then we had to make a fuss to move some tables together ourselves.
Then when we got food, several items had hair in them. We sent them back and one was returned to us cold (we were pretty sure it was the same plate with the hair taken off, gross). The worst part by far though was that one person’s didn’t come out. We asked the staff who said it was on the way, so we waited. By the time everyone else was done their meals we had found someone bussing tables (as staff stopped coming around) and asked again about the food and we were told it was being made now. Many other tables that came in after us got their food long before we got all of our food. When the food did arrive it had absolutely no flavour to it, it was just vegetables and noodles fried in oil.
Terrible service, absolutely awful. The food was mediocre at best, but with our experience I’d say it’s extremely hit-​or-​miss.
The worst part was when they tried to charge us for the item we never touched and the other item that took FOREVER to get, and we had to argue with them to take them off of our bill!

My beef in my phở was soooo tough :(
The staff are NOT friendly. They barely look at you and barely acknowledge your orders or request… as if you’re a nuisance to them being there.

The food was very good, and the service was fast. However, I would agree with Chris B’s comments about the staff. I don’t think it’s appropriate or proper customer service for staff to be having side conversations and yelling across a restaurant to one another… in English or any language. I think I’ll just get my meal to go next time so I can eat without people yelling over top of me in Vietnamese!

My wife and a friend went there about 3 weeks ago. Received our tea and waters at the table promptly and ordered our food within 5 mins or so of arriving. All good.
After 20 mins passed, 30 minutes passed and numerous times of trying to flag down our waitress who kept saying «its coming», our order arrived 45 MINUTES later!!! She had forgot to put our order in. Unacceptable and she would not admit or apologize that she did.
We received our bill which my wife quickly grabbed and paid (unfortunately for us we did not look close enough at the bill) and driving away we noticed we were also grossly overcharged for our delayed meal. We ended up going back and had to get the entire bill credited and the proper amount charged to us.
We decided to try there again yesterday (Jan. 30^th — 2013) and were shown to a table. I think we were recognized by the same server and manager there and we had one waitress come by our table in the 1^st ten minutes which she rudely said, «be right back». No one came by in the next 15 minutes! The only reason we got to order is our friend had to stand in the kitchen doorway and flagged down the kitchen server who came to our table!
Ther servers are extremely rude, do not make eye contact and shouldn’t be in a restaurant. The Manager there has obviously never taken a Restaurant Management or Customer Service 101 class… because there is none there!
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT TO ANYONE!!!
Head to 130^th Ave or somewhere where they know how to treat customers and want to have a pleasurable eating experience.

OMG, I have posted a few reviews now on various restaurants, I like to give good reviews, and it pains me to do this: DO NOT EAT HERE! It amazes me that anyone has posted anything good about this place. It was my wife’s birthday, so we decided to try something new. We usually go to Chi Lan on 130^th (great food), but me being adventurous, decided to stray. Bad move. Our ordeal started with not being able to find the entrance. A note was posted on the door. «Use Patio». So we went around and figured it out. It was not very busy and it took a while for the lady to make eye contact. When she greeted us all she said was «14». Not sure what she meant, I scanned the room and found these CHEESY table numbers, so we looked around the room until we found table 14. We sat down and got passed menus. I asked about their lemon grass stir fry asking how spicy, the waiter said «not bad». When I ate it, it was too spicy. I finished it anyway being a moron and spent the whole night in the bathroom. My wife’s meal and my children’s meal included canned vegetables and /​or Jolly Green Giant frozen vegetables. This is just to start. No water refills and when I finally grabbed a waitress, she came with unfiltered tap water that she grabbed from the nearest sink. THEY WERE NOT EVEN BUSY! The other post was right about Sunday night — there seems to be a totally negative atmosphere. Lastly when we wanted to leave, no one would come, so I tried to find a counter to pay. There was one hidden in the back near the old entrance. Worst experience ever. Looks like the fine folks of Douglas Glen are desperate not to travel because that would be the only reason to go there. It looks like a family business. They definitely need a family pow wow before they go out of business. STAY AWAY!

Inconsistent service time and again. In the year that I’ve been going here I’ve experienced the following:
— Rude servers. Now, a lot of the time I expect this at Asian restaurants where they’re instructed to be fast, but not personable. But several times, I’ve asked for things from the wait staff and they just straight up ignored my request and then ROLLED THEIR EYES at me when I went right up to the bar and politely asked for water. What the hell? One guy in particular loves to roll his eyes and ignore us, and I get really bummed out when we go and I know he’s going to be there. There is only one nice server there (a cute lady with glasses) but she’s only there on the week days.
— Creepy bowls of fish sauce that they’re incredibly stubborn about taking away. I’ve been going here for at least a year, and they never, ever, ever take away the bowls of fish sauce the first time I ask. Go ahead, try it. They’ll not only not take them away, they’ll bring you more. Then they’ll tell you what it’s for in an incredibly insolent manner.
«WELL IT’S FOR YOUR VERMICELLI.»
«I’m allergic (which is true for one person in our group).»
«VERMICELLI!!! OKAY, IT’S FOR HER!!»
«The six year old?»
«YEAH, YEAH. SHE NEEDS IT FOR SOUP.»
— The servers never write anything down and get these petulant looks on their faces if you suggest that maybe they should. And why would you suggest that they should? Because you asked them to bring you peanut sauce instead of fish sauce, and they brought you three bowls of fish sauce. Because they expect four people to share one paper napkin. Because you have to flag them down after half an hour, because no one has brought you water after asking each time they come back to the table.
— Food poisoning. Yeah, after a bout that left me a disgusting looking six pounds lighter (because with food poisoning weight loss; all the weight comes off on your face, not your hips, and everyone remarks that you look like death warmed over), I was wary of coming here again. It took 3 months before I was willing to.
— Everything is one giant size. While this is great for leftovers; it’s not so great carting home a giant styrofoam container of phở in your car, that someone promptly forgets to eat until 3 days later when it’s been sitting in the fridge and making everything smell like meat sweats. It’s not so great when you’ve got a picky six year old that cries at the prospect of having to eat a giant bowl of soup that weighs more than she does, and her vegan aunt can’t share it with her. It’s not so great when you ask them for a child’s size and after much back and forth, they serve you the soup in a wider but not smaller container. As someone that, while growing up, wasn’t allowed to leave the table until I cleaned my plate, coupled with the non-​eco friendly styrofoam takeaway containers (that the City of Calgary won’t let you recycle); the wastefulness of this really gets to me.
So what’s positive about this restaurant and what keeps us coming back?
— There is one nice lady (that always has really elaborate eye makeup!) there that seems to smooth everything over, and takes away the multiple bowls of fish sauce. She makes the jerky guy tolerable. Oh, and also the polite, be-​spectacled waitress I mentioned earlier.
— The food is great. Delicious, well-​prepared and you can eat tons of it without feeling lethargic and disgusting. And you get a lot for the price. Just bring a big appetite and remember to eat your leftovers!
— It’s nice and quiet, minus the hilarious Vietnamese Mariachi music they seem to always play. You can have a conversation here without overhearing the other table’s creepy medical problems. Unlike Kinjo, for example, where I had to listen to a not-​so-​appetizing conversation between two women about the joys of Canesten. Canesten convo with my sushi: BLECH.

One of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants in calgary. Price is decent and they give you lots! Nice fancy place you feel like you are in moxie environment. They have some excellent authentic appetizers dish that other Vietnamese don’t have! a little far from downtown but for the food and decent price, I’d definitely come back next time in town!

Best Beef Sate Phở in the south-​end of Calgary. This place has become a favourite of my family’s. The food is better than the other Vietnamese restaurants in that area, the service and ambiance are average.

Kind of an interesting place as this location has seen many restaurants come and go. It’s a rather typical Vietnamese joint. If was on the area again I would certainly drop in for a quick bite!
I have to say it did feel a little bit off, but perhaps it’s because some of the furniture was mismatched. I did find it funny! I hope this place ends the curse of the building it’s in. In the last ten years it’s seen three different restaurants come and go! :s we will see what happens!!!
I reccomend you try it if you are in the area, definelty nothing to go out of the way for though!
⁶⁄₃₀

This place is not too different from any other Vietnamese place in the city, but my first experience consisted of fast service, a clean restaurant and tasty food … so I will likely be back!
One thing I really like is that they basically have a «Vietnamese Halo Halo.» That’s not what it’s called on the menu, but essentially that’s what it is: shaved ice, coconut milk, sweet beans and slivers of jelly. Delicious and refreshing!
The food all seemed pretty well prepared and I thought the use of mint in their salad rolls was a little bit unique.
The LiteRock-​surf megamix that accompanied the meal was hilarious to say the least, if not a little annoying.

Location — it’s in a strip mall beside McDonald’s right off Deerfoot so pretty easy to find, though a little bit out of the way. Turn onto 24^th /​Douglasdale and it’s right there, left if you’re coming from the north.
Food — amazing phở! This is what I primarily track down to try in Calgary, and this place definitely delivered. This phở is non-​greasy, light in taste and light on the salt and comes very, very hot — the way it should arrive. An almost perfect phở. The imperial spring rolls (made with taro, shrimp and pork) are so good. I always try and find out where this family opens up because the matriarch cooks with care and attention and it totally shows in the soup and the rest of the foods.
Service — we were the first ones there at 11 AM when it opened and we found the service very friendly, efficient and fast. We ordered and 5 minutes later had our spring rolls, then the soups came out about 5 minutes after that. By the time we left at about 11:45, half the seats were taken.
Parking — there is parking for about 15 cars right in the immediate vicinity of the restaurant, but additional parking a short walk away in the mall parking lot or some street parking.
Overall, a very good experience. Only downside is that it’s a bit out of the way for the North side of Calgary (–1 star), but well worth a trip to try it out.