Saigon Cafe

Still the best Vietnamese reastaurant in JC. So thankful to have it. Best food away from home.

Amazing Vietnamese restaurant in Jersey City. I especially love the beef Phở and summer rolls. The beef phở is cooked to perfection with bean sprouts served separately. The summer rolls are almost transparent so that you can see the freshness of the ingredients with your eyes.
Sometimes I wonder why this place does not have a line. Definitely the top-​notch Asian food place in NJ.

Delicious and loved the large variety of options on the menu. I’ve been craving Banh Tet for so long since being away from home. Perfect.

Favorite Vietnamese restaurant! Whenever I’m homesick this is my go to. A tad pricey compared to what I’m used to but there’s no comparison in JC.

This is the real deal. A family run business whom is local and cares about their craft. The food is home cooked, delicious, and authentic. My sister and I love coming here, every meal did not disappoint.

One of the better Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to. I had the pork chops and it was delicious. Service was nice. Would come back again if I’m in the area.

Came here for lunch with a group of coworkers and had a great time. My party of 8 arrived around noon and was quickly seated at a large table in the center of the restaurant. The place definitely filled up quickly with a large lunch crowd so I would suggest making reservations or arrive early.
Saigon Café has a great lunch menu, which is available Tuesday — Friday from 12 — 3. All lunch entrees were $ 10 each — I had the Saigon Nem-​Burger which was great and I would totally get it again.
They have a fully stocked bar and unique cocktail which are sure to improve any work day.
Overall staff was very friendly, restaurant was clean, prices were affordable, and food was great!
I would definitely recommend this place to someone looking for great Vietnamese food in the Jersey City area — I know I will be back!

The food is OK. There are two other Vietnamese restaurants in jersey city that are way better.
–New Thanh Hoai (10^th St. downtown)
— Thanh Huong (West Side Ave)
I was not impressed at all. Ordered takeout, food was cold & unseasoned, portions were small, overpriced.
Only pro is the egg rolls were pretty good.

I came here for dinner on a Friday. This is just an over-​priced American Vietnamese restaurant. I’ve never paid so much for plain phở noodles in my life. On top of that, the phở was not even that great. The soup was not what I was used to. The usual price I pay for phở is $ 8 and it is the best phở I ever had. Not a big fan of this place. You can find a more authentic vietnamese restaurant somewhere else.

Went to dinner with my girlfriend last week — this place is great. Perfect for a quick Friday dinner after work or a relaxed dinner anytime of the week. We started our meal with grilled chicken on sticks with peanut sauce (hint: mix the peanut sauce with some hot sauce) the chicken was cooked perfectly.
Instead of going the curry route we went with 2 noodle dishes (pork & beef) we were not disappointed, it had all the flavors that you would want in a dish. We ended our dinner with their rice pudding which was good but the orange flavor threw me off a bit. I am not big into oranges but my girlfriend loved it.
The servers were very attentive and helpful and the ambiance is nice. Definitely recommend.

While the dining scene has changed rapidly in Jersey City over the course of the past year, there are the stalwarts like Saigon Café that continue to deliver on consistency. A quick walk on Newark Avenue from the Grove Street PATH, it’s one of the few restaurants in the area that specializes in Vietnamese cuisine, with a few scatterings of other Southeast Asian dishes on its menu.
To start off with, I can’t say that the Fried Chicken Wings are overly impressive; at $ 10 for five pieces, neither was it the most reasonably priced. The wings were on the smaller side and while the sauce utilized, a sweet-​savory mixture of honey, plum, and garlic, was tasty, it could have used an extra punch of spice or acidity to round out the flavor. A better bet probably would have been the Cha Gio, the traditional spring rolls, or for something lighter, the Goi Cuon.
It’s hard to avoid a noodle dish in a Vietnamese restaurant (or, at least this is the case for me) so I debated between a traditional bowl of Phở or one of the more «fusion» items. In the end, I opted for the Bun Ga Ca Ri Thai, or the Thai Curry Chicken Soup. It’s a well-​portioned bowl with a yellow curry and coconut milk base, served with sliced chicken, potatoes, and thin vermicelli noodles. Topped with freshly chopped lettuce, cucumbers, and bean sprouts, it’s a well-​rounded and flavorful bowl of noodles, with just the right balance of spice, creaminess, and crisp vegetables.
The fact that it’s very unlikely to be busy at any one point in time, and the reasonably priced menu are additional pluses to note for the restaurant. I’ll likely have to make a return visit in order to pass firm judgement on Saigon Café, but it currently stands as a solid 3.5 stars in my book.

I crave Vietnamese food often, so the craving came while visiting my homeland of Bayonne and this was the closest spot I was able to find.
Talked Mom and Grandma into joining us even though they claim they «don’t like this kind of food,» but I assured them they would find something on the menu and would love it. Then the place actually ended up having a chicken and capers dish on their specials menu so of course Mom and Gma ordered this. I was a bit disappointed they wouldn’t venture out of their food comfort zone but I didn’t say anything– just let them try a taste of mine. They actually loved their dishes and all the traditional Vietnamese dishes that they tried.
Summer and spring rolls were great, nothing out of the ordinary.
Dad ordered the Chicken CANH CHUA and asked for it spicy — IT WAS SPICY and full of flavor, may have been a bit too spicy though, I tried some as well.
My BF got the vermicelli noodles with grilled pork and spring rolls and said it was some of the best he’s tried (I force him to get Vietnamese food often:) so that was a plus.
I ordered the beef phở and ate the entire bowl, it was tasty but not the most favorable broth I’ve ever tried. Also wish they served more greens with it (jalapenos, green onions etc.) but overall I was happy.
Nice ambiance — the place is cozy but casual with red tablecloths and white paper on top.
The family actually ended up going back here in the same week after I left town, so now this will be our go to Vietnamese food spot when I’m visiting home.

Love it here. Nice spot that was totally unexpected. Friend suggested we go here and I had a great phở (i.e. pork meatball soup) and some tasty apps. Left feeling so full and content. Also brought home the remnants of my soup and it made the greatest second time around meal!
Definitely is busy and buzzing with customers, and located right in the middle of Newark Ave, so easy spot to meet-​up with friends from other areas.

3.5 Stars
I think I would have to try a few more dishes from this place to really know how good it is. The place is simple with red tablecloths and white paper on top, it has a western feel to it.
The hu tieu was decently good, it used thin rice noodles (like in phở) and came with a plate of bean sprouts and wedge of lime. The soup had a almost tart taste to it, and had some shrimp and white cuttlefish in it. I wasn’t partial to the shrimp cracker on top (it tasted too doughy).
The guava smoothie was sweet and tasted okay, I don’t know if it was made with fruit or powder though because there was a slight granular texture to it.
The tomato stuffed with beef was ok, it was like eating a beef patty inside a very soft stewed tomato. It was immersed in a clear tomatoey-​broth with some carrots and broccoli.

I was very impressed with the food here. We had a wonderful waitress who gave great recommendations and even let me taste the curry before ordering. I ended up getting the acorn squash curry with shrimp which I loved but was spicy!
A lot of good sounding options on the menu which I look forward to trying in the future.

Was there for dinner 3 days back. Liked the food & the service was good too. I am a vegetarian & wish they had more vegetarian options. Hope the add a vegetarian soup.
The server told that there is an extra $ 2 for brown rice. In most places I have seen it’s an option to choose from white or brown rice with out paying any thing extra.

Mixed experience here.
Had high hopes for the shrimp summer rolls… but something tasted off. Very disappointing and even slightly unpleasant. I actually absolutely love the summer rolls from Trader Joe’s and these were not even close.
Tofu soup was pretty good. Great flavor.
Also ordered the sauteed chicken and mixed vegetables. The flavor of the sauce was awesome (really enjoyed the veggies and the rice once it was soaked in the sauce) but the chicken itself wasn’t good — dry and tough.
I got take-​out here — the place was nice inside, full bar. Friendly service — offered me water while I waited. I’d probably give it another shot, there’s got to be something on the menu they do well all around.

Fantastic place and fabulous food !
The curries are great. My favorite is the Chicken CANH CHUA. I had asked it to be spicy and it was just the right spice.
The ambiance is great. Its not a big place but the service is quite good. Highly recommend this place.

One of my favorite local eateries, by far. A sophisticated bistro-​style local restaurant serving Vietnamese /​Asian Fusion. The food is succulent and the service is great. While it’s not the cheapest, you can definitely eat there even if you only want to spend $ 12-​$ 15. I personally like to order Vietnamese coffee or lemonade as well as their amazing dessert; so I generally spend more.
Also, a full bar is available. Beers and wines are well priced. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable. A good choice for a date or a quick night out.

I had the tomato and beef dish because when you are pregnant, the thing you order is the first yummy thing you see on someone else’s table! I’m usually pretty safe with my Vietnamese food choice, namely, PHO, but this was pretty good!
The staff are really nice but a little slow to take our order. Since there were only 3 other tables in the restaurant, I would have expected a little more speed.