Com Tam Sai Gon

OK so we drove by and it looks super closed. whoa. not sure what’s up with this place. I got lucky on the food for sure but you might want to call to see if they are open. This was a different place and thought different owners too but looks like Unilocal just changed the name instead of treating it like a new business. so not sure of any of it. I still LOVED my banh mi though. sigh

RESTAURANT REDEMPTION! WHERE ARE YOU AT?
Please save them, please!
It was a sign when we first got there and they weren’t open on time that we should have not even try to come back just to try their food. And we did. don’t make the same mistake that we made!
We got inside, no customers were there, except for the cashier/​cook that sat by herself lonely in front of the cashier table looking like she was waiting for years for customers to come in.
We felt like trying broken rice in Portland, so that’s how we ended up in here. They have a phở special for $ 5. Boy, what a mistake that was.
So we ordered, they have a few different color and different font menus up front; one on the top, one on the counter and one as a stand below the counter. Each of the menus were confusing and hard to read. They were all over. Recipe for disaster! They have Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese food. When my wife asked about their phở, they said they only have one size. We should have left during that time.
She ordered phở and I had com tam suon.
While we were waiting, we heard ding ding. the good old microwave going off. Oh no! We paid, so we can’t leave. dang! dang Dang! We didn’t hear anything sizzle until a while after for only a few seconds. Must have heated up the pork chop and threw it in the grill for a few seconds to make it tasty.
When the orders were ready, I had to work; I got a taste of being a Vietnamese server at a crappy non-​restaurant. I brought back my wife’s phở and then my broken rice dish. Her phở, we don’t even want to talk about it because it is so bad, I am still beyond pissed about it! They microwaved her phở because you know how we can tell, it is because the broth had remnants of how it would look like when you heat up broth and meat inside a bowl at the same time. The freaking bean sprouts were dark and old and nothing was fresh. The meat was not good. Broth had a very bad taste. BAD, VERY BAD!!!
The com tam suon we had was a little better, but it was not that good. The egg cake had cheese on it, I do not know why a lot of places these days put cheese on their egg cake and that is not the way you do it like Pud Thai, a lot of places in America use ketchup on their Pud Thai. what the heck?
Their pork chop was the only good thing on the plate besides their fish sauce which was probably made last year. Who knows? Their broken rice tasted like it was 2 days old, dry and like crap. Their shredded pork tasted dry like it was Chinese style out of a little tub you find in Asian Markets.
This place is sad. My wife only had a bite and a taste of her phở and she put it on the side and I tried to finish the good parts of the broken rice and we left. My wife was like they must have saved her phở, since she barely touched it and later heat it up for the next victim to eat.
The water you have to get yourself like a teriyaki restaurant and it wasn’t clean as there was a speck of something that came out in my glass.
This place does not give a crap about their customers or themselves. Stay out! NOW!

I cannot even wait until I leave from this place before I do this review. This food is absolutely gross. I ordered a rare steak phở (One size only) for 7.50. Gross. The broth was heated up. How can I tell? The side of the bowl had heat up microwave broth residue. Gross! She had not heated it all the way and the cold broth remnants were floating around. The broth was gross, salty and just plain nasty.
The beef was like chewing gum. That bowl is still sitting here collecting dust. I have never left a bowl if phở like that. I am so mad at this place

The first time I went here it was totally delicious.
The next 5 times I drove by during normal business hours, it was closed.
Finally, I was randomly driving by today and saw they were open. I ordered to go and didn’t open it until I got home. The noodles were mushy and white, as though they hadn’t been stir fried. It was bland and the consistency was like eating a bunch of undercooked corn bread– it stuck in my throat. 45 minutes later, I had to run to the bathroom for reasons that I’m sure you can figure out. Not happy. Won’t be back.

I really wanted to like this place when I saw the menu boards with photos and the «vegan» and «vegetarian» signs. Alas, it was not to be.
Soon after sighting the place, I stopped in to pick up some takeout. I was dismayed to learn that the dishes marked «vegan» in the menu board photos are not actually on the menu. So I stood at the counter, poring over the menu, and trying to ask the lady what was really vegetarian.
Unfortunately, she barely spoke English, so that approach didn’t get me very far. Then she abruptly left the counter to go into the kitchen, where she stayed for about 5 minutes while I waited. There were no other customers there, so I don’t know what she might have been doing.
When she finally came back out, I indicated two dishes that I thought were «safe», and she had one question:
What kind of meat do you want?
I just left.

My dinner companion reported to me that the phở broth is pretty good here but he was less than impressed with the rest of the components of his soup. I had the big mixed com platter and some parts were just okay and others were just sad.
In addition the utensils and tea cups were filthy. I have a rock gut so things like that don’t bother me, I just wipe and carry on. But I can’t suggest that anyone else risk eating here.

YUM YUM YUM! Are you looking for great vegetarian Vietnamese food? Vegan Phở? You found it! I drove past one day and saw a sign advertising vegan noodle soup and just had to go in! For about 7 bucks you get a very generous portion of tasty, brothy soup with tons of fresh veggies, tofu and rice noodles.
I came back several days later with my family and had the phở again (which was just as good) and an order of the yellow curry which delicious and spicy!
The lady who runs the place was kind and brought my kids orange slices when dinner was through!
I took one star off because I went by a few times and they were closed… very random and unpredictable hours. Anyhow, call first to see if they are open before you go!

Since it’s a newer restaurant naturally it took a minute to get our food. The tofu salad rolls were great and only $ 3.95… The phở was good not great. The steak in the phở was good but not a lot of it. I tried the special pad Thai w Red Curry and Chicken… it was really really good and HUGE a portion. The pad thai was only $ 7.50 (enough for two) and the phở was $ 6… a great meal for two under $ 20… oh ya the tea was also really good ;)

I like it when you walk into a restaurant and they ask you if you’d like the «same thing.» I eat a lot of phở and frequent a lot of the same places over and over… I have my favorites. Com Tam Sai Gon is one of my faves! The owner always asks me as I’m at the cash register, paying for the delicious bowl of phở that I just devoured, «You like phở a lot?» I acknowledge her slightly embarrassed, but at the same time taking a little pride in knowing that I’m probably one of their most faithful customers.
Com Tam Sai Gon has great phở period, and honestly I haven’t even tried anything else besides their phở. They have a huge menu that not only includes broken rice dishes and other Vietnamese favorites, but they also have a large selection of Thai choices as well.
I drove to Com Tam Sai Gon today for lunch and they were closed, not sure why. Being that I could just about taste the phở as I pulled into their parking lot, I decided to drive to Phở Hung. I was so disappointed. I hope Com Tam Sai Gon is open tomorrow!

This place is the worst!!! The rice plate came out cold! I order the mi quang which requires a certain noodle, so instead of telling me they are out they served a substitute off soggy noodles and called it a day!

I agree with precious c. This place has very tasty food! I also agree (a little bit) with Anna N regarding the atmosphere. The interior is a little rough around the edges, but I wouldn’t say unclean by any means. Some of the best food comes from places like that. And the service could not have been more friendly.
I had a vermicelli bowl with grilled pork that was fabulous! The meat was tender with a great char-​grilled flavor. My wife had the fried tilapia which was also amazing. The crispy coating was very interesting — kind of a curry flavor with a mild kick. Oh so good!
We’ll be back to try the broken rice dishes for sure!

Com Tam isn’t for me here!
Let me start off by saying this place is not impressive. The setting is on the scary/​unsanitation side. Even though it recently opened up and they have new management, they didn’t bother to remove the spider web, or repaint their walls. The floors were dirty and their furnitures are worn and unkemp/​messy. It was intimidating to see that their «new» managment didn’t bother to clean the place, which in my opinion said alot about their sanitation.
I ordered the #1 rice dish, based on the review here & i definitely was not impressed. The meats were tender, but the food didn’t have any taste to it. I guess i’m sort of a snob when it comes to Vietnamese rice dishes because that’s what i usually order when i go out to eat. I did not find their pork chop flavorful and the rest of the items on there was lacking, even w/​the fish sauce to dip it in. Again, this is another place that makes their sauce taste more like sugar than anything else. I definitely won’t be coming back, even though they have an impressive selection of rice dishes.
Perhaps if they clean or put a fresh paint on, i might be more inclined to return. Seriously, its amazing how a fresh coat of paint can really make a huge difference in the appeal of the place.

This is a new Vietnamese restaurant specializing in com tam or broken rice. The menu has other Vietnamese dishes and also Thai but I recommend trying the broken rice first. I can only think of one other Portland restaurant serving broken rice but it’s not very good.
I ordered #1 and my friend got #3. I requested no shredded pork. The toppings for #1 are grilled pork chops, chicken, shrimp, pork/​egg patty cubes, and a fried egg. The rice and meat were moist and cooked just right. Broken rice always come with a small bowl of soup. It was really tasty so I asked for another bowl :)
Be prepare to wait about 10 minutes because the meat is grilled after you place the order.
I’m giving 5 stars ’cause of the good service (feel free to ask for extras if you need them) and large portion of food. Unlike other com tam I’ve had, there was more meat than rice. I don’t eat a lot in one sitting so I had left-​over to bring home. My friend finished his portion and asked for extra rice *piggy*
The owner was very nice and asked us to come back. I’m glad there’s a restaurant serving yummy broken rice in Portland.