Saigon Delights — Restaurant in Ontario

This is my go to place for Vietnamese noodles in Kingston. The flavor of the chicken/shrimp pho brings me back to days in Southeast Asia. The vermicelli bowls with spring rolls are also delicious and fresh. Then why the 3 star review?

I'm giving this review only 3 stars because the place is dirty as heck. I bring my kids to this place and they mess up the floors with noodles. When I go to clean it up afterwards, my napkin is literally black from the dirt and grime on the floor from years of neglect. The place also has this omnipresent musty wet rag smell to it. And don't get me started on the pink ring around the floor where the toilet brush sits. This restaurant hasn't been properly sanitized and cleaned for years. It's due for a major renovation. Disappointing as this place is in terms of cleanliness, their West end location is even worse.

I've eaten in places in worse conditions. But I don't really want to compare Southeast Asian standards with North American standards. Spend some money and get your act together. Until then, I'll probably still eat there since it's the only place in Kingston to get any decent Asian...

2024 Update:

Bun Cha Gia Thit Nuong is as good as it always has been... and now my #6 with pork costs $18 🤦🏻‍♂️🤯... 170% markup over the past 15 years. Scary.

2020:

Saigon Delights or just ‘Saigon’ if you are in the know, is and always has been the best Vietnamese in Kingston for the longest time, since I was a kid.

Every time I am back in Kingston to visit I make sure I stop in for a bite. I am taking one star off because unfortunately, the exact same dish I have been getting for well over a decade has shot up in prices astronomically (#6 with pork). Double the price of what it was 5 years ago or so. $7 for som Bun, now it’s about $15... I get that prices go up throughout time but the fact that this bun cha gio thit nuong has doubled in price is a little bit nuts.

Seems less busy than it used to be, probably because of the irrationally high prices. A shame. Great food still, just hard to justify spending nearly $20 for a bowl of rice noodles with vegetables.

Best spring rolls...

The bun thit nguon cha gio was pretty good. A solid dish. Although the food was good, I was met with something quite uncomfortable while dining. It was only myself and my partner at the restaurant so I guess the staff didnt have much to do. One of them sat behind the counter and began to clip their nails. They were maybe 15 feet away from where food is prepared so I was extremely displeased with the sounds of nails being cut while consuming my food. I dont want to out the staff member so please do on your own time and far away from the kitchen. And also, with no one being in the restaurant, I did expect service to be better. Tables were left dirty for a while and it was hard to get the staffs attention. This was hopefully a one off situation but management...