BANH MI SAIGON 8 ( Banh Mi- Pho- Boba Tea) — Restaurant in Lacey

We visited here Tuesday and I emailed the email from my e-receipt due to the girls working dismissing me when I tried to discuss quality and overall price. I waited for a call or response from the owner or manager but never heard back so here’s my review.

This was our first visit and honestly, we’re mixed review. The taste was there, the portion and price was not. I ordered the iced black tea without sweetener or bubbles and it was still $4.50; it’s like $2 for a box of black tea bags of over 100 bags so I’m confused about the price. I know mark up for restaurants but really—for plain iced black tea you’re gonna charge $4.50? We ordered extra meat on the pork Banh Mi, PAID extra—there were literally two strips of pork on the sandwich and it was mostly bread. There was also an intense sweet taste to it which was different from what we were expecting based off past banh mi experiences. The pork was also questionable, it came in this strange cubed strip and just wasn’t true pork in my opinion. It was velvety and just not ok. I saw another review that stated Pseudo Pork and I feel that’s 100%. Photos attached—that’s extra meat?!? I ordered the chicken stir fry, my rice arrived 10 min after my stir fry. There was a serious lack of meat to the meal, which was a good 90% veggies—how are you able to charge for an entree of a chicken stir fry and not offer adequate meat to veggies ratio? -My husband liked the wonton soup, but stated it was the only good thing and he wouldn’t return for the banh mi at all. He also mentioned a seafood taste to the soup, which is alarming as there was nothing on the menu stating could contain shellfish or an alert about cross contamination with seafood—as someone with a seafood allergy who likes wonton soup, this is alarming.

I wanted to like this place, the vibe inside is nice but I’m realizing I spent $48 on what? My impression is this would be a good bubble tea and hang out spot, maybe an appetizer to share but not a dinner place, this was vastly overpriced for the quality and quantity of the food.

Overall disappointing and I wouldn’t refer anyone here unless it’s for a quick stop for a bubble tea only .

Also, the fact that I tried to discuss my experience with the waitresses and emailed for follow up, yet was ignored, gives me the message that customers aren’t at the focus, and I will not return nor will I suggest...

The staff dynamic was hilarious, I felt like I was watching the first few minutes of an episode of kitchen nightmares. The episodes where Gordon shreds the disengaged family members running the front of house; the children of the chef who only work there because their parents say they have to. Followed by a massive dining room overhaul and a new special menu item. No need for a menu overhaul, the food is fantastic. We ordered: Lavender Bubble tea, delicious, not too sweet, with enough tapioca pearls that you could almost consider this an appetizer. BBQ pork Bao, very tasty but the value isn't there, its at least a $1 overpriced. Sesame balls, hollow with a sad amount of bean paste inside but not bad, again, about a $1 overpriced. Beef stew was delightful, broth packed full of flavor without being too rich and heavy, ordered the add-on egg noodles but rice noodles may have been a better choice. Again, poor pricing. @ $14 for a bowl of soup, the noodles should not be an extra charge. Wonton soup with add-on rice noodles, again delightful, packed with flavor. The wife and I split both soups evenly and I personally drank every drop of both broths.

Forgiving the completely inexperienced service and being 100% ignored for the first 5 minutes by all 5 of the children staff, the food was quite good. We will be returning however we will likely have to finesse the menu to get decent value. Such as sharing a bubble tea (the amount of pearls you get make 1 tea border on being a meal in and of itself) and only 1 soup but two portions of rice noodles. If they shaved $1 off everything on the menu they'd easily make up the loss of profit with increased sales. Which leads me to the dinning room, the add-on sales they are trying to merchandise by smothering the dinning area with a minimart-like environment eliminates the dinning room as an option for dining out, very uninviting, this is a quick lunch and/or take-away joint. I hope that was their plan all along, if they are scratching their head wondering why no one dines in, then there is clearly delusion in...

I came here yesterday for the first time since I have been a long time customer of the original Saigon in Lacey over by El Sarape. The customer service was horrible. There were 4 individuals working the counter. 3 women and a guy. First I wasn't even greeted right away despite them not even being busy at all. No one in line and just a woman and her daughter eating at a table nearby. The girl was working on an online order with another who was making the drinks, who finally said I'll be with you in a moment and apologized. I replied, " it's ok no worries!" I decided to get a (well what I thought was going to be bubble tea) blended drink and another for my man to try since he never had it. What bothers me is that they were so slow and literally talking shit about me while I'm standing there and can see exactly they're literally laughing at me for whatever reason? Seriously? And you expect me to come back there. GROW THE HELL UP!!! Not only that .. the 2 drinks took 10 minutes and they tasted like watery crap and we just tossed them. I'm sad I even tipped this place. I will NEVER go there again and just so you know I was married to a Vietnamese man for 25 years and have 2 mixed children so I DEFINITELY know what Vietnamese food and or drinks should taste like. Your drinks are not good. They lack flavor, are over priced, the tapioca was not cooked enough, and the drink itself was watery and the ice wasn't blended all the way. To the owner: You need faster, more efficient workers and ones who don't talk shit about customers. So immature of them and luckily I was nice because if I wasn't I would've said something to all of them right there. I'm older so this juvenile behavior is disgusting and unacceptable, especially in the workplace. I'd be embarrassed if I hired workers who act like that when I'm paying them to do a job. Not make fun...