Saigon Pho Lewiston Maine — Restaurant in Lewiston

This is a cosy, and hard working family owned restaurant who genuinely wants to bring you the most authentic plates they know. Although they advertise Vietnamese and Thai food, I will only rate the Vietnamese dishes for 2 reasons: they speak Vietnamese in the back and I am most familiar with Vietnamese dishes coming from 3 generations of restaurant owners both in Vietnam and France.

The Pho (House Special) is very authentic. The only items that are missing are the culantro and a side of fish sauce. The rare meat is properly cut but added to the bowl before the broth which over cooks it. It may also lack presentation, although that is more of a French addition. The Bun Bo Hue is good: the broth is definitely correct. However it lacks a quite a few ingredients, ie banana flower, blood block are the ones I can think of to make it truly authentic. But I understand why they are missing. Overall I still enjoyed the soup. Be warned: it is a very spicy soup by nature, there isn't a gauge of spiciness you can choose from. It is made with hot pepper oil. The Wonton Noodle Soup (Mi Wonton): almost excellent. The noodles are not over cooked. They still have an "a la dente" feel to them and the broth is as I know it should be. This is a Vietnamese version of a Chinese soup and there is a slight difference between the 2. This one is authentic the way the Vietnamese make it. The Wontons are pork/shrimp seemed to be a little too loose, not well packed or over cooked; yet very enjoyable and did not have the potent pork taste most may have. The service is very adequate considering there is only one waitress every time a come for lunch (I believe the owner). They were very accommodating and provided fresh hot Thai pepper (as opposed to slices of jalapenos) and fish sauce when requested. Establishment: clean and well maintained, Simple not too croudy to the eye. The bathrooms (mens) have been clean enough not to notice otherwise. I've seen the owner go outside and sweep the parking lot a couple of times already.

I will continue to go and try other dishes and add to...

We came to this restaurant when it first opened up. The food was amazing and service was quick. We been going multiple times because of such reason. After for some time, the food quality and service died quickly. The food became subpar and the service they provide is non-existent. The prices quickly skyrocketed for some reason while other places kept their prices at the same when referring to the same food type.

The service is non-existent as mentioned before. I have witnessed a group waited for roughly 30m - 1hr for service after they were seated. We had the same experience after we went to the counter to ask what the hold up is. Also, we had an issue at one point involving service. We need a refill on our drinks and no one came by to check up within a 20m time-frame. The waiters glanced and knew we needed a refill and so does other customers, they never bother to ask or attempt to take the time to provide service. Might as well bring your own drinks. Instead of providing customers service, the workers (more likely family and friends) went and sat down to eat with their family and friends because that was more important than running a business. It got to the point where you had to get up and get the refill yourself or even asked aggressively for one while they blame you for being in the wrong. Another time when it comes to service, they prioritized family and friends order rather than the customers that have been waiting for their order.

It seems this business isn't a business at all but rather a hang-out or get together where family and friends have priority rather than a paying customer. After witnessing multiple times and my family experienced it ourselves, this is one restaurant we will not be going to again.

You are better off going to another restaurant such as Boba, Sea40, or Veranda in Westbrook for better quality food and...

I feel very conflicted as I write this review, but as someone who prides themselves on being honest in their Yelp reviews, I am going to say what is going through my mind.

The food is great, but not excellent. The service is ok, but not great. The position size is over the top and not skimping. Having said all that here is how I came to this conclusion.

The day I went, there was one person working the front of the house seating guests, taking phone orders, taking orders, delivering the order and bussing the tables. He was extremely nice and obviously was working hard to take care of his customers, but it did require us to wait longer times between receiving our drinks to when the food arrived and we were able to get our check.

For appetizers we ordered the vegetable spring roll and the chicken satay. The vegetable spring role was dry and needed hoisin to make it easier to consume. The chicken satay, I could have eaten a dozen of those. That was the best part about the entire meal.

My wife and I both ordered Pho. Hers was all veggies and I had the house large. Mine included steak, beansprout, scallion, beef, onion, flank, tendon, tripe, cilantro and veggies. The tripe was inedible. It was so touch I couldn't even chew it. The steak was good. Flank was ok and tendon was a bit chewy as well. The bowl was so big that I couldn't finish half of it and had to take the rest home.

I feel bad in one sense because the owners are very sweet and they put a lot of effort into their food, but they jus fell short on this occasion. I am willing to go back and give them a second chance, but compared to some other places I have had Pho, they are in the middle, but not on the bottom. They are worth trying again in the hopes they correct some of the items I...