Little Tokyo & Saigon — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Stay clear of this place.

Our son recently moved to the area and we came up to visit him and decided to try the Beach Plum. When we pulled into the parking lot we saw this restaurant and decided to try this place instead. I mean let's see how a Vietnamese restaurant in NH is like. Man it was bad.

The waitress brought us menus and did not come back to take our orders. I told my wife let's just get up and go to the Beach Plum but we decided to give her one more minute before we do that. Well, she happened to make it over and took our orders before we packed up and left.

Let me tell you the food is absolutely horrible. The fried spicy calimari was all soggy like it was thawed out of a bag from Restaurant Depot. My wife's noodle bowl was terrible. My son's chicken pho the broth had zero flavors. They tossed pieces of chicken in there that looked like it came from a chicken's rear end. They added carrots and broccoli in there too. My noodle dish was also very lousy. My wife can cook authentic Vietnamese foods because he mom had taught her and she said this place must just use a generic broth and mickey mouse that broth into whatever dish you order.

We threw away most of the foods. We took the calamari home though as maybe we can air fry it to make it crispy again.

While we waited for the bill we saw another waitress cleared another table and she used a bottle of Windex and sprayed all over and she held the bottle so high it was spraying at the hoisin sauce and Sriracha bottles. On top of that the guy making the sushi was tossing food into his mouth as he was rolling them.

Bottom line. If you want Japanese foods, go to a Japanese restaurant that serves nothing but Japanese foods. The same goes for Vietnamese or Chinese. Not one of these places that has such an ambitious menu but mickey mouse everything.

Not sure how the heck this place get's all these raving reviews but if you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Just try it and...

Pho here is phenomenal! Pun intended ! I also got a lunch portion of chicken lo mein and have not eaten that yet so will not rate it here. I have eaten a lot of bowls of pho from coast to coast and am picky of each bowl how each needs to measure up. If you have not had pho, then you absolutely should try it. On the other hand , if you are a snob pho connoisseur like me then stay tune.

I have rated many restaurants on pho on Yelp ( if you happen want to check that out) and these are the factors that I rate the bowl.

Here it is : When it comes to your table , the scent of pho should hit you in the face : the familiar smell of anise, ginger, and spices in broth that have been simmered for hours should come up and smack you to wake up. Here it absolutely did that . Checked

I ordered my usual bowl of pho dac biet which is the standard bowl of pho with all the cuts of meat ( steak, meatball, tendon , brisket, and tripe) . I don’t remember it contained brisket but nevertheless there is so much meat in the bowl that I mentioned it to the hubby across the table and he agreed.

The ratio of noodle to the meat. For those who like a lot of meat in their pho , do NOT miss this place. I was fishing for the noodles and ratio wise there is definitely more meat than noodle in the bowl . A first for me. The bowl was priced at $16.95 , a definite steal. I have come across bowls elsewhere where the broth was a weak with 3 slices of meat and over cooked noodles. Not here . The broth was full of flavor .

Next criteria: The veggies that must come with the bowl of goodness is the Thai basil, wedge of lime and jalepenos. Here they sub the jalepenos for red Thai chili . Ok no problem.

Overall it was delicious bowl and will definitely come here for the pho again. No need to go further South to Boston or neighboring towns of Massachusetts for an excellent bowl of pho.

The service here was...

I don’t normally write reviews but the way we were treated by management was terrible.

I ordered one of their vermicelli noodle bowls that per the menu came with grilled chicken. When I got my food the chicken was tough and chewy. At first I thought it was just old chicken repurposed from another dish. I complained and they said they could make some new chicken and when they brought it out it was the same issue. My husband (who is a chef) tasted it and told me it was because it had been fried. Not breaded and fried, just fried.

I told the waitress my issue with the meal and that I was not going to pay for it as it was not as listed on the menu. She had the manager come over.

I told him the issue and he responded by telling me rudely that it was in fact grilled and not fried chicken and asked me “are you a chef? How would you know?”

I responded that my husband is a chef and the manager responded by sarcastically saying “so I guess you can tell me how to make my food here. But look at all the people who eat here (the restaurant was full) so I can’t be wrong”.

He did end up not charging for the dish but his treatment of us was unacceptable in any restaurant, much less one with the prices it charges.

Also to top it off the sushi we got was worse (old rice and flavorless fish) than what we could have bought at a grocery store.

I don’t recommend them...