Saigon City Restaurant — Restaurant in San Mateo

This is literally the worst Vietnamese restaurant I've been to so no idea why people call it "authentic," which unfortunately tricked me into trying it. I'll talk about food first and then about service. For food, they seem to only use white meat on pho ga (chicken rice noodle) and I absolutely wouldn't call that authentic and the meat is tasteless. For pho rieu, the taste is horrendous compared to Pho Kim Long because the flavor is too light to blend well with the crab meat and the shrimps are not fresh. The worst is my egg noodle signature soup which is so bad that I stopped after 2 bites. I ate all the fish cakes because that's all that's edible even though they are only so-so in flavors. The fried shrimp and pork egg rolls are definitely not even freshly fried but instead reheated so they are hard and the skins are too thick. They are also understaffed so it takes a while to seat you and not very welcoming but that's expected in an Asian restaurant so I didn't take any stars off because of it. It's definitely possible that I ordered all the wrong things but they did call the egg noodle their signature...

First of all, Public Parking is close by and walking is a pleasure to reach the restaurant in 5 min or less. Secondly, I think this restaurant has the best service and food in the Nation. I'm not new to Vietnamese food. It's been 41 years since I took my 1st bite, since then, I've eaten Vietnamese food in over 30 of the lower 48 and abroad. Siagon City restaurant uses true flavor and spices to create the familiar taste I've been fond of since the first taste at a Vietnamese restaurant in Central Florida. Thirdly, the service is friendly and it feels like I am in their house and their guest. Fourth, the volume of food served is worth the visit. I was very pleased to have ordered 2 of my favorite dishes and hot jasmine tea for under $18.00. If you go as a group of 6 or more you might have to wait for a table. The restaurant is small but there's ample room between the chairs; sorry, no booths. This is a no frills establishment, so the decor is very simple and comforting. If you know good Vietnamese cuisine then this is the...

This place is a hidden gem. 3 stars for the food I tried, but value punches it up to 4 stars.

I got a bbq pork banh mi and the fresh prawn roll. I love my banh mis with jalapeño and mayo, and even better, when there's pate. This banh mi had none of those things. It was dry bread with just pork, carrots, and cilantro. That said, it was satisfying. The pork was some of the best I've had on a banh mi and the sandwich was perfectly crunchy. I wish there was more to it, but the sandwich cost $4.50, which is pretty damn amazing.

The fresh prawn roll was just ok. A lot of noodle, not a lot of shrimp, and it needed something like mint to brighten it up. The peanut sauce was good, lots of fresh peanut, though the consistency and color made me think there was a lot of something syrupy or sweet in it, like honey.

The pho and vermicelli dishes looked incredible, and I'm sure this is the way to go. It was hot out the day I stopped in, so I didn't want a hot meal, but I'd love to come back...