We stumbled upon Hello Saigon by accident: We passed it while heading to another restaurant for lunch--quickly noticing their displayed menu--which turned out to be closed; thus, we decided to give it a try. Hello Saigon is a spacious restaurant, finely decorated and clean-looking. The restaurant was empty, it being a particularly cold, rainy and windy Sunday. A waitperson greeted us and we had our choice of tables; we chose one next to the large front windows, which looked out to an alfresco deck meant for better weather.
We got a couple of menus to review. Being plant-based, it was very nice to see a good number of dishes we could order, including a starter (entrada) section dedicated strictly to vegetarians/vegans. We decided to share a "Saigon Special" of their vegan (sushi) roll. It was a beautifully presented dish (8 pieces) with plenty of wasabi and pickled ginger. It turned out to be a very yummy and auspicious start! :D For our mains, I went with the vegan tofu and vegetable ramen bowl; my better-half went with the vegan tofu poké bowl. Both dishes arrived looking beautiful-looking; both dishes tasted awesome! If there was anything "negative" in our first-time experience, it might be that the service was "hesitant"--our waitperson didn't seem to speak much English (our bad; not his!)--and we had to get up to pay for our meal (not a big deal). That said, he was very cordial and mindful of the fact that we were plant-based/vegan, letting us know the poké bowl is normally served with a mayonnaise dressing.
The bottom line is that we were very happy in our decision to stop at Happy Saigon, and would definitely return...! :D read more