The ramen broth is great. I added some chili oil since I prefer my broth a little spicy. The staff…read moreis nice and polite. They greet you with the traditional Japanes greeting, which it's the mood for the dining experience.

10/10 -- We'll Definitely Be Back!…read more I recently tried Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen for the first time with a group of six leaders from my job. One of our coworkers has been coming here for 20 years, so we knew we were in good hands! The menu is EXTENSIVE and can be a little overwhelming for a first-timer, but our waitstaff was amazing--patient, friendly, and happy to help us navigate all the options. And trust me... we ordered! We tried several lunch combos, appetizers, and sides. I had the veggie ramen, and our table also enjoyed the fried green beans, veggie spring rolls, fried rice, and plenty of other goodies. Everything was fresh, hot, and delicious. What I loved most was the comfortable, no-frills atmosphere. This place has clearly been doing what they do for a long time, and it almost feels like you're eating in Grandma's kitchen--good food, welcoming service, and no need for anything fancy. And PLEASE don't leave without trying the plum wine! We ordered a bottle for the table, and it was delicious. 10/10 for the food, service, and overall experience. Ramen lovers, put this one on your list! We'll definitely be back.

I've been coming to Saigon Dish for close to three decades. That sentence makes me feel…read moreapproximately 900 years old. I don't even remember when I started coming here. I just remember working nearby when I was younger and Saigon Dish becoming part of the routine. I came constantly. Sometimes practically every day. This was before the larger setup they have now, when the whole operation felt smaller and you got to know the person behind it pretty quickly. That person is John. And before we get into pho, John deserves his paragraph. He is one of those increasingly rare restaurant owners who makes you genuinely happy to hand him your money. In the early days, before I became the longtime regular who mostly gives him shit, I remember him talking me through ingredients. Why he chose something. What I should order. What was good that day. There was an intentionality behind the food that told you somebody was paying attention. And that's the thing I respect most about this place, he never let it go. The restaurant grew. Life moved on. I stopped working nearby. I got older. I brought coworkers. Then friends. My parents. My sisters. Eventually my wife and kids. And the pho is still good. I should establish that I'm obnoxious about pho. I've eaten a lot of it, from tiny places where nobody particularly cares whether you know they exist to polished restaurants charging you for the privilege of sitting underneath an Edison bulb. There are spectacular bowls all over California. So I'm not going to tell you Saigon Dish serves the single greatest pho ever created by mankind. It doesn't need that kind of BS. What it does incredibly well is balance. The broth is clean. That's the word I always come back to. Clean. Deep enough that you know something happened before it reached your bowl, but it doesn't club you over the head with star anise and herbs. And it isn't the sad, watery approximation of pho you sometimes encounter when you wander too far west and somebody has decided broth should taste like hot water that once met a cow. This tastes like pho. The filet mignon is consistently tender and smooth. The tripe is properly cleaned. The tendon is cooked beautifully, soft and gelatinous without disintegrating, which is where tendon should live. The meatballs are surprisingly good. The well done beef can occasionally lean a little dry for my taste, but that's what the bowl of broth and a little sriracha are for. I've also eaten my way through so much of the menu that reconstructing it would require archaeological work. Egg rolls? Get them. Rice dishes? Yep. Noodles? Yep. Vietnamese coffee? Obviously. Coconut drinks? Go for it. I've brought an absurd number of people here over the years and the remarkable thing is how universally the place works. Pho nerds can find something to obsess over, but you can also bring somebody who barely knows Vietnamese food and they'll be completely comfortable. And then there's the operation itself. This isn't some immaculate Beverly Hills dining room designed by a hospitality group. Thank God. It looks like a South Bay Vietnamese restaurant. Every available corner seems to have acquired a purpose. People are moving everywhere. Tables are turning. Someone needs extra onions. Someone wants another bowl. Someone's asking for sriracha. Somebody's kid needs chopsticks. Water appears before you realize you need it. And somehow it flows. That's harder than it looks. Service here has always felt unusually effortless to me. Not performative. Nobody is giving you a TED Talk about the provenance of the bean sprouts. They just take care of you. Parking occasionally becomes its own little hunger game. Don't panic. Circle around, wait a few minutes, somebody will finish their pho and leave. I've written a lot of reviews and I don't throw five stars around because then five stars stop meaning anything. But how exactly do you rate a restaurant you've voluntarily returned to for close to thirty years? At some point consistency becomes the review. I've watched Saigon Dish grow from the little place I remember into what it is today. I've sent coworkers here. Friends. My parents. My sisters. My own family. I've probably eaten enough of John's pho at this point that some measurable percentage of my body belongs to the restaurant. And I'm still coming back.

There's a reason why this is my favorite viet restaurant in the South Bay. I've gotten the bun rieu…read moremany times and I like that the broth is flavorful without it being too salty. The noodles are plentiful and pork/crab meatballs are tender & flavorful. Another item I love is the sugarcane shrimp. It isn't too heavy, tastes well balanced with a hint of sweetness after chewing the sugarcane. The restaurant feels cozy and clean. Parking is easy because it's in a shared lot. The wait is never too long for me but it gets packed pretty often.

pros: friendly service cons: restroom is a little…read moreinconvenient a cozy hole in the wall spot i coincidentally came across! we ordered their signature tonkatsu and chicken karaage. there's an option to add extra garlic free of charge which elevated the broth. the broth was packed with umami but was not salty at all. they use the traditional thin noodles. the chicken karaage was fresh, hot and crunchy, we could tell the meat was seasoned before being fried, there were hints of white pepper and garlic, yum! the sauce it came w tasted like a housemade(?) japanese mayo, thick and creamy but not overpowering. upon paying they gave us free housemade(?) matcha ice cream which was such a nice touch to clean the garlic palette! the restroom is accessed by going outside and around back the entire building, kinda sketch but it's better than no restroom!

Absolutely delicious Ramen! Small, but very cozy spot in Torrance. You get in and then get down to…read morebusiness, slurpin'. We ordered the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen, Yamadaya Ramen, and the Katsu Curry Bowl. The portions were beyond generous and the Katsu Curry Bowl was exceptionally large - would be great to share. Perfect amount of spice in the Tonkotsu; the broths for both were silky, light, but deep in flavor. Another Yelper gave a shout out to the Shrimp Temura roll and it was delicious. The gyoza was decent. Service was quick and focused, and the waitress was very pleasant.

One of my favorite Japanese/Italian pasta shops to go to in the South Bay. They have a large amount…read moreof selections for pastas. The most popular and recommended is the #34. I liked the following pastas: #34 hot garlic with seasoned mushrooms Mushroom & sea urchin/uni Japanese style clam sauce with shiitake & shimeji mushrooms Japanese cod roe with sea urchin/uni, squid & seaweed I also love their $1 salad which can't be beat in pricing. Their overall pricing for the pastas are great. The staff is very friendly and this place can get very busy during peak meal times. So when it's busy, sometimes the orders will come out a bit slower. The vibe is just casual/busy dining where if you have a seat at the bar section, you can see the chefs making the pastas or other dishes.

This restaurant is well known for its Japanese-Italian fusion pasta. They seem to be popular with…read morefamilies and the establishment is always packed no matter what time of day! The parking lot can get full, but I've never had an issue with finding a spot. The service is fast which allows the staff to seat you quickly and get customers in and out. They provide complimentary French bread with butter with your food. I like to have veggies with my meal, but I found the salad dressing to be a bit bitter. Their entrees are made using dried pasta and they have a decently sized menu. I have tried different pasta dishes, but I think the tomato and cream bases are my favorite. When I was feeling more adventurous, I tied the mentaiko pasta which I found too fishy for my personal taste.

Located in the inside corner of a busy plaza, there is a parking lot here but it gets full pretty…read morequickly. I believe Bowl Thai is one of three restaurants started by the same owners. Bowl Thai is the original location, and their other two locations, Sweet Rice and Bowl Thai Grill, are just a couple blocks away. I've been to both and they were both fantastic, so I wanted to try out the original Bowl Thai. Like the other two restaurants, Bowl Thai has similar decor with simple and clean furniture. Order first at the counter, then you're given a cup for self-serve water. The self serve station also has napkins and utensils. Then, it's free seating and the food is brought to you, freshly made to order and pretty quickly, I might add. I had the Tom Yumm Soup with chicken (default is medium spicy). It was a huge serving in very large bowl. It came with a bowl of white rice. The flavors were rich and aromatic, a great mixture of beach mushrooms, lemongrass, lime, and chili. I also had their Thai Iced Tea, perfectly creamy and refreshing. The service was great, friendly, fast, and checked on me during the meal to make sure I had everything I needed.

Absolutely delicious soups! Had a great experience dining at this small but great location…read more The place is not going to wow you with its decorations but it has great service and great food! We tried the Boat House Noodle Soup and seafood Hot pot. The broth for the beef soup was rich and deep. It almost had a sweetness to it even though it was pretty spicy. Great combination. And the seafood was sour and spicy, with a great light flavor to it. You've gotta try both of these! The parking situation is not great on weekends because there are several popular restaurants in this place but it's so worth it!!

I've been looking for another pho spot after one of my favorites received a bad rating…read more This spot exceeded my expectations from the broth and the meat. My cherry on top is the environment inside the restaurant along with the complimentary noodles! I would definitely come back

We love coming here with our toddler. The staff is always super friendly and we love the food here…read moreas well.

Authentic Japanese food. You can ask for what you want and they can prepare it for you.read more

YUM! I mean these…read morewere not cheap, but LOOK at the portion. if I wasn't dancing the night away at Gardena Obon this night, I would've saved half for lunch the next day. I still had some leftovers, though. sashimi were thick cut pieces, needed 2 bites per piece to eat. beef teriyaki: get it. even if you JUST get this, get it. I knew something was up when my mom AND sister both ordered some kind of combo, but my sister called dibs on my mom's as soon as she said she was going to order it. this led me to ordering my own beef teriyaki combo. oyakodon was classic and hit everything just right, the cheapest of the entrees but just as filling. love it here!! will be back soon

We've come here maybe 8 times now. We've tried some other pho places in Gardena/Torrance. Idk man…read more 3.7 stars overall sounds fair to me. But it's still my favorite bowl of pho in the South Bay (so far). Disclaimer, I've only ever gotten their pho and nothing else. Their water tastes like they sourced it from a stainless steel bowl. Their silverware needs a wipe down before eating. But their pho is one we come back to. Maybe it's the water and the silverware that help build the flavor. Whatever the recipe is, I'm not asking for it. I don't wanna know. Don't tell me. See you next time. That's it.

My partner and I decided to check this pho spot out in Gardena. The place itself looked…read moreokay...nothing fancy...and there was a surprising amount of Shakira playing in the background , which was honestly kind of funny. Service was quick when we first got there, and they gave us a few minutes to figure out what we wanted. We both decided to keep it simple and ordered the #1. Our food came out pretty quickly... except only ONE bowl showed up. Apparently, the lady taking our order didn't catch that we were both ordering the same thing. She also never came back to check on us or make sure everything was okay, which I found a little odd since that's pretty standard at most restaurants. Eventually, I made eye contact with another waiter and let him know about the mix-up. Overall, the service was pretty mediocre. The restrooms also could've used some attention, they weren't very well kept and were pretty messy. As for the pho itself, I'd give it a solid 6.5/10. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't as hot as you'd expect a bowl of pho to be, and that definitely took away from it. Now for the question of the hour: Would we come back? Nope.

Enjoyed every second here. The food and service was amazing. I will definitely be coming back .read more

Our experience at their Pico location was so good that we decided to try their Hawthorne spot…read more The restaurant has its own 10-space parking lot in the back which can fill up quickly, but street parking is available. Inside, with its casual eatery vibe, is spacious enough for 80 guests. Since we arrived early, we were seated right away by the very friendly staff. For this visit, we ordered their pastel appetizer, churrasco combo, and a side order of collard green. Food started arriving within five minutes. The pastels in a set of 3 different fillings were perfectly fried with crispy outer layers. The beef filling was well seasoned. The cheese was nicely chewy. And the guava cheese one was quite exquisite with its tangy sweet flavor. The Churrasco Combo (serves 2-3 people): The sides of cheese balls were pleasantly chewy, and the French and cassava fries were lightly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The rice was perfectly seasoned, and the black beans were rich and smooth. Now, the stars of the combo, the meats: the Picanha steak was perfectly medium rare with a buttery soft texture, the chicken thighs were super tender, and the pork sausage was juicy and savory. The collard green side order was perfectly prepared. Beautifully braised, leaving them incredibly tender and packed with flavor. To wrap up our dinner, we ordered a bite-sized Brigadeiro dessert. Just enough sweetness to satisfy our sweet tooth. Great food and service, reasonable price. Highly recommended.

I had the roasted pork with fried rice. It was one of the best I've ever had. What a NICE…read moreestablishment that just recently remodeled. The staff was very nice, and professional. Check it out even if you're going on a date! By the way, they have an amazing selection of coffee drinks as well! Swanky music to boot!

The good: I tried the garlic noodles with shrimp and the…read morebeef rice dish. I thought both were great. Both of my toddlers enjoyed it as well. I liked that the garlic noodles were chewy and soft. The shrimp had a good texture and flavor and the shell on was nice. I loved their menu and how they offered snack foods, teas and lots of appetizers. The bad: I didn't get a chance to try their fun-looking teas. The interesting: The beef dish used both white and red onions. I'm not sure what kind of Asian food they're categorized as but they have all sorts of dishes from different Asian counties (Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, and Korean).