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    Saigon Babylon

    4.0 (58 reviews)
    Open 5:00 pm - 11:00 PM
    Updated 3 months ago

    Saigon Babylon Photos

    SAIGON BABYLON ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Trendy
    Dogs allowed
    Outdoor seating

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    Soft serve
    Jerrick C.

    4.5/5 Delicious food and craft cocktails in a cool rooftop setting Came here for dinner and sat on the rooftop which had excellent views of Central Square in Cambridge. I ordered the tamarind old fashioned which was quite good. Then for dinner, got the beef stir fried noodles (pho bo xao). Absolutely delicious, the meat was incredibly tender. I wish there had been more of it. For dessert I got the coconut soft serve which was delicate, flavorful, and delicious. The service was a bit slow at times but always friendly. The prices are also steep given the portion sizes but it's what you'd expect to pay for a rooftop view with good food in Cambridge. I'd definitely come back! Food: 5/5 Drinks: 5/5 Service: 4/5 Ambience: 5/5 Price: 3/5

    Menu
    Christopher H.

    The food was delicious and the portions were sized exactly as you would expect. For two people, three appetizers and one main were exactly the right amount. We especially liked the Lemongrass Beef Carpaccio and the Fluke. Coconut ice cream with cashews was a delightful surprise. Our waiter made some good suggestions and provided just the right amount of attention. The room was very pretty. We will make a point of returning in the summer when the balcony is open. The restaurant has no web site, which is a little weird. I couldn't find a menu online anywhere, so I have attached one, but in the end it wouldn't have made a difference. You are better off to follow the suggestions of your server as words can't do justice to the taste of the food.

    Angela L.

    Unfortunately the food is very mid... each dish tastes very similar and is very westernized. A bit overpriced because they have a cool interior and is on the second floor that looks over central

    Monkfish
    Linh T.

    Hidden gem alert! The monkfish dish and it tasted so close to what you'd get back in Vietnam -- I'd say about 95% spot on. So flavorful and comforting, it immediately brought back memories of home. Their drinks are super creative too -- not your average cocktail menu. Definitely worth exploring if you like unique flavor combos. And can we talk about the decor? It's unbelievably beautiful -- like stepping into a traditional house in Hanoi. Every detail is thoughtfully done, from the lighting to the vintage touches. Such a vibe. Will 100% be back. This place feels special.

    Alice D.

    I wanted to like this place more, but the experience ultimately fell quite flat. Perhaps it was high expectations as I've heard good things about this spot, but just overall not super great. We came here with a reservation for an early dinner on a Sunday and were quite literally the only ones in the space upon opening - felt a little weird, but not bad. The table we got for three of us was a bit crowded and that was evident as there was only room for basically one dish at a time as we ate. We got a few dishes to share, but the prices were extremely high for the portion size and the quality wasn't enough either to justify what we got. The corn was tasty and the other dishes were yummy, however we ended up leaving quite hungry in the end and a few of us went to a local fast food spot after. Drinks were okay too, but a bit tasteless. Overall, okay experience - I don't think I'll come back, but I'm glad I tried it.

    Lan T.

    I am of Vietnamese descent so I was very excited when I heard about this place and thought I could enjoy sitting at a cute bar, nicely decorated restaurant while eating authentic Vietnamese food. However, the food is not that authentic!! For dinner, we had the Viet salad, lemongrass clams and oxtail noodle! The lemongrass clams were really good! The Viet salad was decent, but I could have had better salad in Dorchester for half of the price!! The oxtail noodle was a complete disappointment!! It was too salty that we had to ask for extra noodle to eat with it! This would have been a candidate to eat with bread for this type of broth! The noodle itself was ok but it was more like a Chinese hand-pull noodle. I have had similar broth with egg noodle or pho noodle in the past! The service was great! As we walked out, we saw the terrace/rooftop looks pretty nice to enjoy time outside in the summer!

    Fluke
    Kevin G.

    Overall I really enjoyed the food and thought that the majority of the dishes were excellent and unique. The menu was small (only 8 total dishes excluding dessert) and I was able to try half the menu (4 dishes). I thought they did a great job at selecting the right dishes for the season, as they were largely light (rather than hearty) and had very refreshing flavors. The price point is a little higher than id typically spend for a casual dinner, but would be ok with splurging once in a while.

    Brooke C.

    I absolutely loved my experience here. I went as a walk in for an outdoor table for two at prime time on a Friday. They said it would be a 45 minute wait- but it only ended up taking 5! I tried a cocktail and mocktail, both were great but the Passionfruit mocktail was really excellent. The decor is so cute and the sunset view is stunning. Would definitely recommend a visit!

    Husain V.

    Came back here for a second time and sat at the bar. As per my first review nothing has changed. Amazing food, service and ambiance. The menu rotated and I got to try some new items and everything was delish. My favorite dish had to be the fluke. Definitely a great spot and would love to come back and sit out on the rooftop on a nice weather day.

    Natasha M.

    Incredible. Ordered the duck and the beef noodles, both were a hit. Super flavorful and balanced, meat was cooked perfectly. Got their version of an espresso martini, the honey espresso mousse, probably the best mixed drink I've had all year. The interior is such a cool vibe, very cozy and tasteful. I recommend making a reservation ahead of time.

    Lemongrass beef carpaccio
    Jacob C.

    Saigon is the third sister restaurant to Cicada and The Eaves and I think it may be my favorite. A beautifully-decorated rooftop bar with indoor and outdoor seating (seasonal), the ambiance is on point, transporting diners to a warm, cozy, southeast Asian get-away. The cocktails are fantastic - the best of the three restaurants by far. The food is similarly delicious and well-executed with bright, bold Vietnamese flavors but with a more expansive menu than its sister locales. Service was also excellent. It's clear why Saigon has been getting so much attention and I will join the chorus of its fans and look forward to going back soon!

    December 2024 menu
    Alyanna T.

    My partner and I shared the stormy Saigon and honey mousse espresso martini drinks, plus the lemongrass beef carpaccio, bac ninh (duck), and oxtail - TASTE: 5/5 - fantastic! The coconut milk and pandan were perfectly sweet in the non-alcoholic stormy Saigon, and I never go wrong w an espresso martini. The carpaccio was definitely the star of the meal w its spicy sate, lemongrass, and flavorful Wagyu. Enjoyed the duck's ginger sauce and the oxtail's red wine and garlic paste broth, which tasted homemade TEXTURE: 5/5 - both drinks had pleasant foam toppings, and the carpaccio again was well-balanced w its tender slices of beef, garnishing sprouts, and crisp rice cracker. Loved the texture of the fresh rice noodles in both entrees PRICE: 4/5 - definitely higher price points SERVING SIZE: 4/5 - left satisfied w our choices for dinner SERVICE: 4/5 - made a Resy on the same day and arrived at 5pm opening on a Sunday. Our waiter was friendly and helpful ATMOSPHERE: 5/5 - wasn't sure what to expect when taking Sonder 907 Main hotel's elevator up to the 5th floor, and was stunned when walking into Saigon Babylon. The lush plants, ornate furniture, and dark & moody space -- fantastic! Would come back to check out the rooftop when it reopens PARKING: 4/5 - got a street spot around the corner on Bishop Allen Dr

    Banana leaf
    Della S.

    I was worried this spot would be super hard to get into but I didn't have too hard of a time getting a reservation on a Sunday when I booked a few days in advance. Also, their outdoor patio is first-come-first-serve (no reservations) so keep that in mind if you feel like spontaneously stopping by! It seemed like there were more tables on the patio than inside the actual restaurant. I tried their stormy sai gon ($13) mocktail. It has pandan, tea, and coconut milk, so I was expecting something to taste kind of like milk tea. The mocktail ended up having a much more savory flavor to it (and was more tart than I expected), but not in a bad way at all! Two of us split the lemongrass beef ($18), banana flower ($16), and bac ninh ($30). The lemongrass beef was my favorite. This would be a good dish for anybody who likes beef tartare/carpaccio/yukhoe! The beef was so tender and the passion fruit sauce added such a refreshing, tangy sweetness. I really liked how the textures from the rice cracker, beef, and vegetables complemented each other. The banana leaf had really succulent pieces of shrimp but otherwise mostly reminded me of a papaya salad. As someone who likes papaya salad I enjoyed this dish a lot, but I probably would have rather picked another dish on the menu that I haven't had before. The bac ninh was a great portion size for two to share! It came with a decent portion of duck and the noodles themselves soaked up a lot of the savory sauce. The noodles had a great texture-- they were really bouncy and fun to eat. They give you a garlicky ginger sauce on the side which I didn't really care for as a dipping sauce but we ended up mixing it into the noodles and I really liked how the flavors all blended together. The fresh ginger flavor added a lot of brightness to the dish that would have otherwise been on the heavier side from the oil. I would love to try more of their drinks. I thought the food was tasty and nicely presented but I wouldn't say there was a stand-out dish.

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    Darling - Noodles with veg

    Darling

    (57 reviews)

    $$$

    Central Square

    Had such a fun girls catch up at darling in Cambridge! Best restaurant I've tried in a while…read more Lively mysterious vibes, creative drinks, and good food! The colossal shrimp was my favorite - massive and grilled to perfection. The dumplings were my friend's favorite. We both enjoyed our drinks especially the "hope I packed a parachute" which was topped with taro foam! Will be coming back for a date night and to try the HK french toast cocktail for sure. Make sure to snag a reservation early :)

    I've been looking forward to trying Darling for a while, and I see why everyone is raving about it!…read moreThey had an interesting and varied drink menu, with combinations and ingredients I hadn't seen before. It was hard to choose one, but I got the A Perfect Circle and it was quite tasty. I'm eager to try some of their other drinks, since the cocktails were definitely the highlight of the experience for me. The dim sum portions were larger than I expected, which meant we ordered way too much food. We had the fried chicken, the cucumber salad, the shrimp, the pork wontons, the soy sauce noodles, the daikon/enoki dish (I forget the name) and the charred broccoli. There wasn't anything I didn't like, but I did find that the flavor profile seemed very similar for many of the items--it seemed like most things were topped with a generous portion of chili oil, scallions, and sesame seeds. I found that this contributed to a fairly uniform flavor experience and was getting a little weary of chili oil after several dishes. The food was also spicier than I anticipated (though to be fair, I have a low spice tolerance, so others might disagree.) I would have enjoyed some less spicy options to balance out our meal. Overall, all the food was good, though, but I think if I come back I'd get fewer items (3-4 would have been plenty for 2 people) and that might also help with everything blurring together. The service was great and our waitstaff was helpful and attentive.

    Remnant Satellite - Cider-Mass Appeal

    Remnant Satellite

    (17 reviews)

    This burger was pretty fire, had it well done with the sweet potato fries and got the roasted beets…read moretoo. Everything was solid and the burger was fat with good salt. I would hella come again to this place. Vibe seemed alright like a typical pub but the burger got my heart.

    Enjoyed my dinner here at Remnant Satellite. We went on a Monday night early so didn't hear the…read morelive music but that's okay. I got a hard cider, the Stormalong Mass Appeal which I really enjoyed. My boyfriend got a vanilla latte which he liked. We then split the spinach artichoke dip which came with pita bread and carrots, the dip itself was only lukewarm and it was okay. I got the mac and cheese and added bbq which was really good, smaller portion but it filled me up. My boyfriend got the burger which was really fresh and the sauces were tasty. Towards the end my boyfriend noticed there was a Monday night rib special--which we were bummed because this was why we came here since they won first place at Rib Fest. I didn't get his name but the waiter we had was so nice and we ended up trying one. The meat melt off the bone and the sauce was incredible, so many flavors I couldn't pinpoint. It was sweet and tasted like a jam almost. Plus we learn they source a lot of food locally which is cool. The atmosphere too is very rustic inside and cozy, plus they have many events throughout the week from trivia to live music. Check out this nice spot in East Cambridge!

    Cloud & Spirits - New Year's Soup

    Cloud & Spirits

    (84 reviews)

    $$$

    Kendall Square/MIT

    We had reservations for 7:30, and when we got there, the place was decently busy - a few empty…read moretables here and there - so we were seated immediately. We ordered quickly after perusing the (rather short) menu, most of which was either small plates and cocktails . Our first plate was the hainan chicken arancini. I really liked the contrast in textures between the crispy exterior and the tender chicken and rice mix on the inside. Overall flavour was not bad, too, but I'm not sure that it was exactly good enough to merit the price point of $18. Next was the Xi'an street noodles, which was probably my favourite dish of the meal. The noodles were very well cooked - chewy but not too soft - and I loved the sauce, with the gentle peanut aroma on top of the various spices they used. One comment was that the chilli crisp, which was tasty, was very lacking (in amount) and as a consequence the dish was really not spicy at all. Finally we had the chilli crisp buffalo chicken. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the chicken was boneless (I was expecting something more like chicken wings), which made for very clean eating :) The buffalo sauce was nice (and perhaps a bit spicier than the aforementioned chilli crisp) and the chicken itself was very rich and juicy. Portion size was quite large too and overall I was very happy with this plate. For drinks we ordered the Jaded, which was a fun matcha-themed cocktail (even the marshmallow was matcha-flavoured) and a (spirit-free) cranberry limeade, which was surprisingly refreshing and sweet. Overall a yummy meal, but definitely very expensive. I would be interested to try some more of their cocktails, which seem very creative, but I'm not sure if I would be keen to come again primarily for the food. (To be fair, though, this is often the modus operandi of these restaurants that specialise in small plates and drinks )

    Great Cocktails, Average Food. I hovered between 3 and 4…read morestars here - ultimately deciding on 3 because while this is a great place to hang and grab drinks, the food is disappointing. Everyone was friendly and attentive but the food took a while to come out and it was just average. The best thing was the curry noodles and even those were a little bland. Also it was fairly expensive so I expected bigger portions or at least better flavor. Drinks on the other hand were delicious!

    Althea - Rib and Fried Green tomato

    Althea

    (33 reviews)

    Central Square

    Food was terrific. We all loved the Brussels Sprouts small plate to share. Two chose the Baked Cod…read moreover gnocchi that was delicious. The Salmon plate is always a winner. Perfectly cooked medium rare as ordered and the gnocchi bolognese was good as always. Cocktails for some and wine for others (except our designated driver) hit the spot. Too full from dinner so we passed on dessert. Service was perfect and the ambiance allowed for cheerful conversation. It helps when everyone is enjoying the wonderful food and relaxed atmosphere.

    I thought Althea was just ok. Glad I tried it, but probably won't be back, at least not for brunch…read more The ambiance is lovely - lots of plants, comfortable seating. Service was very friendly and timely. The food was just not great. I ordered the mushroom and goat cheese omelet, and they were nice enough to let me swap goat cheese for Parmesan. To drink, I got a coffee. The coffee was fine - not amazing but not bad either. The omelet was just okay - it could have used some more salt. A little bland. I did love the home fries - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and very well seasoned. The toast tasted like grocery store bread, so that was a little disappointing for the price. So to sum up: on the positive side, ambiance and service were great. Home fries were delicious. Portions were generous. On the meh side, omelette and bread were bland (plus they were no longer hot by the time they came out, so that was strange). The only really bad thing I have to say is that they served my mom sour milk for her coffee, but they were very apologetic and gifted us blueberry muffins to make up for it, so I won't hold it against them.

    Nook - Interior

    Nook

    (26 reviews)

    My friend found this spot online and suggested we check it out, and I'm so glad we did. When we…read morearrived, I did not expect to find an entire courtyard filled with shops and restaurants tucked behind this little alleyway. It was such a cute hidden area, and I was already excited before we even got to the place. We headed upstairs into the bar, and the vibe was perfect. It's small, cozy, dimly lit, with vibey music playing. Since it was our first time, we were a little confused at first, but the waiter was super kind and walked us through everything. I ordered the Elly the Elephant and my friend got the Laughing Gull, and we both really enjoyed our drinks. One thing I thought was really nice is that they allow you to grab food from the surrounding restaurants and bring it in to eat there. We didn't end up doing that, but we did get the charcuterie board they had. It came with cheeses, crackers, and some fruit, and you can add meats for $10, which we opted out for. I will say I was a little disappointed by the fruit portion. The menu mentioned fresh fruit, so I expected more than three thin orange slices and one sliced strawberry. HOWEVER, when I asked for more strawberries, our waiter kindly brought out a whole bowl for me, which I really appreciated. We stayed for about two hours, and as the night went on the place definitely got more crowded, so we headed out. Overall, this is such a cute and cozy cocktail bar. I'll definitely be back when the weather is warmer to try the other drinks and restaurants in the market.

    I can't believe I've never been to Bow Market before but I will definitely be back! So many hidden…read moregems. Stores, cocktail lounges, restaurants, etc. It's also lit up very nicely at night. So fun! I'd imagine it's poppin in the summer/on a warm night. I just went to Nook (located upstairs once you're in Bow Market) and it's such a vibe! They've got an extensive drink menu, a couch area to lounge on, high tables and bar seating, cool interior design, and dim lighting. I mean the ambiance is there. Highly recommend the fruity drink! I forget the exact name but the bartender suggested it to me, and it was from the "West" menu page.

    Fallow Kin

    Fallow Kin

    (16 reviews)

    First thing when I entered I was asked if they could take my coat. I love that little extra bit of…read moreservice that you don't seem to get at a lot of restaurants now a days. We were seated by the window which was definitely a bit cold but I don't blame the restaurant for that. It's MA in January but just a heads up if that is something that would bother you. I ordered the one trick pony cocktail and it was incredible. I love when I go to a restaurant and the ingredients are something unique and maybe I wouldn't ever have had before. We ended up ordering the sourdough bread, seared scallops, potatoes, and waygu beef. The menu is also unique and interesting for the food and lot of flavors I would not think to put together and they worked every single time. Incredibly delicious! I will definitely be coming back!

    We went to Fallow Kin on 2/15 for their four course Valentine's Day menu and unfortunately the food…read morewas extremely disappointing. The one star is solely for the cocktails and the excellent service from the bartender. We started with the Hazlet Rye sourdough, which was dense and dry. It was surprising that they thought this was acceptable to serve. For the four courses we had the Hamachi crudo and kohlrabi salad, leek cannelloni, silken tofu and local lobster, and for dessert panna cotta and chocolate torte. The kohlrabi salad was the only bright spot -- it was at least fresh and tasted okay. The hamachi crudo had almost no flavor. The leek cannelloni was overwhelmingly bitter, it was supposed to be a burnt onion miso sauce that tasted totaaly burnt. The silken tofu was literally a large block of tofu with broth poured over it, with no real texture or flavor. The lobster dish was heavy and overly rich. The hollandaise and lobster pie on the side did not balance each other and the overall dish felt dense. Dessert was equally disappointing. The chocolate torte was not a torte but a slice of dry, mediocre cake. A grocery store cake would have been better. The panna cotta was essentially whipped cream and lacked the texture that panna cotta should have. On a positive note, the cocktails were very good. We had the Timepiece and One Tricky Pony and both were excellent. The non alcoholic Automat Spritz was also well done. The bartender provided great service and was the highlight of the night. This restaurant has good reviews and we were super excited to try it. Maybe the Valentine's Day menu was an off night and the regular menu is better. However, at this price point the lack of flavor and cohesion is hard to overlook. There are many better options in this range and we likely won't be back.

    Saigon Babylon - cocktailbars - Updated May 2026

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