The Pros
The Pho is delicious, and I mean DELICIOUS. Honestly, one of the best tasting pho places in the the Northern Virginia area. The broth is both rich and light, and it punches you in the face with it's hot goodness. Now I should note that this place does have it's good and bad days, some days my broth is not quite as good as it was the previous week. The noodles are usually fairly well cooked, but usually strays on the side of slightly overcooked for my liking. I prefer my pho noodles like I prefer my pasta, slightly al dente, just a little bit of bounce and chewiness to my noodles I find really helps bring out the slight natural sweetness of the rice in the rice noodles. The Pho also happens to be surprisingly light, I often find that after eating the pho no matter how much I ate(which is usually monstrous amount, as in I get a large bowl with 3 extra noodles and usually a plate of summer rolls or something of the sort), I never really feel bloated or anything.
They are definitely NOT stingy with the meat, if you love the meat that comes in pho, Saigon will not let you down, they give heaping portions of meat along with their pho, and while at times some of the meat is again a little overcooked at times, this is understandable since the meat does sit in a hot broth which would inevitably tend to cook it beyond it's perfect point.
The prices are VERY fair, Saigon will usually serve their pho at about a dollar cheaper than other pho stores such as those in Fairfax, Vienna, Centreville, Annandale, etc. Not only that, but their extra noodles come at almost half the price as the extra noodles in other pho stores such as Pho Hot, Pho Bistro, or Viet House. HOWEVER, take note that the extra noodles do NOT come in broth, but they simply cook the noodles and put it in a bowl. But honestly I prefer it that way, I like to add my extra noodles after I finish my initial helping of noodles, because if I tried to put my extra noodles in at the beginning of the meal, then my bowl would overflow wouldn't it? So it doesn't make any sense to let me noodles swim in soup because that would inevitably overcook it wouldn't it?
The chicken wings here are freaking delicious, the skin is crispy and nicely flavored, while the saltiness from the ...well... the salt balances out nicely with the bitter freshness of the spring onions.
The fried rice is also surprisingly tasty here, I know, I know, "fried rice how good could that be?" Well you'd be surprised, it's actually pretty good, the fried rice comes served on a plate, and there's a tiny amount of some kind of oil or fat probably from the meat intermixed with the fried rice, that leaves a delicious rich, smooth, flavor and feeling in your mouth.
The restaurant is also quite clean, both the bathrooms, and the tables and the like. I can't say anything for the Women's bathrooms, but I can vouch for the men's bathroom and say that every time I have been there, the bathroom has been clean. The tables are clean, and the forks, chopsticks, and spoons are given to you by the waiters, which can be kind of annoying sometimes, but it does probably mean that there have been less grubby hands over my eating utensils.
They are also great about just letting people/groups just sit and talk for as long as they want, whether you're eating/ordering or not. You can eat for 40 minutes, but just continue to sit and talk for an additional 3 hours, and the waiters will just come along and keep refilling your water glasses as needed, and no one will hurry you, or give you dirty looks, or do anything to make you feel as if you need to leave. It's a very relaxed atmosphere, great place to go out with friends, or for a date(not a first date)
Now for the Cons :( :(
The waiting service is just average, the waiters and waitresses are nice enough and more than willing to help out and bring you what you need. But most of them unfortunately aren't so hot at English which can make special requests such as steamed bean sprouts and whatnot a bit more difficult.
The quality of the food fluctuates, not to say that the food is ever "bad," but sometimes the food goes from "good" to "oh my God this is delicious." It'd be nice for the food to remain as the latter rather than the former.
All in all, Saigon has good food, for really cheap, and the ownership/management do put alot of thought into serving their customers. This actually happens to be a great spot to watch soccer if you're into it during the EuroCup and other such leagues, as it so happens as most of the waiting staff is also soccer fans, so if you go in during a game, when the restaurants not too busy, you'll often find yourself watching the game with the waiting staff, and cheering or arguing/booing alongside/with them read more