Local Vietnamese husband/wife team of Sen Huynh and Hoan Tran opened Saigon Noodle House in Kailua around 1994, and this popular restaurant is still going strong! The owners are jack of all trades, as they cook all dishes and take care of the front of the house.
The restaurant's Vietnamese menu offerings are quite extensive:
* Appetizers: summer/spring rolls, calamari, papaya salad, tossed salad
* Pho: beef, beef ball, tripe, brisket, chicken vegetarian, seafood, oxtail
* Noodles/Jook: saimin, udon, look funn, long rice, Thai spicy soup, jook
* Rice plates: seafood, vegetarian, fried rice, chicken, pork, beef. Served with jasmine rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers; sub for brown rice, tossed salad or vermicelli.
* Combo plates: eggroll, chicken, short ribs, chicken, seafood, beef, vegetarian. Served with jasmine rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers; sub for brown rice or tossed salad.
* Vermicelli noodle bowls: spring roll, tofu, chicken, beef, seafood, pork. Served with cold rice noodles, lettuce, cucumber, pickled daikon/carrots, beansprouts, mint leaves; sprinkled with crushed peanuts & fried shallots with side of fish sauce dipping sauce.
* Stir-fried noodles: crispy, chow funn, chow mein, pad Thai, Vietnamese noodle
* Sandwiches: vegetarian, pork, chicken, roast beef, tuna. Includes pickled daikon/carrots, cucumber, cilantro, mayo, soy sauce or lettuce, tomato, cucumber mayo, soy sauce.
* Drinks: Vietnamese iced coffee, Thai iced tea, fresh lemonade, canned soft drinks, coconut juice
For out most recent visit, we had the following:
* Pho with beef and tendon. Excellent, clean, non-greasy pho that is very flavorful without any condiments and served piping hot with lots of bean sprouts and fresh basil! Very generous portion. Pho didn't need any condiments, as it was already savory and delicious by itself!
* Vermicelli noodle bowl with short ribs and eggroll. Crunchy and flavorful egg roll cut into pieces when using dipping sauce and hoi sin/chili oil; tasty char-broiled short ribs that are juicy and tender; delicious vermicelli/veggies with fish/vinegar sauce! We loved the house-made chili oil that was tasty and spicy with a kick! Huge portion that made several meals!
Customer service is excellent here! Very friendly owners who love to talk to their customers and appreciate their patronage! Yes, there are a lot of regulars who dine-in and/or take-out, and Sen remembers their names, what they usually order, and follows their lives over the years. Yes, their customers are their family! In addition to their friendliness, their service is so efficient in taking your orders, minimal wait time in serving your order, refilling your water glasses, and bill payment. Special attention is made to ensure that you receive your order quickly after ordering. Very hardworking husband/wife team!
Not much ambiance in this small hole-in-the-wall eatery, which has about 8 tables seating a max of 20 people. The restaurant is clean, bright, and has a wall menu with food photos.
Hours of operation are 10:30a to 8:00p daily. Located in the Enchanted Lake Shopping Center near Safeway, free parking is available in the private lot that is shared with other businesses.
Interesting tidbit: the Huynh family has a number of related restaurants on Oahu: Sen operates Saigon Noodle Kailua, his brother operates Saigon Noodle Kaneohe, another brother operates Pho King Vietnamese Restaurant in Wahiawa, and his sister, Wan, operates Ba-Le Sandwich Shop in HI Kai. We were regular customers of Ba-Le in HI Kai, but it closed for renovations about a year ago due to a major kitchen fire. As it still has not reopened, the craving for Vietnamese food brought us to Saigon Noodle Kailua, as the menu offerings here and at Ba-Le HI Kai are similar, and to chat with Sen to see how Wan and the renovations are going. We hope at Ba-Le HI Kai is able to reopen soon or relocate in HI Kai.
In the meantime, with the good quality of Vietnamese food offerings, generous portions, reasonable prices, and excellent customer service, we'll be back! Support local! read more