Saigon Cafe

Nestled in the seedy underbelly of Provo, Saigon Cafe is a restaurant worth avoiding. The name, and its listing in the phone book under “Vietnamese Cuisine” lead us to believe that this was a Vietnamese restaurant. Not so. This is a very dirty and greasy Chinese restaurant that happens to serve a couple of Vietnamese dishes.

Between the four of us who went, we had a plate of gỏi cuốn (uncooked Vietnamese spring rolls), two bowls of phở, a bowl of bún thịt nướng (a Vietnamese vermicelli dish which is usually quite tasty), and a plate of Singapore-style noodles. It should be noted at this point that nobody was able to finish their meal. I am usually fairly adventurous when it comes to food, but this was bad, even for me.

The noodles in the gỏi cuốn, the bún thịt nướng and the phở were very mushy and overcooked. The gỏi cuốn had very little flavor, except for that of the greasy grilled shrimp. At this point, you should be getting the picture. I don’t want to turn this into a rant, and I also feel sorry for the very nice woman who waited on us, so I’ll stop describing our experience here.

Needless to say, we won’t be going back. We also urge others to skip this place.

–Jason