Archive for 'Vietnamese'

Get A Taste Of Baxter St. At The FiDi’s New Vietnamese Source, A La Saigon

a la saigon sign

We don’t have much in the way of Vietnamese specialties in the Financial District other than a couple of banh mi sources that also offer serviceable bowls of pho and bun.

Seemingly overnight, Eight Dumpling House morphed into A La Saigon much to the confusion of at least three customers I overheard trying to order their fix of General Tso’s chicken.

What I can report is the $8 lunch special I tried was pretty good, and a welcome counter to all that Americanized Chinese food of fried chicken in gloppy sauces.

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Dumpling House Turns Into Vietnamese Restaurant

If you tried to eat at Dumpling House on Liberty Place (btw. Liberty St. & Maiden Lane) Monday, you may have been in for a surprise as it’s not only closed, and turning into something different.

The space is becoming A La Saigon and will be serving Vietnamese food, which I for one am pretty happy about. With the exception of Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches, the Banh Mi cart and Baoguette, we don’t have much in the way of Vietnamese specialties in the Financial District. And really, Dumpling House wasn’t anything special, so fingers crossed that the reincarnation will be an improvement.

Update: This place opened up the day after this post. Expect a review in short order.

First Look: Siring Asian Grill Brings New Lunch Option To Gross Stretch Of Broadway

Among the fast food establishment and tourist shops on the stretch of Broadway between Canal and Chambers streets, shiny new Siring Asian Grill (at Worth) stands out. It’s essentially a Chipotle of Asian food, allowing you to build a wrap or bowl of rice noodles, rice or salad as a base. We’ve seen this type of “build you own lunch” restaurant before but this one’s probably welcome in an area that’s fairly grim with lunch options that aren’t McDonald’s or dollar pizza slices.

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Nicky’s Vietnamese Does Pork Chop Over Vermicelli Right

It had been a while since making a visit to Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches on Nassau St. (btw. Fulton & Ann) and I was pleasantly surprised to see the small space was jam-packed with people ordering and consuming banh mi and pho. Scenes like this make me happy that not everyone chooses to stand in line at the nearest chain for lunch, but I digress. I’m here to talk about the third lunch-worthy item on the menu at Nicky’s which is the pork chop, chicken or tofu over rice or rice vermicelli. Yes, at $8.50 it’s more expensive than most places in Chinatown but as I discovered, if you want Vietnamese food and aren’t in the mood for a sandwich, Nicky’s will still fix you up right.

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All Banh Mi At Paris Sandwich Are Not Created Equal

There was a time when I used to confuse Parisi Bakery with Paris Sandwich, but that was before I had eaten at both of them and learned how laughable that was. One is a venerable Italian bakery and sandwich purveyor in Nolita where you’re served by men who are efficient yet polite, while the other is a duo of Vietnamese banh mi shops in Chinatown staffed by women who are rushed yet polite.

I’ve been to most of the banh mi sellers in Chinatown except Paris Sandwich so I decided to remedy that situation and stop in the other day. I went to both the location on Mott St. (btw. Canal & Hester) and one on Grand St. (btw. Elizabeth & Mott), and both sell sandwiches supposedly made with baguettes baked every hour plus a small roster of other Vietnamese dishes and appetizers. While pork chop over rice did sound good, I instead tried a couple of different sandwiches since I wasn’t that impressed with the first one I tried and was sure they could do better.

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Tuesday Chinatown Special: Candy-Like Grilled Pork Over Vermicelli At Thai Son

The string of Vietnamese restaurants on Baxter St. between Bayard St. and Walker are among my favorite places to eat in Chinatown and although I’ve tried the pho at Nha Trang, I’d never eaten at Thai Son . Since it was a sweltering summer day, I bypassed the pho section of the menu and instead went for some bun with a mix of Vietnamese spring rolls and grilled pork on top. The generic “grilled pork” on the menu sounds pretty basic, and it is, but calling it pork candy may be more accurate.

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Banh Mi Saigon Gives Fast Food A Good Name

The stars aligned one day when I had to head up to Little Italy/Chinatown, and just so happened to be right across the street from Banh Mi Saigon Bakery on Grand St. (btw. Mott & Mulberry). It turns out this site has never done a proper review of the place, although it did fare well in a Banh Mi Battle Royale that Daniel conducted. I am never one to turn down a cheap sandwich, especially if it’s from a combination jewelry store/banh mi seller. This works way better than combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell. Read more »