cactus & kudzu

For quite some time, my sister has been urging me to try this place.

Saigon Noodle House sits off 280 in the same shopping center as Target. I was allured by Brynn’s raving reviews, a good price, and the novelty of Vietnamese food for me. So let’s be clear right now that this was my first time trying Vietnamese food, so I do not claim at all to be any sort of connoisseur. However, from what I tasted, I am absolutely in love.

The facade of this restaurant is quite unassuming. It sits beside the Pets Supplies “Plus” and Mattress Firm. Sure, the ambience is a little dated, and it’s definitely casual. But the food is spectacular. The entrees were large enough to split, so we ordered two things to share.

1. Vermicelli Noodles with Fried Pork Eggrolls and Charbroiled Pork

The combination of the thin, thin noodles with the heavy fried and charbroiled components were tied together with crisp, fresh lettuce. The dish was accompanied by a sweet carrot dressing.

We poured the sauce over the dish and tossed it together. It was such a unique combination of flavors. I loved the crisp of the fried and sliced eggrolls. I enjoyed the pork’s tenderness. And the dressing added just the right finish to the dish. It was definitely enough for two to share.

However, we couldn’t help ourselves (or rather I couldn’t help myself).

2. Because I had finally found myself in this Vietnamese spot, I couldn’t leave without ordering one of their Banh-Mi. We got the Banh-Mi with Vietnamese Pork Meatballs.

Be still, my heart.

First off, this is an extremely well-priced sandwich. We’re talking $5 here for more than enough food for lunch. Second, it is a quality sandwich. It’s dressed with soy sauce, cilantro, cucumber slices and shredded carrots that gives freshness to the subtly spicy meatballs. If you try this, slip a jalapeno into a few bites—it completed the flavor combo for me. My only complaint is that they just gave us three slices. Thankfully Brynn let me have them all.

This is a perfect spot to pop in and out for a quick lunch. And we each paid less than $8 to split both of these items. So where are you headed for lunch today? I say, go here! Or have you already tried it? What do you think?