Saigon Eatery Woburn

Saigon Eatery opened on the former Noodles & Company location in Woburn. I liked Noodles & Company, even if the name never made sense to me.

Having been here a number of times, I'm still not too excited about the place. It's a struggle to get a cup of tap water. The Dac Biet was missing the tripe. The Banh Mi was lacking the heat from the jalapenos. I'm also not too happy about sitting in the middle of the room on the hard chairs.

There is plenty of parking in the little plaza.

The interior is nice and bright. You order at the counter, and when the food is ready, they bring it to the table. Utensils and condiments are just around the corner to the left. It was cold inside.

Phở – Noodle Soup. "Rice Noodle in a savory aromatic broth are paired with onion, scallion and cilantro, along with a choice of our top selected finest options".
Combination (Dac Biet) $18. It was a good-sized bowl with Rare Beef, Brisket, and a Meatball. Where is the crunchy tripe? Big miss. The noodle was a congealed lump at the bottom. Another miss. Took some work to sort that out, ended up with soup all over the table. The brisket and rare beef, which only remained rare for a short time in the hot soup, was tender and nice. The soup was very good, aromatic, and tasty. Where is the sliced jalapeno? The onions were mostly absent.

Bánh Mì – Viet Baguette
"Our Banh Mi is served with house-made pate, egg yolk aoli, sliced cucumber, pickled medly, onions, cilantro and slices of jalapeno pepper. (Please note BBQ Beef, BBQ Pork and Shredded Chicken Banh Mi don't come with Pate)".
Banh Mi Caramelized Pork (Heo Khia) ($12). I expected something else when selecting caramelized pork, but the pork here looks like what's on the website. I missed the slices of jalapeno, so I asked for extra. Turns out I already had them, but they were sliced lengthwise and deveined, so they just tasted like green peppers. What's the point of jalapenos if they are not spicy?

There was plenty of pork, and the veggies were good, as were the pate and aioli. It was terribly miss engineered with all the pork on the bottom. So you eat either the veggies or the pork. The filling should have been placed on the bottom of the bun, and the rest layered on top so that a bite contains all the ingredients. The bread was also stale, but this was on a Sunday, so it's on me.

Cơm Đĩa – Rice Plate. "Plate of white rice with lettuce, cucumber and tomato served with a side of our house-made sauce". Grilled Pork Chop Rice Plate (Suon Nuong) $16. The pork was nicely charred and not overcooked. No comments on the veggies. Some of the Num Noc and the carrots lived things up a bit. The rice was cooked well, with each grain separated.

Address: 299 Mishawum Rd, Woburn, MA 01801 Phone: (781) 537-6110

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

​– VIRGINIA WOOLF