Saigon Star

Great vegetable pho. Quick deliver service too. The flavor was top notch compared to other pho places.

Okay quality, okay quantity, okay value.The quality of the food and quantity are quite unremarkable and the price is pretty high for the food and service presented. I'm pretty disappointed in my experience as the Yelp reviews I read set my expectations quite high.I came here for an early dinner with my girlfriend excited to try some of the restaurants around the area that she just moved into. This location caught my eye and I wanted to try it out. We ordered the following:Pho Dac Biet (Special Combination): Mild, aromatic, light. I consider the Pho Dac Biet as a litmus test for every pho restaurant; if they can make this dish well, then they have a skilled kitchen. Unfortunately, the Pho Dac Biet I ordered was quite disappointing. They had very little meat for how much they charged per bowl and there was not a lot of vermicelli noodles. But the biggest factor to me was the broth. Upon first whiff, I smelled a nice aromatic broth which got me excited but when I took a sip of the broth I was utterly disappointed with how mild in flavor and how bland it was. In simple dishes like pho where flavor and taste are heavily derived from the broth, it is so imperative that the restaurant has a great broth to work with and Saigon Star absolutely fumbled that. On top of that, pho restaurants often serve their dishes with a side of vegetables that include thai basil, mint, and bean sprouts at the very bare minimum and often include other things like jalapenos, lime, other herbs. However, Saigon Star only offered the thai basil and bean sprouts with lemons. When I asked about the mint giving the benefit of the doubt assuming it may only be available on request, I was disappointed to hear that they don't offer it at all. While not all restaurants can meet excellent standards, this is the first time I had a bowl of pho that not only didn't meet standards but actually disappointed me.Pho Tai Chin (Rare Steak and Well Done Steak): There isn't much of a difference between the Pho Tai Chin and Pho Dac Biet aside from having a smaller variety in protein in the bowl. The same comments that applied to the Dac Biet also apply to this dish. The volume of meat and vermicelli noodles left for more to be desired while also having an extremely mild and flavorless broth.Banh Hoi Thit Nuong (Fine Rice Vermicelli with Grilled Pork): Refreshing, crispy, light. The Banh Hoi picture on Yelp is what originally got me to try this location and fortunately that didn't disappoint. This Banh Hoi dish is composed of some vermicelli sheets, fried garlic, crushed peanuts, pickled radish and carrots, cucumber, shredded lettuce, and grilled pork. I enjoyed filling the Banh Hoi with a combination of the veggies and topping that with grilled pork and dipping all of that into the sweet and spicy fish sauce or a very refreshing, tasty, umami bite. Personally, I really enjoy this dish with some vietnamese peanut sauce but it also works well with the nuoc mam cham. This dish met all expectations and had me wishing there was more. Although I will be honest, I was quite disappointed in the quantity served for a near $20 dish, I feel quite bad for this restaurant and want to give them some points for what they do serve well. The restaurant was quite empty when I went but the decor was beautiful and definitely resembled the pho restaurants that I grew up eating at.The service was left to be desired. The restaurant was not busy when I visited but it took a second and some added effort to grab the attention of the staff for requests and help. I feel like if I had not spoken Vietnamese to the server, it would've taken even more time to grab her attention to get help which would be more of a problem for people who don't speak the language. Some other small things are that the tables don't have a napkin dispenser and the only sauces offered at the table are Hoisin Sauce and Sriracha. If the rest of my experience were better, I feel like these things wouldn't be as big a deal but altogether this made my dining experience here quite disappointing as it felt like the restaurant was cutting every single corner possible in quality, quantity, and taste of the food and also of the smaller services that are often a given. All in all, I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone as they don't excel in quality, quantity, or value so unless you really don't want to drive another few minutes, there isn't a reason to come here.

I was getting a pedicure next door so I thought I'd jump in here for lunch. I was excited to see they had bahn mi on the menu. I was disappointed in my meal, for one it was a very dry sandwich, I had to request more mayo. One reason it might have been dry is that it lacked ample veggies. The best part of the bahn mi is the pickled veggies and other than a few shredded carrots on top and a slice of cucumber on the bottom, there was nothing else but meat! Where's the veggies??Also disappointed my sandwich came in a wicker basket that had mold on the brim - yes, the basket had mold/dirt on the entire brim of basket. I don't understand why use wicker when they clearly have metal baskets also.

I wanted to like this place because it's one of the closer ones to where I live. I tried it yesterday for the first time, and here's my 100% honest review.Given that I've tried some of the best pho places in San Diego, including El Cajon, Mira Mesa, and even some in LA, I'm probably going to be a little critical. But this is the purpose of these kinds of reviews, so maybe they can do better.I'll start with the wings. The wings were very bland, and the meat had a very distinct weird taste to it.As for the pho dac biet, it was mid at best. The broth was very bland compared to some of the best that I've tried in San Diego (check my other reviews for some of the pho places in SD). There was barely any meat, and the portion and taste of the broth didn't stand par to some of the good pho restaurants in SD.The service was good, they were attentive. And the place was clean. I'll give this place another try in a month or so to check it out again. Maybe I just came on an off day for the cook? We'll see...

Not fantastic but not terrible. I ordered the bun bowl with pork and shrimp. Noodles were overcooked and the portion was too heavy. Shrimp and pork were very flavorful, lettuce was meh and pickled veggies were just okay. I've had better Vietnamese in other parts of SD but if you're close by and need a quick fix, give it a try. They played great music and the ambiance was wonderful. Egg rolls came out piping hot and crispy (hard to mess those up though).

Damn! I was not expecting this place to be as good as it was. I walked in on a Monday before noon and it looked a little empty. The service was stellar and the food was BOMB! I had the green papaya salad with the beef jerky in it. Soooooo savory and tangy it was divine! Also had the fried spring rolls and pork sandwich. The music was also hitting! I was dancing in my seat the whole time looking crazy. I will gladly travel from poway to this spot because everything was 10/10!

A restaurant we wanted to go to for dinner nearby was closed but Saigon Star saved the day! Everything we ordered was perfect in every way. The prices were also amazing and service was fast and friendly.My favorite thing was the salt and pepper wings! I will definitely be back.

We came to have food right after the doctor appointment. They open at 10:30AM and we walked in around 10:35, all of the chairs are still on top of the table and we ask the guy mopping the floor the time they open and he confirmed at 10:30AM and then he ask us to wait for 10 minutes for him to set up.When we ordered food, we ordered crispy egg noodle and I confirmed twice with him, then when they bring the food out, it's a soft stir fried noddle. We let them know and then they switch it. The crispy noodle is not crispy but it's a little hard. With the sizzling fish filet, it said serve with fresh herb, lettuce, mints, wraps with rice paper and rice and salad. We did not see the fresh herb with lettuce and rice paper. They only bring with the rice and salad on the side. The fish fillet is salty and the rice go with it is very dried.Coconut jelly is good. I also got the almond jelly but it took them very long time to bring it out and we end up pack it togo. Not very good experience here.

Absolutely delicious and fresh! Errands really work up an appetite. I was in the area and remembered this gem! The parking lot is always so full. The restaurant wasn't busy, many tables avail around 1pm. We ordered salt and pepper calamari to share and each ordered a vermicelli bowl. I ordered the Saigon Star special vermicelli bowl which comes with chicken, pork, shrimp and egg rolls. Friend preferred the pork and egg roll vermicelli bowl. We always ask for extra sauce for the vermicelli bowls to really drench the flavors. Food turnaround was fast and water is served iced.

Best pho place in Grantville area. Beats portions and prices, definitely don't go to Pho Ca Dao down the street their prices are out the roof and the flavor isn't authentic.