Saigon City Cafe

VN-001 Saigon City restaurant – 2026-03-11

It is easy to find out which is the best Vietnamese (VN) restaurant in Albuquerque. The problem is that if you ask a dozen people, you are likely to get a dozen different answers! It's not down to an agreed list of two or three. How is that possible? That situation could arise from many or all of several factors: (1) Maybe Albuquerque really is VN food heaven; (2) Maybe there is no consensus on what constitutes really good VN food; or (3) Maybe most people pick the first VN restaurant they like and stick with it. I did #3 for years, sticking with Vietnam 200 and Viet Taste. Well, things change -- great restaurants slip and deliver mediocre experiences. Or we just get tired of same old, same old, and want to look around.

I began looking around with a trip to Saigon City, an old restaurant in a slick new location in the same strip with Pars Middle Eastern restaurant in 25 Way. I went last night with my daughter and son-in-law, both experienced eaters. I previewed their menu on their website (a good thing when faced with a huge menu). I selected three items I wanted to try.

Leaving the Pho for a later trip, I chose to begin with the green mussels stir fried and dished up with spicy veggie bits. There were six on the plate. I had to move quickly to get two of them. What a treat! I could make a meal of a plate of six of these.

Next, I went for B3, the code for grilled chicken and veggies over vermicelli noodles with chili sauce. I like my food spicy. After the mussels, my hopes were up. Well, B3 was a very tasty dish. I would order it again anytime. Fresh, fresh, fresh. But pretty mild in the spice category. The chicken was nicely spiced, and there were red flakes in the vermicelli noodles, but not nearly enough of them. I tried my daughter's pork and vermicelli and thought it a bit better.

We finished the meal with sticky rice & mango. The menu offers only sticky rice and banana, which is itself a very nice dessert, but our server mentioned that we could have mango instead for slightly higher charge. Since sticky rice with mango in coconut sauce is one of the five greatest desserts in the world, I went for it with gusto. This dish was the only slight stumble in the meal. I thought the rice was a bit underdone and the sauce not too thrilling. Not bad, but not at the standard set by the other dishes.

I look forward to returning soon to try the pho.

The service was very good, very friendly, and very helpful. I recommend sitting near the front of the restaurant and away from the service area where the staff conduct loud conversations among themselves.

The interior of the restaurant is very nicely decorated and lighted. I was very comfortable eating at this fine restaurant.