Best bun bo hue I've had in NYC! Good viet food is hard to come by in NY, but this place does it so well. I will 100% be back for more. The family who runs it is very nice and generous as well. Please come here if you love viet food. Amazing.
Sophia Z.
Came here for a casual dinner Friday night with a group of 4 and we were seated quickly! Place was busy, but not packed. We ordered the pho banh mi, chicken ban mi, banh xeo, and bun bo hue. Everything came out quickly and was all super delicious. The banh xeo was phenomenal -- super crispy and I believe there was squid inside. Wrapping it in lettuce with some mint created an amazing blend of texture and flavor! Overall everything was delicious and I thought the portions were good! The service was standard -- waitress was kind and took our orders promptly, but nothing crazy. Sao mai is a great place to go with a group of friends where everyone will find something that they'll enjoy.
Dalena D.
Food (4 stars): Banh xeo is really crispy and delicious. Bun Bo hue is good but has a stronger lemongrass flavor to it. Service: we walked in at 1pm on a Saturday and was seated with a 5 min wait. Definitely would come back again!
Tunaidi A.
Sao Mai serves up great bowls of authentic pho. Might not be the best, but when you're craving non-fusion, straightforward pho, Sao Mai does better than most others.
Craig Barry
Greatly enjoyed my meal. Good service, great atmosphere, even better Pho.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pho Broth
Cindy L.
Yummy banh cuon. Next time I would get two plates of this I added my extra fish sauce to the fried rice for extra flavor
Jacque Betesh
I got a summer pork roll and it was pretty bad; it was like one thin mini layer ofCured salami which was kind of weird.I guess I was expected a nice thick cut of tender pork. Then I got a rice noodle bowl with veggies and tofu and god it was awful and tasted like nothing and was a bowl of mush. I really wanted to like this place Bc it was cozy and good service. But I imagine the pho is reallyGood so I guess I just ordered all the wrong things.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Taras P.
Came here for a quick lunch while I was in the area. I had the PHO sao mai - it ok, not the best Pho I've had, but still tasty. Maybe not worth the price. Although, was very surprised by how tasty the sandwich was. I got Banh mi dac biet and the flavors player really well together.
Brian Harris
How the mighty has fallen. Everything was roughly shredded as if by a food processor vegetables with a little Asian spice. Nothing nothing like the old restaurant that I knew. So sorry.
This was my first time here and absolutely loved it. It’s got a nice casual atmosphere, friendly servers, and large portions of great food. I started with the crispy spring rolls which were decent but it was the pho that really did it for me. These are some large bowls so you’re definitely getting value here. But they don’t sacrifice quality - the broth was super flavorful with perfectly cooked noodles and lots of tender meat. I usually get the pho my first time at a Vietnamese place but really want to come back to try their banh xeo which is pretty rare to find in NYC.
Jade C.
I moved to kips bay from Chinatown in lower Manhattan where there's an abundance of great Vietnamese restaurants. However, I searched yelp for Vietnamese food near me but this place didn't come up on the list. I had accidentally found it while strolling down 1st avenue. I came for dinner and ordered their summer roll and a pork banh mi. Both were delicious and I'm so happy I found this place because the prices are also decent.
Sophia N.
I got takeout from here and had it delivered. I got the deep fried spring rolls and pho, and both withstood the delivery! The spring rolls were still crispy and it came with a fire sauce, lettuce, and mint. The pho also came deconstructed, and I reheated the broth just to be safe. At first glance I thought it wasn't much food for the price of the bowl, but as I was eating it I realized they actually give you a pretty decent amount of meat. The meat was tender and the broth was savory so I will be back when I get another pho craving!
Edward Drislane
This was terrible pho. It felt like their entire kitchen was sick and the receptionist was covering the order. The chicken was fully bland (it was cooked, I guess) and they threw a couple veggies in a plastic tray. The broth was fine - we needed to add a couple hoisin sauces (from past orders) to get the flavor anywhere. Also, the spring rolls were chewy and never had any crisp. I’d recommend anyone looking to move to the next place.
Food: 1
Service: 3
GF
The pho was tasty but ordinary (lacking the depth in the broth). Service was attentive and reasonable priced. Not sure if I would come back for it but maybe to try the bun bo hue as some have noted as best in the city in the reviews.
Best bun bo hue I've had in NYC! Good viet food is hard to come by in NY, but this place does it so well. I will 100% be back for more. The family who runs it is very nice and generous as well. Please come here if you love viet food. Amazing.
Came here for a casual dinner Friday night with a group of 4 and we were seated quickly! Place was busy, but not packed. We ordered the pho banh mi, chicken ban mi, banh xeo, and bun bo hue. Everything came out quickly and was all super delicious. The banh xeo was phenomenal -- super crispy and I believe there was squid inside. Wrapping it in lettuce with some mint created an amazing blend of texture and flavor! Overall everything was delicious and I thought the portions were good! The service was standard -- waitress was kind and took our orders promptly, but nothing crazy. Sao mai is a great place to go with a group of friends where everyone will find something that they'll enjoy.
Food (4 stars): Banh xeo is really crispy and delicious. Bun Bo hue is good but has a stronger lemongrass flavor to it. Service: we walked in at 1pm on a Saturday and was seated with a 5 min wait. Definitely would come back again!
Sao Mai serves up great bowls of authentic pho. Might not be the best, but when you're craving non-fusion, straightforward pho, Sao Mai does better than most others.
Greatly enjoyed my meal. Good service, great atmosphere, even better Pho.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pho Broth
Yummy banh cuon. Next time I would get two plates of this I added my extra fish sauce to the fried rice for extra flavor
I got a summer pork roll and it was pretty bad; it was like one thin mini layer ofCured salami which was kind of weird.I guess I was expected a nice thick cut of tender pork. Then I got a rice noodle bowl with veggies and tofu and god it was awful and tasted like nothing and was a bowl of mush. I really wanted to like this place Bc it was cozy and good service. But I imagine the pho is reallyGood so I guess I just ordered all the wrong things.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Came here for a quick lunch while I was in the area. I had the PHO sao mai - it ok, not the best Pho I've had, but still tasty. Maybe not worth the price. Although, was very surprised by how tasty the sandwich was. I got Banh mi dac biet and the flavors player really well together.
How the mighty has fallen. Everything was roughly shredded as if by a food processor vegetables with a little Asian spice. Nothing nothing like the old restaurant that I knew. So sorry.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Quality Vietnamese food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This was my first time here and absolutely loved it. It’s got a nice casual atmosphere, friendly servers, and large portions of great food. I started with the crispy spring rolls which were decent but it was the pho that really did it for me. These are some large bowls so you’re definitely getting value here. But they don’t sacrifice quality - the broth was super flavorful with perfectly cooked noodles and lots of tender meat. I usually get the pho my first time at a Vietnamese place but really want to come back to try their banh xeo which is pretty rare to find in NYC.
I moved to kips bay from Chinatown in lower Manhattan where there's an abundance of great Vietnamese restaurants. However, I searched yelp for Vietnamese food near me but this place didn't come up on the list. I had accidentally found it while strolling down 1st avenue. I came for dinner and ordered their summer roll and a pork banh mi. Both were delicious and I'm so happy I found this place because the prices are also decent.
I got takeout from here and had it delivered. I got the deep fried spring rolls and pho, and both withstood the delivery! The spring rolls were still crispy and it came with a fire sauce, lettuce, and mint. The pho also came deconstructed, and I reheated the broth just to be safe. At first glance I thought it wasn't much food for the price of the bowl, but as I was eating it I realized they actually give you a pretty decent amount of meat. The meat was tender and the broth was savory so I will be back when I get another pho craving!
This was terrible pho. It felt like their entire kitchen was sick and the receptionist was covering the order. The chicken was fully bland (it was cooked, I guess) and they threw a couple veggies in a plastic tray. The broth was fine - we needed to add a couple hoisin sauces (from past orders) to get the flavor anywhere. Also, the spring rolls were chewy and never had any crisp. I’d recommend anyone looking to move to the next place.
Food: 1
Service: 3
The pho was tasty but ordinary (lacking the depth in the broth). Service was attentive and reasonable priced. Not sure if I would come back for it but maybe to try the bun bo hue as some have noted as best in the city in the reviews.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4