Saigon '60s - Rotorua Lakes District

I feel this is quite a polarising restaurant. The words used to describe the flavours to me by a local was “heavy” and “gamey”. My chefs special pork pancake was perfectly crunchy with a strong fish sauce on top, almost to the point of oily but balanced by the zing of the citrus in the salad. <br/ My wife’s classic beef pho definitely had a few extra flavours in it I couldn’t quite identify. As an Asian she found it authentic and delightful, I found it different and somewhat unexpected. Not your run of the mill chain restaurant, I felt it was a bold take on Vietnamese style. <br/ The staff were helpful and informative, the restaurant seemed full of difficult people with strange requests that were all handled well and politely while we where there. Busy on a Monday night post covid!<br/ It did feel crammed and not much in the way of privacy, other than that a great food adventure.

Had the beef pho, lemongrass chicken and summer rolls which were all super tasty, especially the beef pho, way better than all the Vietnamese restaurants that I’ve ever had. Beef pho soup was full of flavour and the beef was super tender. Highly recommended.

This was my first experience for Vietnamese dining in Rotorua. My rating is based on food quality, wait time, affordability service. <br/ <br/ The greeting at the door from staff was inviting, allowed us to choose a table (I dislike sitting by the door). It was clean, warm cosy. Unlike other establishments where the menu can be overcrowded I often find myself ordering based on a picture of the dish or someone else’s preferred dish, the menu here was easy to read well laid out. We ordered the Vietnamese spring rolls, Chicken Pho, Summer spring rolls seafood stir fry. Vietnamese spring rolls were great, served with a sweet chilli sauce, they complimented each other well, but that’s to be expected. The chicken pho broth was delicious, I even suggested it to family, I’m not a fan of coriander but it didn’t over power the dish so I was even happy to have had that. The summer rolls were good the peanut sauce they served with it was yum. The seafood stir fry was an extra $1, and was expected. Prawns, mussels, crab meat squid rings were very average served with your usual stir fry vegetables. All was served hot within 10 minutes of our order being taken. Very happy with the service. I would recommend return. I hoping to try their beef stew next visit.

Beef Pho soup is very authentic and very good, the prices are affordable. The vegetarian dishes of theirs are also good. Visited on Saturday at lunchtime, almost all our dishes arrived within five minutes. Waitress is quite helpful.

Visited this particular restaurant on a rainy morning in the city. Really tasty, authentic Vietnamese food. Having the noodle soup with their egg coffee took me back to our time in Hanoi. Service was great and welcoming. Give this place a go if you are after true simple Vietnamese foods.