NYCReview
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Saigon Social
Included In
If you asked your 2019 self to describe a perfect restaurant experience, you probably wouldn’t have conjured up hand sanitizer with 70% ethyl alcohol, disposable soup bowls, and QR codes linking to Venmo pages. But all of that, along with some top-tier Vietnamese food, is what you’ll find at Saigon Social on the LES, and a night out here is as perfect as 2020 currently allows for.
Saigon Social was set to open their first permanent location in the beginning of 2020. They built out their interior with a mural of Baby Yoda eating a bánh mì, and developed a menu of bún chả, garlic noodles with fried shrimp, and a bánh mì burger - favorites from their pop-ups at Boys Don’t Cry and other spots around the city. Then, the pandemic hit, and (like just about every restaurant) they rethought their approach.
In addition to opening a takeout window on an unusually-empty Orchard Street in March, Saigon Social began providing free or discounted phở gà to anyone who needed it, and delivering food to hospital workers, first responders, and elderly communities in Brooklyn and Queens. (They’ve provided over 15,000 meals in collaboration with WCKitchen, Off Their Plate, Frontline Food, and Heart of Dinner.) Saigon Social continues to nimbly adapt to 2020’s own version of perfection. There is no table service, they only accept Venmo payments, and their indoor dining room is a charitable meal assembly zone.
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
You will inevitably get attached to this food like a serial monogamist navigating a casual fling. There are a few constants to memorize on the rotating menu, including some water spinach that tastes like it successfully quarantined with garlic for several months, and a towering fried chicken sandwich that’s covered in slightly-numbing lime leaf aioli, pickled cabbage, lemongrass, and jalapenos. Perhaps most importantly, Saigon Social’s bún chả is the best version we’ve had in the borough. To order it is to engage in group therapy with rice noodles, fried crab and pork rolls, more assorted pork, herbs, and aromatics.
Yes, your 2019 self may have preferred a corner booth inside to life with QR codes in 2020. But your 2019 self isn’t here, and she’s not coming back anytime soon. The fact is, the perfect restaurant experience is a luxury of a different time (one that we should probably reexamine, anyway). Between serving the best new Vietnamese food in Manhattan and donating thousands of meals for the NYC community, this is our version of perfect for now.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Bánh Mì Cóc Tay
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Bún Chả Hanoi
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Bánh Mì Gà Chien Sả Ớt
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Garlic Noodles
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Bánh Mì Thịt Nướng
photo credit: Adam Friedlander
Pho Gầu
photo credit: Adam Friedlander