Best buns in town!

Saigon is a great place for anyone to try Vietnamese food. With a range of delicious dishes from spring rolls to rice dishes to pho (broth+noodles+seasoning+protein) to stir fries, there is an almost overwhelming number of options. But your best bet and the dish I'll pick almost every single time is the bun.

Bun is actually just the name for the noodles, but you'll have a wide number of toppings to choose from. I get the grilled tofu, my husband the pork. Serving sizes are ample, especially if you start the meal off with spring rolls, which are basically noodle-herb salads rolled up in rice paper, typically with a bit of meat tucked in for good measure.

Best bets: bun! Oh, and the bubble drinks, which are fun if you enjoy what Sarah Vowell describes as "tea 'n' dumplings".

A gem

You are transported once you enter the doors from the modest exterior. It is a very warm and welcoming place. The menu is huge and the noodles are great but so are the clay pots that you can get with different combinations of meat and/or seafood. They are full of veges and come with a delicious brown sauce to be ladled over white rice. There are even interesting drinks such as bubble tea and club soda with egg yolk and condensed milk (which we tried and it was pretty darn good). Anyone could find something they like here and it is a surefire hit for diners who aren't intrepid and haven't tried many ethnic restaurants.