Review Saigon Van Grill Bar - Wellington

I've always been consistently impressed by the exceptional food and service at this restaurant. The majority of the dishes are expertly prepared and beautifully presented, making for a truly delightful dining experience. I highly recommend trying the Grilled pork on rice (Com Tam) and the pork and prawn pancake, which are our staple orders whenever we visit. I've patronized countless Com Tam restaurants, but this one remains my absolute favorite. I wholeheartedly endorse this establishment and will continue to return to support their culinary excellence.

Lovely first time dinner here, food was great! I got the vegan curry- very recommended. Service was lovely, all I’d say is the 2012 radio soundtrack sort of brings the atmosphere down. I’d love to hear something closer to home. Definitely will be back soon though.

The food was super tasty. Really nice restaurant. Fun menu. Teaches you veitnamese.

An enjoyable and whimsical visit on a VERY busy Wellington Friday night. We were downtown during ‘Wellington On A Plate” and having trouble finding a table. Saigon was able to sit us straight away, and they filled up shortly after. The wait staff were pleasant, but were quite busy juggling upstairs and downstairs diners, so they forgot about our water and we had to wave them down to place our order. We also ordered spring rolls that never turned up. The food was nice, well presented with authentic tastes. The ribs weren’t incredible, but they weren’t bad. A bit firm, a bit thinner than I’m used to and a bit gristly round the sides. Overall, a pleasant evening. Thanks for a good night out.

Amazing. The food here is delicious, each dish we ate with the banquet had it's own distinctive flavour. It was fresh, the meat tender and the service friendly. Highly recommend!

Great unassuming little restaurant nestled in the heart of Cuba St. It was a little busy when we went in tonight (it is O’week) and things took a while with just a single man running the show out front, but it was all worth it with fantastic flavours and perfect portions, really solid food left me wanting more👌🏻

Saigon Van Grill has the best pho and bun in town - hands down. The broth of the pho is amazingly flavourful. I think I've tried more or less all their dishes by now and they are all unique with extremely high standards - you won't be disappointed... Such friendly service too, you'll feel very welcomed

Pleasant surprise to find authentic Vietnam food. The food was very tasty. The staff was very accomodating. The price was reasonable. Highly recommended.

Great meals! Pho’s at some places lacks flavor but Saigon Van Grill Bar’s pho was full of umami. Wonderful customer service and all dishes where fresh and beautiful - entree to dessert! We loved the soft shell crabs and the brownie with ice cream ⭐️

Beautiful place to have a great evening with your family and friends together. The staff members are friendly and helpful to inform you of their products and services available. I really recommend this place to visit and enjoy the beautiful food.

Absolutely great food. I attended with a party of four and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The salmon was a hit, with comments around how it was the best salmon we have ever eaten. The staff were friendly and added to the experience. Would highly recommend

The spice noodle soup (bun bo hue) was really nice. I reccommend getting some hoisin sauce on the side to dip the meat in. The staff was super duper nice too.

Great food & great service on New Years, I hiiiighly recommend the crispy pancake & braised pork belly

Fragrant grilled meats, delish pho and spring rolls. Lots of fresh salad. Delightful place. So good we came back the next night.

If you want an authentic Vietnamese foods located in the capital of Wellington, you definitely cannot miss this place. I tried several meals like chicken salad and it was well-served and amazed meal. I can assure that the meals have the flavours as the same as the meals I ate when I was in Viet Nam. The staff is very friendly and nice. She kindly checked whether the food and water had been served or not and asked me how the food was. The toilet was clean. The owner also was friendly. He always asks me how the food is whenever I come there. I highly recommend this place. I really miss Vietnamese food. This place has saved my days when I'm in Wellington. Loveee.

Wednesday night dinner for three, we had the Saigon banquet and it was stunning! Each dish full of new tastes of abundant proportions. Our waiter was warm, friendly and very attentive. I would highly recommend this restaurant and my friends from Auckland said that they had not tasted Vietnamese kai this good in Auckland! Thank you so much. We had a wonderful evening.

I was disappointed with my salmon fillet. Looked fine on the plate but after the first bitter bite I turned it over to find the underside a thick layer of charcoal. The rest of the meal was fine but nothing special. The summer rolls were 90% rice noodles. The management were friendly and apologetic and gave a complimentary set of rolls.

Food: <br/>Bun bo hue<br/>If you like things hot, this spicy noodle soup will require extra chilli. The broth had beautifully strong flavours, but lacked the kick we wanted without asking for a little something. They are generous with their meat here too which is a plus.<br/>3.8/5<br/><br/>Melt in your mouth pork belly and egg with salad and tomato and egg soup.<br/><br/>So good, so homey, so classic. This dish was the Tuesday special, accompanied by a crunchy salad and tomato and egg soup. The pork belly was fatty, it’s broth great for sprinkling over the rice, and just so reminiscent of something you would eat at home. Save the tomato and egg soup as a palate cleanser!<br/>4.3/5<br/><br/>Combination rolls<br/>These were wrapped so perfectly, that nothing spilled when we dipped into the tangy sauces. The fresh spring rolls were divinely fresh, and the fried spring rolls had this great texture that you won’t find at a typical Asian restaurant. We could have ordered another batch!<br/>4.5/5<br/><br/>Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (iced)<br/>Dumpling likes his Vietnamese coffee with a strong coffee aroma, whereas Panda likes it with a bit more condensed milk. This place serves the former. Great stuff.<br/>4/5<br/><br/>Ambience:<br/>Situated on the famous foodie Cuba Street, Saigon Van Grill Bar hosts an intimate Vietnamese restaurant with touches of chic French influence. We were the only customers at the time, however it felt warm and welcoming nonetheless.<br/><br/>Service:<br/>Our waitress was friendly and attentive, going the extra mile to make sure we had enough plates and bowls for sharing dishes. Lovely hospitality here.

Went here for lunch - had the soft shell crab in rice, a few summer rolls & a tasty cocktail. This pl is very good . has cheap lunch specials on offer. Nice service & decor.

This is a nice, clean place to eat. Food is very tasty, dishes have éample portion and reasonable price. Staff are friendly and service is great.

Enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Saigon Van today.<br/>Grilled Pork Salad was delicious with good proportions (for those of us who enjoy their meat), and crisp fresh salad. Accompied the meal with a lovely Ginger Tea. Will be back to work my way through the menu :)

Definitely get the pho while your here! The broth is uniquely cooked, done very professionally by a trained chef. Also unlike most pho places they don't serve a chilli sauce condiment, they give you real chilli (chilli padi/bird's eye chilli). Mixing it with the sweet sauce and dipping the beef slices onto it takes the experience to a whole new level.

I love this place! Really nice and attentive service, they are kind and good at their job. The decor is amazing and has a great vibe. The food is phenomenal!! Very delicious I loved the rice paper rolls and the tofu bun(?). Will definitely come back and bring friends :)

I have passed this place many times but yesterday was the very first time to go in and have a dinner.<br/><br/>Good things are: the building is a historic one. Nice interior. Pho was good and the waiter was attentive.<br/>Can't find fault but was not fantastic.<br/><br/>To be improved: the entrance is confusing. Which door I should open to go in? Music was a bit loud and noisy.<br/><br/>This place can do much better by removing barriers for bypasses to go in. Make the entrance more inviting.

After a long day exploring wellington city especially the lux light show , we decided to head back and try Saigon van as we noticed the wonderful exterior of the building. Also it wasn't very busy when we arrived half 7 and the food arrived quite quickly despite a larger party held upstairs which was a plus as we were hungry . The crab transparent roll was ok , the pork belly was yummy and recommended but was disappointed with the beef pho especially the noodles tasted funky / not the usual noodle taste and we had mentioned to the waiter and he said they just ordered a different batch from the usual stock as they ran out. Nonetheless we would expect a discount / refund on the meal but only $3 was discounted from the extra rice ordered which was quite disappointing and may explain the lack of patrons , who knows ... anyway we wish them well as the service was fantastic and also the pork belly was amazing !

Had a delicious meal here with friends. Chicken curry was my pick of the night, it had a really good strong flavour of lemon grass and so easy too share, as the chicken is cut in small pieces.<br/>The vegetarian salad was also good, the texture of the cabbage and the tofu worked really well together. Decor smart casual is great for any occasion.<br/><br/>Only negative was we were not told from the outset that they had run out of certain dishes and there website shows only their dunedin menu. Which states they are byo (not true to Wellington) and has different dishes available, which we would have liked to try.

We just had a superb lunch. <br/>GOod customer service, and modern, cool ambience. <br/>Food plating was very nice <br/>We are definitely coming back with our friends👌🏽

Modern clean layout<br/><br/>Upbeat vibe<br/><br/>Friendly service<br/><br/>Traditional vietnamese food but creative in presentation and hands on eating experience<br/><br/>Decent portions; great for sharing various dishes<br/><br/>$150 for 5 people<br/><br/>4.0 Yums

Best pho in town! It has a nice atmosphere and kind wait staff. We were seated upstairs because downstairs was full. I ordered a rare beef pho with meatballs. The meat was quality and the soup base was nice! The only downside is I'm not as big of a fan of the wider flat rice noodles but it still tastes good.

I wanted something light and quick for dinner. Wandering up Cuba nowhere was appealing to me. Eventually I chose Saigon Van. I've noticed this place many times but never ventured in.<br/><br/>Turned out to be the right choice!<br/><br/>I ordered the Vietnamese Chicken Salad ($16.00). They were quiet and it tuned up within 5 minutes. Good presentation, lovely, fresh crisp salad and succulent chicken. The crackers were an unexpected yet interesting addition to the dish. Complimented the salad nicely.<br/><br/>Really friendly staff. Nice space. Will go again

A taste of South Vietnam in Wellington. <br/><br/>The pho needs a little more depth, and the ribs need a bit more time, but the pork skin salad rolls will keep you coming back. I could eat these all day. The soft shell crab and basically anything deep fried are also great options. They are also in the Entertainment book so there is no reason not to try this little gem.

Terrible service, would never return. <br/><br/>We came here for a special dinner with my cousin, who was visiting from London. <br/><br/>The restaurant forgot about our food about 3 times (we had to keep reminding them that we were still waiting for dishes) and it took about 2 hours for all of the food to come out. The dishes all came out at different times. I ordered a side dish (cabbage) and a main (lamb) - supposed to be eaten together. The cabbage came out an hour earlier than the lamb. One of the people at the table (who waited 2 hours for their meal) was eventually served completely the wrong dish. They brought out the correct dish 15 minutes later and then tried to charge us for both dishes (incorrect and correct dish). <br/><br/>We had an Entertainment Book voucher for 25% off and the restaurant would not let us redeem it for more than one person's meal, which I thought was very misleading. Normally the discount will be taken off the table's overall bill, up to a certain value. <br/><br/>The food (when it finally came) was tasty but the dreadful service ruined the evening. As another reviewer has noted below, the portion sizes were quite small given the price. After waiting for so long we were absolutely starving and what was brought out did not satiate us at all. There are Vietnamese restaurants in Wellington which far outshine this joint - Restaurant 88 is one of my favourites, although there are also some very cheap places which have delicious Vietnamese food as well. <br/><br/>1.5/5

good food, fast efficient service, decor is simple ad elegant, menu options are easy, some good vietnamese beers as well, excellent value for money, we highly recommend it

Good was great, fresh and delicious and full of flavours. It did take a little while to come out... But their menu does state "food will come out when it's ready" and considering the level of intricacy on those radish flower garnishes etc I didn't mind the wait.

Lovely restaurant. Very good service. The crispy prawns spring roll delicious and fresh. The jasmine tea really good flavors. I can wait to try other dishes :)

Overall I nice place to eat.  In terms of price I think it is quite reasonable especially in terms of the decor and the way they present themselves.  Maybe a bit expensive for Vietnamese if you were at a Hawker Market, but compare to Restaurant 88 and Annam this place I feel is better.  For a more thorough view check my blog via Facebook chairmanblau

Food is excellent, one of the top Viet in Wellington. Food is fresh and healthy, it is traditional and healthy. It is quality food. If you are looking for a big plate of heavy and saucy noodles then don t go there.  I thought menu was pretty cheap, vegetables are fresh, there are nice vietnamese salads, spring rolls, noodles soups, tofu, sweet potatoes and lots more. Waiters are all super cute and they will do their best so you can have a good time.

Food was nicely prepared and well-priced: we spent about $25 each for a light dinner with a glass of wine. Salads were especially nice (spicy beef salad, yum). Fresh prawn rolls were a bit bland (more mint needed?), but soy/chili condiments spiced them up. Menu seemed a bit plain, so we mainly ordered salads and starters. Service was incredibly lovely--staff was so kind, polite and solicitous.

This was a pretty good place for our after movie dinner. Not too busy for a Saturday night. The portion sizes were smaller than expected but we obviously didn't understand the menu. Check with the waiting staff when ordering. It wasn't the tastiest food I've had but the flavours were subtle and pleasant. Friendly staff and nice atmosphere.

Great value for the lunch menu - $40 for shared starter (combination rolls (cold)), and two mains - Grilled Lemongrass Chicken on Rice and Crispy Spare Pork on Rice.<br/><br/>The service was friendly and helpful . If it is a nice sunny day ask for a table (probably for two or three only) to be moved onto the terrace so can you view the activity on Upper Cuba Street. There's not much of architectural interest to see but always an interesting vibe in the area.<br/><br/>Oh and gentlemen - watch the downstairs toilet seat. It doesn't stay up!

Amazing service! The wait staff are so attentive and polite. What a treat! Plenty of veggie options and the portions are not too big. This is a sharing plate style restaurant and the staff make you aware of this before taking the order so you have time to discuss. Great! Prices are very reasonable. I'll definitely be back soon. :-)