Saigon On Fifth

Probably the best Phở I’ve ever had!
While in town for a dance competition, my teammates and I were looking for a late night spot to grab some food. One of us was in the mood for phở, so after a Unilocal search, Saigon On Fifth popped up.
It’s located in the Hill Crest area, not too far from the Parking Garage near the 24 Hour fitness. There is plenty of seating, at least for the time we got there, which was around 9pm. There are a lot of decorations around the restaurant, nothing plain about that.
The phở isnt about quantity over quality as what we were accustomed to. You know, the giant bowls and stuff. But here, it is served in a cast iron bowl that sits on a wooden platform to prevent from burning stuff (like skillet meals at other restaurants, I guess). It is probably the size small of what we all think about, but the flavors are amazing! The broth of the soup is the star for me. It is very flavorful compared to the aforementioned restaurants. The noodles and beef are good as well!
If you are a fan of phở, definitely go here if you’re in the area! I haven’t tried the rest of the menu, but I would go back for sure, if not, just for more of that delicious phở!

Great selection. Excellent flavor and quality. Classy presentation. Impressive customer service. Not expensive at all.
Will definitely go back for date nights with my wife.

My favorite Asian place in town! I always take beef 358 (fillet mignon), garlic shrimp and green tea ice-​cream. But, unfortunately, they often out of the ice-​cream. :(Also, I wish the servers speak better English, so they can explain more about every dish. However, I want to notice that the guy Tony (in a black shirt) that worked on 01÷18÷16 at 11:30 pm was extremely nice and helpful and i was really happy that he could speak very clear English. He made my visit extra enjoyable. Thanks Tony! :)

I’ve been here several times and I’ve never been disappointed. Although Saigon has a big storefront, it still seems like just another tucked in, maybe small, establishment. However, when you walk in, you’re greeted by a nice fountain and large open spaces for seating. It’s very unique and gives the impression that it’s more expensive than it is; I like that. This would make a great date spot.
Regarding the food, it’s delicious! My favorite dish here is the pineapple fried rice. Priced right for the amount and they don’t skip corners to give it to you. It’s served in a pineapple half that’s been cut open, which makes for a great visual. I’m a big eater, and this will definitely satisfy just about anyone.
The drink list has some solid wine choices and your typical light Asian beers. I generally opt for a 33 or Tsingtao. Aside from this, the staff is super welcoming and always attentive to your table. It’s great.
5/​5, I would recommend this place and come here again.

Get the bo nuong la lot (off the viet menu)! It is grilled beef wrapped in leaf and you wrap it with leaves and dip it in nuoc mam, I highly recommend! I went with my parents and my mom loves this place. She told me they had good satay noodles and I was really excited, however when I got there the cook who makes it wasn’t there so I was really disappointed. I got the creamy basil fish and it was good quality, however the flavor wasn’t rich enough, it was very light, too light.
Overall I was disappointed. I just wished there was more flavor in the fish, the bo nuong la lot though. so good. The service was reallllly slow as well, but I will come back to try the satay noodles because I’m a super fan of spicy noodles. Hopefully I will rate this higher next time because the quality was good.

I’m a phở snob. This place is a 9.5÷10. That is all…
Highly recommended if you’re in SD. Service is excellent and food is amazing.

Definitely one of my top 5 favorite restaurants in San Diego! And it’s open late and the owners are very friendly and accommodating!

I am very impressed with the food here! It was delicious, flavorful, presented beautifully, and just AMAZING!!!
We had the sea snails, lemongrass spareribs, lamb chops, clams, and a few other dishes. My favorite was the lamb chops. It was perfectly cooked and didn’t smell at all. The sauce on it was yummy too! The meat fell right off the bone of the spareribs! Flavors were very well balanced. I also really liked the green sauce that came with the clams!
For dessert, we had flan and coconut ice cream with sticky rice. The flan is this a little thicker than normal flan, but it is so good! I would say it’s my favorite flan! The coconut ice cream with sticky rice came in an actual coconut! Ice cream was made in house. I didn’t think ice cream and sticky rice would go well together, but it did! It was so good we ordered another one!
Ambiance and interior décor was very nice. Definitely a perfect place for date night! Service was friendly and nice too!

This place is the real deal for Vietnamese food. It is not a phở place, but they do have it. My friends said they had better phở before, but it was still good. I had the bun and it was among some of the best I have had (I eat that pretty frequently). The friend rice was also very good.
Combined with a nice atmosphere, friendly wait staff and good prices, this is an easy 5 star establishment.

Zero stars if I could.
1. Waited 1hr and 30 minutes for my food to deliver… Called the delivery agent, agent said his driver has been waiting there for over an hour.
2. Could not reach the restaurant no answer… and their voice mail is full.
3. Finally when my order arrived I found a special type of hair sitting on my first bite of chicken.
I frequent this place but NEVER AGAIN.

Servers, AWESOME. Food, FANTASTIC. Vibe/​décor, ON PAR! Everything was perfect. Very traditional Vietnamese plus Hillcrest hipster standards. Had the Creamy Basil Seabass $ 15, & it was SO GOOD! Sat next2a young well dressed dude who bitched the WHOLE time how he only net $ 78K/​yr. I’m thankful i don’t collect annoying friends who complain about the stupidest crap. I’m also thankful i have my tiny hands that made just enough to pay for this $ 15 seabass, happy as a clam.

San Diego and foodie mecca are two words that I normally do not associate with one another. Most places to eat in SD are 24 hour Mexican drive-thru’s or big chain restaurants with food about as good as their uniqueness. My opinion of the SD food scene has been slowly changing though with every visit and it all seems to have steamed from my first sampling of food from Siagon on Fifth.
All I can say is wow! My love affair with Siagon on Fifth started when my friends had their wedding catered by them. The food was outstanding! So much so, that the next time I was in town I went to the restaurant and have been going back every time I visit (3 – 4 times a year). The dish I always have to get is their coconut shrimp, pineapple fried rice and the curried fish dish yummo! Also, be sure to get some appetizers in there too — the spring rolls and chicken satay. The lychee martini is not bad either ;)

My new Vietnamese spot in Hillcrest. Well dressed gracious waiters, very hospitable owner, classy Vietnamese restaurant owned by Vietnamese people, established for the last decade. Might be a teeny bit pricier but worth it, bc this combo is rare. Plus portions are big.
The menu is expansive, with items not typically at other Vietnamese restaurants. Flavors are on the sweeter side, but everything I had was delicious: Papaya salad, crab spring roll salad wraps, seafood phở, fish of hue (huge!).
If they know you’re Vietnamese, they’ll be eager to satisfy your palate for authentic Vietnamese home cooking!
Bigger restaurant with outdoor seating. Opens late.
Planning to be a regular here… Some other dishes I’ve gotta try… To be cont…

This is the go to place for a late night food run (opens until 3 am). Very flavourful dishes, nice décor, and good service. Saigon on fifth offers an extended menu of Vietnamese dishes not limited to popular dishes like phở. I’ve been here a few times and left feeling satisfied every time!
My recommendations:
pan fried seared egg noodles!!! BOMBBBB — never a disappointment. They probably make the best version of this dish imo. The gravy is light and balanced in sweetness. Packed with beef, fish balls, chicken, and veggies. TIP: eat while noodles are still crunchy. Don’t wait for it to become soggy.
Phở: I got it with beef balls and it was delicious!
360 beef: good. Would order again.
Other dishes I thought were good are the Claypot fish, pineapple fried rice, and smoked oyster omelet.

Officially my new FAVORITE phở place in San Diego!
After all this time, I’ve searched long and hard… This is the one! They have great lunch specials.
1. Beef wrapped with grape leaves: not on the menu ~$ 15 — totally worth it! So delicious and the experience of wrapping it together yourself is awesome!
2. Steak phở — the steak was the best I’ve had in San Diego phở. The portion is «smaller» than a regular phở place but it’s so much more worth it.
3. Rice with chicken & Chinese broccoli — didn’t even have enough room to eat this but i tried it and it was pretty good! Lots of sauce and comes with rice. Large portion.
Definitely will be coming here for my regular phở fix.

My friends and I were a luttle hungover, so for brunch we decided Phở! (hangover 101) The Phở here has a clean clear broth that could be a bit more fragant/​flavorful. It was also a little too salty for my taste. However I dont think they spike their broth with MSG, which is always a win for me. There was sweet and clean aftertaste, not cloying like MSG induced broth.
*fried crab rice was tasty but a tad dry. The crab Taste was definitely there though!
Miss saigon entrée is salmon (or two other choices of fish) in a creamy curry sauce. The salmon is moist and flavorful and the curry sauce is deliciously creamy with a powerful kick of flavor and a slight milky taste of cashews. ITS AMAZING. The creamy flavorful curry itself topped over steaming brown rice would make for a rich meal.
The waitress was so friendly and always made sure our water was filled. Overall a great Viet/​Thai fusion restaurant. The entrees have such delectable descriptions and they do not disappoint!

Late night cravings for phở? This is your go to spot. Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was that the entire floor staff were well dressed for a phở restaurant. The ladies were even wearing an Ao dai, which is basically a long silky dress. Pretty fancy. The décor of this place had exceeded my expectations as well with the huge water fountain in the middle of the restaurant. Anywho, lets get to the important focus of this review:
Service: ⁵⁄₅
They were really friendly and would even make the time for small talk. Constantly checked up on us to see if we needed anything.
Food: ⁵⁄₅
Phở Dat Biet aka. Phở with all sorts of meat haha
Really good. Then again, anything at 1am is really good lol. Their phở was really fresh. Wasn’t loaded with MSG. It came in this cute stone pot which kept my phở really warm for a long long long time. I love warm soup. *.* If I can go back and change something, it would be to order this in a larger size, which I had no idea was an option as I didn’t see a size choice on the menu (then again, it was 1 am…).
Parking: ⁴⁄₅
Paid meters on the street.
The restaurant is surrounded by alot of shops on a street that seems to be always lively. Definitely go during the day time, when all the shops are open lol. For a phở restaurant that opened pretty late, I’d say I would come back here with no hesitations. :)

It’s open till 3am ya’ll! Yes! Pretty place and calm. The servers were so nice. The front lobby has a nice statue and its a nice place to end the night if you wanna continue talking about you’re done with the club. It’s a few steps from the large Hillcrest sign. At that time of night, parking wasn’t a problem. I imagine it could be annoying in the day though.
Shared seafood phở and it was more than enough for 2 ladies. Seafood was on point and the shrimps were big shrimps (not those cheap dinky ones). Mussels weren’t rubbery and cooked just right. I wish there were more noodles but it’s all good. Over all a good experience. Will definitely return if I manage to stay up past my bed time again!

They’ve a lot of waiters so service is very good, always someone checking on our table. We came here after a concert n was glad they’re open so late so we can eat leisurely n not be rushed. I had the Phở Dac Biet, which I just told the server because I didn’t see it on the menu. I ordered it with the rare beef on the side and some extra since he said it’ll be very little steak that comes with it. Well… Those were some pretty thick n chewy slices of beef. Jeeez.
My sis liked her vegetarian fried rice. Had eggs in it so tell em if you don’t want that.
We did metered parking nearby but didn’t pay Cuz it was after hours.

The phở was good. But the service seemed slow. My friend who recommended the place said they’re not usually this slow. Maybe they had a off night. I just know when I go to those small Vietnamese joints the phở comes out so quickly. It definitely took more than 30 mins for our food to come out. And then it took forever to bring us the check. The waiter wasn’t mean but he also didn’t seem very attentive either. And it was about 930 on a Monday when we went. Also the prices were a little up there.
They still get 3 stars because they’re open late, nice atmosphere, phở was good especially the pieces of meat they put in it (very tender), and they give you more then one lime slice per bowl of phở.