Vietnamese Healthy Food - Phoenix/Tempe

[pstempe22]

Does anyone remember Saigon Healthy Deli in Tempe, AZ?

I used to get the greatest noodle bowl with peanut sauce and cilantro in it.

Can anyone recommend a place that might compare?

[silverbear]

I loved that place in the '90s, but then the original owners sold it, and it was never the same. I recently tried Khai Hoan on Apache (near Dorsey) for the first time and was pleased. It does not have the same overt healthful emphasis that SHD had, but it has an extensive menu with plenty of good choices on it. I had rice noodles with assorted vegetables and fresh-squeezed orange juice to drink. Don't be deterred by the light rail construction. It's worth making the trip for Khai Hoan. It's in the same shopping center as Haji Baba, but at the east end.

[Firenza00]

Noodles Ranch at Scottsdale and Thomas has some good chow. Not sure about the healthy factor. It's Vietnamese, so it's got a good start. :)
That dish you describe doesn't sound familiar, but I love a good peanut sauce (hello, Chanpen) so if you do find a place that has it, let us know. :)

[silverbear]

I second Noodles Ranch. It's so far south in Scottsdale that it's highly accessible from Tempe.

[tastyjon]

There's an o.k. Vietnamese place on the Tempe/Scotty border - Saigon Bowl - in a blah strip mall next to General Dynamics on Hayden & Roosevelt. Nothing special - but if you need a fix, maybe it's close to you?

A bit further north is a bit more tidy Noodles Ranch next to Albertsons @ Thomas & Scottsdale.

If you want to head South, try Lee's market, Lee Lee's sandwiches across the street and not too far is a chowhound favorite, Cyclo.

[dulamae]

I am glad everyone else out there is speaking up about Noodles Ranch, I really like the place but when I go in around dinner time it seems pretty empty. I would hate to see it leave my neighborhood!

[Firenza00]

I went there a couple weeks ago for lunch on a Saturday, and it was mostly full. That was the first time I'd seen that many people there.

[dulamae]

That is good news. I usually stop in for take out on my way home from work, so I just may be beating the dinner rush.

[silverbear]

I wonder if some of the emptiness at night is due to the lack of a liquor license. Last time I went, they did not have one, although they did welcome BYOB.

[tastyjon]

Same here - though it might suffer a bit from too many food options in that one shopping center... the supermarket, plus 5 etaeries in a row, plus Starbucks and the bagel place.

That reminds me - there's an Pan Asian place on the W. side of Scottsdale Rd on Thomas (next to Taco Bell) which has some decent lunch combo deals (more Thai/Chinese), and Shanghi Palace on Thomas/Hayden that has some Vietnamese dishes on the menu as well.

[Seth Chadwick]

I am also a Noodles Ranch fan. I had a wonderful lunch there and the place is spotless, comfortable and the food is great. Lots of healthy options on the menu from what I remember.

[dulamae]

That complex does have a lot of food options, but works out well for me because my SO is a picky eater, so he gets his subway take-out and I get my Noodles Ranch.

[ccl1111]

we also like noodles ranch. the owner is also very cool. i've been there a bunch with my wife & daughter. the food and service are always great.

we actually did a big extended family meal there for my birthday for 12 people with 3 girls between 2 and 3 yrs old, an infant, brought our own wine, brought our own cake (dairy free for one of the girls) and they were so helpful & accomodating. everyone in my family (not having been there) really liked it & would go back. my canton, china born father even had them bring a 2nd order of the chow fun.

everyone was also really surprised at how nice it is in there when they were expecting a strip mall fast food type place.

it's actually pretty cheap to if you don't go nuts ordering thai iced tea after thai iced tea (which i have a problem with).

[cloudberry]

I'm also a great fan of Noodles Ranch. I always meet friends there for lunch to give the restaurant more business.

[rkrostin]

I think by far Dragonfly in Mesa has the best Vietnamese food. Thier Pho and some of thier other options are just far above the rest. I never warmed up to Cyclo in terms of the overall flavors and then tack on the $9-$10 price tag and forget it. For me Dragonfly is on my list at least 2-3 times a week or more.
Oh, also try thier coffee, the best i have ever had with a perfect blend of the condensed milk and superior coffee.

[tpl007]

PSTempe22: If you ever find an equivalent to that dish, please repost the location. It was the perfect balance of noodles, shredded roasted pork, cilantro, peanut sauce and chili pepper. The peaunt sauce was handground by the grandmother. I was unhappy when the Mill location closed down. I've been waiting to see if the family opened another shop somewhere. The recipe was so unique, I couldn't even get it in Vietnam, north or south. Humorously, I discoverd that the family's Vietnamese name for it translates simly as "pork, peanut sauce, noodles and cilantro."

[pstempe22]

Wow. Finally, someone who recalls how great the dish was, and how much of a loss the restaurant was. I will certainly let you know if I come across anything as good...

[misohungrychewlow]

I really miss it, too. And I also miss Taste of the Orient, which offered, in addition to some conventional rice bowls, a few Indonesian specialities. I loved the nasi campur plate, delicious and sublime, several dollars of bliss -- is there ANYWHERE in Arizona serving food like this?

[biblthmp]

I was a student at Arizona State, from '90 to '95, and ate at Saigon Healthy deli a few times a month, and loved it, sorry that it is now been bought out, and ruined.

[silverbear]

In the nearly three years that this thread has been dormant, the building that used to house Saigon Healthy Deli has been bulldozed and replaced with a CVS drugstore. The restaurant has gone from being figuatively ruined to literally ruined.

[Bax]

Interesting to see this thread get a bump...I still pine for that place, and for the sesame noodles (with, as mentioned, grilled pork, peanut sauce, etc.). It was SO SO GOOD (their eggrolls were, too) and I have never found anything like it anywhere else. I even tried looking for sesame noodles at the supermarket at the Chinese Cultural Center, but no luck (not that I'd be able to equate that dish even WITH the sesame noodles).

Sigh.

[misohungrychewlow]

Yeah, I still miss Saigon but -- back to the original question -- Noodles Ranch -- Scottsdale Rd. & Thomas, SE corner -- offers a nice menu of tasty, healthy food. It's not 100% Vietnamese and I have no insight into its authenticity, but It's very good food (and pho) served with skill in a clean place. The green papaya salad is very good, too. It's the anti-Da Vang, and I dig Da Vang.