West LA Vietnamese

I told K that I wanted him to take me out to eat 7 course of beef the next time I was in LA. Since the office is in West LA, there weren't any vietnamese places around that actually offered this. Dammit! So we had to settle for just going to eat plain ol vietnamese food, sans the 7 fantastical course of beef. So off we went to Le Saigon in West LA. There were only 3 options for vietnamese on the west side, and K had been to this one and liked it, so it was a safe choice.


I ordered some limeade, which is a fave of mine whenever I eat vietnamese. K got the grass jelly drink, that mysterious brown goop you see above you. My limeade was ok, nothing exciting. The grass jelly drink? Didn't like it. It just tasted odd.


We got the thit nuong cuon (fresh rolls) with charbroiiled pork. Totally dug this. It was simple, and insteade of having vermicelli on the inside, it was mostly cucumbers and some other veggies.

As entrees, we went for the bun saigon dac biet (vermicelli with pork, shrimp, and a fried roll) amd the bun bo xao (rice with sauteed beef, caramelized onions, and peanuts). The pork and the shrimp in the vermicelli were very plain. There was essentially no flavoring, it was kind of sad. We doused it with nuoc cham and sweet chili sauce and sriracha, but it was still seriously lacking in flavor. The sauteed beef dish wasn't anything to write home about either. It was ok, but the flavor was kind of boring... it definitely lacked something. It's a shame because typically, vietnamese food is so full of fresh and wonderful flavor, but here, they just kinda forgot. Luckily, at least the service and the rolls were good. The place is cash only, which is a bit annoying! It's small, but cute, and everything comes out fairly fast. If you need a vietnamese fix in West LA, you might want to try Phoreign or Pho99, which are the other choices.

Le Saigon

11611 Santa Monica Blvd

310-312-2929