Sao Bien

Located in the very front of Today Plaza, one of the more recognizable Little Saigon landmarks due to its large red Chinese-Vietnamese decorative gate entrance, Sao Bien is a small Vietnamese restaurant specializing in banh canh soup – similar to Japanese udon, but in a thick red broth – as well as other noodle dishes.

On our visit, we tried the banh canh with shrimp and crab, a banana blossom salad, garlic noodles with shrimp, and fish sauce wings. Everything was OK rather than special, with the nicest thing that we could say about the soup being that it was hot. The restaurant was virtually empty – not a great sign, especially given that the prices were pretty aggressive at the time, and its location close to the street should have made it easy for people to find their way over.

Since our visit, the prices have gone up sharply, complaints about food quality and portion sizes have surged, and nearby alternatives (such as Quan Hy) have only become better. We haven’t found the need to return.