Safran French Vietnamese Cuisine – Chelsea, NYC
Safran
88 7th Avenue
Near W. 16th St.
(212) 929-1778
Safran Restaurant
Safran is located in the heart of Chelsea where the restaurants are chic, creative, and very down to earth. I have always loved this neighborhood because it is very diverse with all different types of people of all ages, more so with the younger crowd, and they all dressed so fashionably — yes, creatively fashionably. Besides lots of unique restaurants and people here, there are a lot of clubs and boutique shops that you will love to visit. Only in Chelsea will you find some of the most creative, yet down to earth people and restaurants here.
Which brings me to my visit to Safran.
My friends and co-workers alike have constantly urged me to eat at this fancy establishment. To my amazement, I probably passed by this restaurant maybe hundreds of times when I take my trips to Lohmann’s or to the eye doctor. But never once thought about eating there because I am accustomed to having Vietnamese cuisine in Chinatown. A Vietnamese fusion restaurant sounded interesting to me so one day I decided to gather some of my closest friends to meet up here for dinner.
Let’s get started with the food shall we?
Pho Hoai Vietnamese Restaurant on Avenue U, Brooklyn
Pho Hoai Restaurant
1906 Avenue U
at E. 19th St
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 616-1233
After having an exhausting day, I suggested to my mother to eat out for dinner and preferably Vietnamese food. So Finechinaguy and I met up with my mother at this restaurant at 7:45pm. We’ve been coming here on and off for years since there aren’t many Vietnamese restaurants unless you walk a little further down to where 13th street is. When there’s a craving for Viet, we come here to indulge ourselves.
I apologize for not taking a picture of the front of the restaurant. That night we were all just so very tired and wanted to sit down to have dinner. But, Finechinaguy did have the energy to take pictures of the inside of the restaurant and the food which we can share with you.
Inside of the restaurant
Summer Roll w/shrimp, vermicelli, and scallion
The summer roll can come off as dry because of the rice paper and the dry vermicelli. But the shrimp is its saving grace and that’s when the moisture comes in. If you find yourself with a not so moist shrimp, dip it in its accompany peanut sauce and let it’s sweet delight overwhelm your taste buds.
Please click on the following link for more:
Read more
Angelo & Maxie’s Steakhouse
ANGELO & MAXIE’S
233 Park Avenue South
At 19th Street
(212) 220-9200
Angelo & Maxie's Steakhouse
Cheap Authentic Vietnamese Food for the Hungry: Nha Trang One
Nha Trang One
87 Baxter St (near Canal St)
New York, NY
(212) 233-5948
Of the three Vietnamese restaurants on this block, I think this by far is the better tasting one.
When I came here with my boyfriend and his friends, we were really reluctant to come here, but his friends reassured us that this is the place to be. And inside, the decor of the restaurant looked pretty plain, plus there were a lot of tourists in there which pretty much is a turn off for me. I usually avoid this restaurant because of the tourists the reason being that I think touristy food = junk/fast food. Plus the decor in the other two restaurants looks better than this one, but I’ll soon learn that image isn’t always everything.
Beef cube with Rice
$5.75
This beef cube is the very tender and oh so juicy, unlike the other Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown. Usually the beef would be rolled up and then grilled ’til charred. I really hate that. But the way they make it here is right on the money and it’s cut into small piece, which I really enjoy.
My rating: 4.5/5
Highly Recommended!
Next came the Grilled pork chop w/tomatoes and cucumbers over rice.
$5.75
Pretty soon, you’ll see the same consistency with the way their meats are cooked. This lovely young pork chop is tender, juicy, and oh so succulent, and not at all dried as you will see in the other vietnamese restaurants due to over grilling. It would be nice if there’s a little more sauce with this dish, but it’s still pretty good. For the price, you really can’t go wrong.
Recommended!
My Rating: 4/5
Steak w/Fried Rice
$6.50
I really can’t give much credit to this dish, I can’t. The downfall of this dish is the fried rice. It is probably the blandest fried rice I have ever have, and it does not look fried at all. Not to say that it is a failure, but I’m saying that it’s pretty much some soy sauce and probably subtle hints of oyster sauce. Honestly, I think they would make it with and least some green peas and carrots and maybe, just maybe some pineapple. But hey, at least the steak was not disappointing. It wasn’t the greatest, but it was tender and juicy. I did needed more salt for this.
Not recommended
Rating: 2/5
House Special Rice Noodles in soup with beef brisket, tendon, eye round and omoza
$5.50
Having a good soup really sets the mood for this bowl. When you have a really pretty brown color that’s not too light and not too dark, you have yourself a delicious bowl of noodles. The reason why this dish is so popular is because the rice noodles complements the soup so well. All the rich flavor from the soup is absorbed in the noodles as well as the raw beef brisket, which you’ll have to dip in your soup. Usually when I have this signature dish at other Vietnamese restaurants, the beef is usually flavorless due to a bland soup. But here, they do it very well.
Highly recommended!
Rating: 4/5
Of course there are so many dishes here to try since the menu seems to be absolutely endless, but definitely try their house special rice noodle soup, spring rolls, rice vermicelli
NHA TRANG REST.
87 BAXTER STREET, MANHATTAN 10013
212-233-5948
Current violation points: 7
Inspection Date: 03/05/2007
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
1.) Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.
Momofuku Ssam Bar – Takeout
Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave
(at 13th St)
New York, NY
(212) 254-3500
This restaurant has received a lot of rave reviews saying that it’s a delicious joint at a very low price. The only reason that I came here is because I wanted to try their Bahn Mi, viet sandwich. Even though the prices were not listed on its website or on menupages, I thought that it should be cheap because nymag featured them on their cheap eat section.
As I walked into the restaurant, I noticed how incredibly packed the restaurant was. 
This restaurant is a lot bigger than their noodle bar, which is located on 1st ave, but it’s still very small. A female waiter came to me and I told her that I wanted to do take-out. She went to get some menus and then she asked if I knew what I wanted, which I told her yes. I told her I wanted 2 Bahn Mi’s and she took my order. When she came back to give me my receipt, it came out to be $19.50 @ $9 each and then including tax!!! I figure, holy sheit, $9 for a sandwich, it better be damn long, stuffed, and damn good.
After waiting for a good 5-10 minutes at the restaurant, I grabbed my food and leave for him. The people here looks really trendy, but this place is very expensive. Cheap eats my ass.
That’s it. This is the sandwich, and it costs $9. Okay, so it’s a little small but maybe it’ll taste good.
Honestly, I didn’t feel for this sandwich. I really think Momofuku Ssam is really overrated. No sandwich should cost this much and it doesn’t even taste that great. The meat tastes really greasy and it wasn’t even a viet salami, it’s like a light/fluffy ground beef and the bread wasn’t even toasted!! I’m sorry, this is by far one of the worst Bahn Mi sandwich I have ever eaten. This place needs a lesson from one of the better Bahn Mi places.
Finechina’s Rating: 2.2/5
Quality – 2/5
Taste – 2.5/5
Ease of eating – 4/5 (because of me picking out all the jalapeños and gnawing on pork)
Presentation – 3/5
I will never come back here to eat a sandwich. Why on earth do they price it at $9?? That’s ridiculous. My bf tells me that it’s a trendy restaurant in a trendy neighborhood. But what’s the point if their sandwich isn’t even of par?
Alright, health inspection report:
MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR
207 2 AVENUE, MANHATTAN 10003
Current violation points: 6 – Passed
Inspection Date: 08/02/2006
No violations that present a threat to the public health or relate directly to factors which lead to food borne illness were recorded at the time of this inspection.
1.) “Choking first aid” poster not posted.”Alcohol and Pregnancy” Warning sign not posted. “Wash hands” sign not posted at hand wash facility. Resuscitation equipment: exhaled air resuscitation masks(adult & pediatric), latex gloves, sign not posted. Inspection report sign not posted.
2.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
3.) Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-closing door.
