Vietnamese food on Marz

This past Saturday a dear Peruvian friend of mine asked me to accompany him to a Vietnamese restaurant he wanted to try in Jersey City called Saigon Cafe. He'd eaten Vietnamese food before, but never tried "Pho", which is my favorite soup of all time. I have eaten at many Vietnamese joints in NJ, and have found that the best ones are the places where an enormous bowl of pho goes for about 6 bucks, there's no more than 10 tables, and hardly an English word is being spoken in the place. Saigon Cafe was pricier and nicer-looking than I'm generally comfortable with, but we sallied forth.

We had the pork summer rolls appetizer, which was really good with just the right amount of mint, and it made me hopeful. I ordered the grilled marinated pork(my favorite pork dish, I think) over vermicelli and my friend (we'll call him Marz) tried the pho he was so longing phor. They didn't give you optons as to what kind of beef you want in the soup, which bummed me out. Ususally you get your choice of tripe, tendon, flank, brisket, balls (not testes...I think), etc. His pho had what looked like some brisket and flank, and that was it. It was served the the customary condiments(bean sprouts, basil, and lime wedge), and I coached him on spicing it up with a bit of Sriracha and hoisin sauce.

The beads of sweat on his forehead after finishing half the bowl told me he weas pleased with the selection and spice level. I almost went and got a mop to wipe his face with. He told me about some Peruvian hot sauce his mom makes that I wanna try, then wiped his forehead and dove back in. My pork was tasty, and the pho was very passable, but I want to get Marz on some real deal stuff in Edison. I also want him to hip me to some good Central-American food in North Jersey. I'll report on that when it happens. Maybe next time I'll take him to a cheap place that puts more cow parts in the soup. Also, sorry for lack of pictures, Marz' sweat dripped onto the camera and ruined it. Here's a stock pho-to.