College students don’t ask for much when it comes to food. We’ll inhale endless amounts of sodium and high fructose corn syrup if we’re hungry, no matter how nasty it feels. We’ll steal French fries from our friends, pine for red cups filled with Natural Light and spend Thanksgiving eating everything put in front of us.
In Tucson, East Asian food can be tough to spot among the endless rows of Mexican chain restaurants and McDonald’s. In a town lacking decent hu tieu (rice noodle with chicken broth), thank god we have Miss Saigon.
The assorted rice and noodle bowls come out hot and massive, with the mi hoanh thanh ga (egg noodle soup with wontons and chicken breast) being a particular standout. With the so-called “small” bowl running $7, it’s an incredible steal considering that it can feed a hungry party of two on its own. If you’re not annoyingly slurping this down and irritating everyone around you, you’re doing it wrong.
The om ca chien cari dua (grilled catfish topped with coconut curry and served with jasmine rice) shows the restaurant can do more than just pho, too — and a seafood dish that’ll leave you busting at the seams at a price less than $10 is a pretty good value.
A variety of teas, from milk tea to boba, make for a refreshing change of pace next to the steaming hot bowls of delicious pho offerings. Priced at around $2.50, the entire meal makes for a bargain considering the quality.
If you’re not particularly hungry, Miss Saigon also offers the standard side fare: egg rolls ($5.99), wings ($4.99 for six or $8.99 for 12) and calamari tempura ($6.99) are all on tap for less adventurous types. If being around other Vietnamese food lovers isn’t your thing, or if you have some sort of strange aversion to succulent scents clouding the room during your meals, Miss Saigon also offers takeout for the same prices. Don’t worry — the food doesn’t suffer a bit for being put into cartons and boxes.
For any Vietnamese food fan, or for those just looking for a change of pace, Miss Saigon offers up a fantastic menu of varied dishes with only one thing in common: they’re all incredible and a worthwhile splurge.
