Sao Mai
Vietnamese · New York
About Sao Mai
Sao Mai is a beloved Vietnamese restaurant in New York City, known for its inviting, unfussy atmosphere and authentic cuisine. Customers rave about the flavorful and generously portioned dishes, particularly the Bun Bo Hue, a standout spicy noodle soup, and the Pho, with a broth described as both cl...
Sao Mai is a beloved Vietnamese restaurant in New York City, known for its inviting, unfussy atmosphere and authentic cuisine. Customers rave about the flavorful and generously portioned dishes, particularly the Bun Bo Hue, a standout spicy noodle soup, and the Pho, with a broth described as both clean and deeply satisfying. The menu features classic dishes prepared with care, offering a genuine taste of Vietnam. While often bustling, Sao Mai provides a consistently positive dining experience with attentive service and reasonable prices. The crispy and flavorful Banh Xeo is another customer favorite.
What Customers Say About Sao Mai
Sao Mai is a cozy Vietnamese restaurant known for its flavorful and authentic dishes, especially the Bun Bo Hue and Pho. Customers praise the reasonable prices and friendly service. Some find the noodles undercooked or the broth lacking depth.
Popular Dishes
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Tip: Come try, and you won't be disappointed.
What to see nearby
Data from Wikidata
Explore the area around Sao Mai
Sao Mai is located in New York, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Historical Heritage
- iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción y Casas del Clero (A 120m) — church building in Manhattan, United States of America Lugar inscrito en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos
- iglesia de San Marcos (A 336m) — iglesia en Bowery, Manhattan, Nueva York Lugar inscrito en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos
Museums
- Museum of the American Gangster (A 335m) — museum in New York City
Religious Buildings
- City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism (A 131m) — Jewish congregation in New York City
- Immaculate Conception Church (A 133m) — Roman Catholic parish church in Manhattan, New York City
- Tabernacle Baptist Church (A 214m) — Baptist church building in Manhattan, New York City
- St. Nicholas of Myra Church (A 282m) — church building in Manhattan, United States of America
Parks & Gardens
- Open Road Park (A 109m) — park and community garden in New York City
- Abe Lebewohl Park (A 292m) — park in Manhattan, New York City, United States of America
Other Points of Interest
- Ukrainian-American WWII Memorial (A 293m)
Data from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions about Sao Mai
Sao Mai New York Reviews
i will mourn if this place ever closes. this is my favorite place to get bun bo hue in the city - it's only mildly spicy, but spicier than other vietnamese spots. saying i love the bun bo hue here would be a serious understatement. i've come back three times in the span of a month. please try their bun bo hue! i've tried most of their drink selection as well, and i really like their milk tea! it reminds me of hong kong style milk tea.
This was my first time trying pho, and I instantly fell in love! The broth was incredible, the meat perfectly cooked, and the noodles were outstanding. Despite the restaurant being packed, we only waited about 15 minutes for a seat. Everything about the experience was amazing—I still think about it to this day!
Sao mai is probably my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in NYC. The place is very cosy and no-frills, the food is always so inviting and delicious, and price point is so good (especially in the city nowadays haha). My favourite dish here is the bun bo hue. The broth is sooo fragrant -- just the perfect mix of spicy and sour (the lemongrass and shrimp paste flavours both taste so vivid without being too dominant). The noodles are cooked to a nice texture (and come in a large portion size), and the beef slices are so tender and flavourful. So delicious ... I'm getting hungry just writing this haha. I also really like the bun thit nuong for one of the non-soup noodle dishes. The mix of lettuce and carrots is always so crispy and fresh, and the veggies complement the perfectly-grilled pork strips so well. Adding a bit of fish sauces adds a nice depth of flavour when mixed into the dry rice noodles, and every bite, combining a bit of meat, carbs, and veggies, is wonderfully balanced. The pho dishes are also fantastic. Pho tai is a particular favourite (the beef slices are so juicy and tender), and the broth is just so aromatic without being too salty or oily. The price point overall is so good -- it's hard to find such a good value in the city nowadays. The appetisers can be a bit pricey, relatively speaking (I like their summer rolls, but it feels like I should just get another entree at that point haha), but each bowl of noodles is usually in the mid $10-20. So worth. I can't wait to come back again :)
The pho is excellent, borderline healing. I felt instantly better after I ate it. I got the classic beef pho and it was a huge portion. The service was good too — it’s nothing fancy but it really hits the spot. You can tell the recipes are authentic and the food is flavorful — solid Vietnamese food.
Food was awesome, definitely felt genuine and not like crafted for the American palate, which I appreciate. I love Asian food and Vietnamese food is one of my favorites and the food came out hot, I got the vegetable pancake. More like a huge fried crunchy crepe than a pancake but very good. We also got some soup that was both spicy and flavorful. The broth was delicious.
We loved it! This place truly saved us! We had a first restaurant in mind that had no availability so we stumble upon sao Mai and we were surprised! The food was delicious as you can see in the video we devoured it all and the lychee drink was delicious! I recommend you come here! It seems to be family owned and the service is quick and kind! I recommend it!
The chicken pho is the best I’ve had in the city! I love that the broth is so clear/clean but still very flavorful. I love all the veggies that you can add on too. They deliver with all the components in separate containers so the noodles, meat and veggies don’t get overcooked. The only negative thing I have to say is that every other pho place tastes a slightly disappointing compared to this place!
Food 2.75/5 Service 4.5/5 Ambiance 3/5 I had high expectations for the pho here since many people rave about the bun bo hue, but it wasn’t quite for me. I’m usually someone who finishes all the broth, but this one had a distinct, slightly gamey aroma that didn’t match my personal taste. The meat in the BBH was a bit overcooked for my preference, though I can see how others might enjoy it.
The meat is too rare, I feel very uncomfortable about today’s beef eye roll . Because a big pile of meats sticking with each other is sink in my soup, it NEVER was boiled until you can eat ! I been here many times and always order Sao Mai Pho in the past, I never encountered this situation. They always prepared thin slice of beef eye roll every time. This is why I always could eat fresh and cooked well beef eye. This time, I had beef eye rolls that were frozen together. I am evenly hard to unfold this slice of meat. If this time is an accident, manager’s reaction is terrible today. It is a small problem today, but she always be blame the customer. Before she asking me, she even think the top rare meat because of I picking up all meat to the side of the dish??! It’s sure she hasn’t focus on every customers and doesn’t ask for her colleagues . It’s a bad EXPERIENCE!
I recently tried Sao Mai and found the experience a bit mixed. I ordered the Bún Bò Huế, but the noodles were slightly undercooked and the broth lacked depth. I wasn’t sure if it was just my bowl or their usual style, but it didn’t hit the spot for me—though still edible. That said, the crispy spring rolls were quite good (4/5), and I’d definitely order them again. The lychee drink was underwhelming (2/5)—it came with four lychees, but the overall flavor didn’t impress me. Service was simple but friendly. I’d still be open to returning to try their pho or Vietnamese sandwich and will update my review after that. Overall: • Bún Bò Huế – 3/5 • Crispy Spring Roll – 4/5 • Lychee Drink – 2/5
I arrived with high expectations based on the reviews, but I found the food to be average. I liked it just fine, but wouldn't recommend it. The shrimp tasted fresh, but everything else didn't. The flavors blended too much, the ingredients were soggy, and there was a lack of vegetables. The meats had little umami flavor typical of great Vietnamese cuisine. On the other hand, tons of bland vermicelli.
This might be good pho for some, but it’s unbelievably below avg for nyc standards. Just meh, flavor is off and meat cuts are cheap and dry. Noodles have that supermarket taste. Could not finish.
The food on white plate is from Pho Grand - 277C Grand St, Ny, NY, 10002 because if you really want amazing rolls, you should go there. Even the peanut Sauce feels homemade. Rolls from togo plastic container is from Sao Mai amd isa 7/10. The ingredients are fresh but smaller. Peanut sauce dont look and dont taste aunthentic. Maybe it has water on it. It does taste like peanut but it seems like store brought sauce. I paid $17 for 2 orders of these shrimp rolls. It was good but It could had been better
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203 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
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203 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
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park and community garden in New York City
church building in Manhattan, United States of America
Jewish congregation in New York City
Roman Catholic parish church in Manhattan, New York City
Baptist church building in Manhattan, New York City
church building in Manhattan, United States of America
park in Manhattan, New York City, United States of America
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