Was not expecting the food to pop off but everything was delicious. We had a reservation and came a little late but were still allowed in. It was pretty busy and we were seated at the bar which was a little crowded. Loved the decoration, it was black interior with red lighting and interesting seating arrangement with tables down the middles and plants around. For drinks we got the Saigon Sunset which had a little sour flavor and was my personal favorite, the Gimme with an interesting flavor, and the Old Fashioned which is what you expect (old fashioned are not for me). The bartender was great, he was so patient even with how busy it was making sure to always check up. For food, the Goi Ca/Fluke was so good. It was flavorful and the texture. The peanut butter sauce wasn't too nutty and went so well with the fish. I ate every little piece up. We also ordered the Wagyu Viet Carpaccio which was also good. It was refreshing to eat and came with a large cracker for eat bite. read more

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Ambiance was not too loud nor quiet. The appetizers included the carpaccio and the shrimp. The carpaccio was somewhat interesting taste profile leaning towards sweet. The eggplant shrimp not so interesting and relatively bland. The main course highlights included the beef short rib and black cod entrees. Both were very well received. So food experience was good overall. The service experience left a lot to be desired. The waitress seemed to be in a rush to get us moved on. No menu explanation or highlights.... nada. She was a little insistent for our whole order at once including drinks. Even though we placed our appetizer order and stated that we would place that a later she was back in 5 minutes (see below about timing) again looking for the main course orders. We waited 15 minutes for our reserved table but that wasn't a big deal. However, the appetizers arrived within 5 minutes of ordering which indicated that they were prepared and ready to go and hence zipped out so fast. I had to request the server to slow things down and he did help that a bit. However, we were done within 50 mins of being seated. So it was not a leisurely meal unfortunately. Perhaps the waitress was overcompensating for the last table going over their allotted 90 mins. I suggest it's worth a visit if you cannot get a reservation for your slot at another restaurant that you want to try. And don't be too surprised that the appetizers come at you before you can say boo! It may set the tempo for the remainder of your visit. read more

The lemongrass carpaccio is exactly as good as everyone says. Definitely my favorite dish of the night, but I'm interested in going back and trying other menu items. Not a fan of the layout of the restaurant. I don't like the long table in the center for parties of 2, it felt a bit awkward to be so close to other groups and there were large vases of fresh flowers which, albeit were very beautiful, I think should have been moved after parties are seated. A huge bouquet of fresh lilies were taking up a lot of space on the table when I went and they got in the way at times. read more

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Went here for my birthday and really enjoyed everything! There's a nice rooftop outside that you can sit at while waiting for your table. We got everything to share, and started with beef carpaccio, fluke, and clams. Everything was yummy, but the table favorite was the fluke! We also tried all the entrees, which were all delicious, although I particularly enjoyed the bun cha, which was refreshing and filling! read more

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Outdoor rooftop was a good move! The Hanoi egg coffee was super tasty and the perfect pick me up to start out the evening. Had the duck confit and beef carpaccio - both so flavorful. Service was super quick! read more

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Went to Saigon Babylon on a Friday night with friends and it was amazing. Definitely make a reservation--this place books up fast, especially on weekends. The interior is beautiful: warm, inviting, and very charming. It's the kind of space that immediately sets the tone for a great night out. The food and drinks were excellent across the board, and the service matched the vibe. I ordered the old fashioned and it was perfectly made. For food, the beef tartare was my favorite, and the monkfish was also outstanding--both were absolute highlights of the meal. Overall, a fantastic experience from start to finish. Can't wait to go back. read more

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4.5/5 Delicious food and craft cocktails in a cool rooftop setting Came here for dinner and sat on the rooftop which had excellent views of Central Square in Cambridge. I ordered the tamarind old fashioned which was quite good. Then for dinner, got the beef stir fried noodles (pho bo xao). Absolutely delicious, the meat was incredibly tender. I wish there had been more of it. For dessert I got the coconut soft serve which was delicate, flavorful, and delicious. The service was a bit slow at times but always friendly. The prices are also steep given the portion sizes but it's what you'd expect to pay for a rooftop view with good food in Cambridge. I'd definitely come back! Food: 5/5 Drinks: 5/5 Service: 4/5 Ambience: 5/5 Price: 3/5 read more

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Loved all the dishes we got!!! Clams, lemongrass beef and short rib noodles were all savory and delicious. All of the plates were beautifully decorated and good portions. Finished off with the Pandan soft serve, which I highly recommend!!! It was rich in flavor, and the peanuts and coconut shavings were great additions to enhance the Pandan texture. Service was a bit slow but I think the water was new. Otherwise everything else was wonderful. read more

Unfortunately the food is very mid... each dish tastes very similar and is very westernized. A bit overpriced because they have a cool interior and is on the second floor that looks over central read more

Saigon Babylon - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Hidden gem alert! The monkfish dish and it tasted so close to what you'd get back in Vietnam -- I'd say about 95% spot on. So flavorful and comforting, it immediately brought back memories of home. Their drinks are super creative too -- not your average cocktail menu. Definitely worth exploring if you like unique flavor combos. And can we talk about the decor? It's unbelievably beautiful -- like stepping into a traditional house in Hanoi. Every detail is thoughtfully done, from the lighting to the vintage touches. Such a vibe. Will 100% be back. This place feels special. read more

Saigon Babylon - Monkfish - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

The food was delicious and the portions were sized exactly as you would expect. For two people, three appetizers and one main were exactly the right amount. We especially liked the Lemongrass Beef Carpaccio and the Fluke. Coconut ice cream with cashews was a delightful surprise. Our waiter made some good suggestions and provided just the right amount of attention. The room was very pretty. We will make a point of returning in the summer when the balcony is open. The restaurant has no web site, which is a little weird. I couldn't find a menu online anywhere, so I have attached one, but in the end it wouldn't have made a difference. You are better off to follow the suggestions of your server as words can't do justice to the taste of the food. read more

Saigon Babylon - Menu - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Really cool decorations and space design, food also lived up to the hype. The mushroom noodles had an incredible texture.

I wanted to like this place more, but the experience ultimately fell quite flat. Perhaps it was high expectations as I've heard good things about this spot, but just overall not super great. We came here with a reservation for an early dinner on a Sunday and were quite literally the only ones in the space upon opening - felt a little weird, but not bad. The table we got for three of us was a bit crowded and that was evident as there was only room for basically one dish at a time as we ate. We got a few dishes to share, but the prices were extremely high for the portion size and the quality wasn't enough either to justify what we got. The corn was tasty and the other dishes were yummy, however we ended up leaving quite hungry in the end and a few of us went to a local fast food spot after. Drinks were okay too, but a bit tasteless. Overall, okay experience - I don't think I'll come back, but I'm glad I tried it. read more

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Loved my experience at Saigon Babylon! It's a hidden gem located near Central Square with an awesome rooftop bar. The interior design and ambiance were so nice as well. The food and drinks were amazing! Loved the honey mousse espresso cocktail which was a fun spin off of the normal espresso martini. We ordered the squab, fluke, beef dish. All were amazing and so flavorful. Almost wished the portions were a tad larger to share more generously. Seems like the menu items rotate since it's a small list. Will be back for sure! read more

I am of Vietnamese descent so I was very excited when I heard about this place and thought I could enjoy sitting at a cute bar, nicely decorated restaurant while eating authentic Vietnamese food. However, the food is not that authentic!! For dinner, we had the Viet salad, lemongrass clams and oxtail noodle! The lemongrass clams were really good! The Viet salad was decent, but I could have had better salad in Dorchester for half of the price!! The oxtail noodle was a complete disappointment!! It was too salty that we had to ask for extra noodle to eat with it! This would have been a candidate to eat with bread for this type of broth! The noodle itself was ok but it was more like a Chinese hand-pull noodle. I have had similar broth with egg noodle or pho noodle in the past! The service was great! As we walked out, we saw the terrace/rooftop looks pretty nice to enjoy time outside in the summer! read more

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Overall I really enjoyed the food and thought that the majority of the dishes were excellent and unique. The menu was small (only 8 total dishes excluding dessert) and I was able to try half the menu (4 dishes). I thought they did a great job at selecting the right dishes for the season, as they were largely light (rather than hearty) and had very refreshing flavors. The price point is a little higher than id typically spend for a casual dinner, but would be ok with splurging once in a while. read more

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I absolutely loved my experience here. I went as a walk in for an outdoor table for two at prime time on a Friday. They said it would be a 45 minute wait- but it only ended up taking 5! I tried a cocktail and mocktail, both were great but the Passionfruit mocktail was really excellent. The decor is so cute and the sunset view is stunning. Would definitely recommend a visit! read more

Saigon Babylon - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Came back here for a second time and sat at the bar. As per my first review nothing has changed. Amazing food, service and ambiance. The menu rotated and I got to try some new items and everything was delish. My favorite dish had to be the fluke. Definitely a great spot and would love to come back and sit out on the rooftop on a nice weather day. read more

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Saigon is the third sister restaurant to Cicada and The Eaves and I think it may be my favorite. A beautifully-decorated rooftop bar with indoor and outdoor seating (seasonal), the ambiance is on point, transporting diners to a warm, cozy, southeast Asian get-away. The cocktails are fantastic - the best of the three restaurants by far. The food is similarly delicious and well-executed with bright, bold Vietnamese flavors but with a more expansive menu than its sister locales. Service was also excellent. It's clear why Saigon has been getting so much attention and I will join the chorus of its fans and look forward to going back soon! read more

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I was worried this spot would be super hard to get into but I didn't have too hard of a time getting a reservation on a Sunday when I booked a few days in advance. Also, their outdoor patio is first-come-first-serve (no reservations) so keep that in mind if you feel like spontaneously stopping by! It seemed like there were more tables on the patio than inside the actual restaurant. I tried their stormy sai gon ($13) mocktail. It has pandan, tea, and coconut milk, so I was expecting something to taste kind of like milk tea. The mocktail ended up having a much more savory flavor to it (and was more tart than I expected), but not in a bad way at all! Two of us split the lemongrass beef ($18), banana flower ($16), and bac ninh ($30). The lemongrass beef was my favorite. This would be a good dish for anybody who likes beef tartare/carpaccio/yukhoe! The beef was so tender and the passion fruit sauce added such a refreshing, tangy sweetness. I really liked how the textures from the rice cracker, beef, and vegetables complemented each other. The banana leaf had really succulent pieces of shrimp but otherwise mostly reminded me of a papaya salad. As someone who likes papaya salad I enjoyed this dish a lot, but I probably would have rather picked another dish on the menu that I haven't had before. The bac ninh was a great portion size for two to share! It came with a decent portion of duck and the noodles themselves soaked up a lot of the savory sauce. The noodles had a great texture-- they were really bouncy and fun to eat. They give you a garlicky ginger sauce on the side which I didn't really care for as a dipping sauce but we ended up mixing it into the noodles and I really liked how the flavors all blended together. The fresh ginger flavor added a lot of brightness to the dish that would have otherwise been on the heavier side from the oil. I would love to try more of their drinks. I thought the food was tasty and nicely presented but I wouldn't say there was a stand-out dish. read more

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I have mixed feelings about this place. I had a reservation for dinner on a Friday night a week into opening. We weren't able to find any menus online so we took a chance. The menu is limited, there aren't many options if you're a vegetarian but they can make things veggie for you. Our server was very nice and accommodating. We started with a couple drinks. They were ok. We were told that plates are to share but we got a plate of our own. I got a salmon with rice dish and my friend who is vegetarian got a vegan pho stir fry. Both portions were definitely not for sharing. They were on the smaller end (as can see from the photos). The decor and the ambience of the place is great, however the food and drinks unfortunately do not live to the hype. I would definitely pass on food, maybe enjoy the rooftop with a drink or two. There are many places in the area with phenomenal food. read more

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Incredible. Ordered the duck and the beef noodles, both were a hit. Super flavorful and balanced, meat was cooked perfectly. Got their version of an espresso martini, the honey espresso mousse, probably the best mixed drink I've had all year. The interior is such a cool vibe, very cozy and tasteful. I recommend making a reservation ahead of time. read more

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My partner and I shared the stormy Saigon and honey mousse espresso martini drinks, plus the lemongrass beef carpaccio, bac ninh (duck), and oxtail - TASTE: 5/5 - fantastic! The coconut milk and pandan were perfectly sweet in the non-alcoholic stormy Saigon, and I never go wrong w an espresso martini. The carpaccio was definitely the star of the meal w its spicy sate, lemongrass, and flavorful Wagyu. Enjoyed the duck's ginger sauce and the oxtail's red wine and garlic paste broth, which tasted homemade TEXTURE: 5/5 - both drinks had pleasant foam toppings, and the carpaccio again was well-balanced w its tender slices of beef, garnishing sprouts, and crisp rice cracker. Loved the texture of the fresh rice noodles in both entrees PRICE: 4/5 - definitely higher price points SERVING SIZE: 4/5 - left satisfied w our choices for dinner SERVICE: 4/5 - made a Resy on the same day and arrived at 5pm opening on a Sunday. Our waiter was friendly and helpful ATMOSPHERE: 5/5 - wasn't sure what to expect when taking Sonder 907 Main hotel's elevator up to the 5th floor, and was stunned when walking into Saigon Babylon. The lush plants, ornate furniture, and dark & moody space -- fantastic! Would come back to check out the rooftop when it reopens PARKING: 4/5 - got a street spot around the corner on Bishop Allen Dr read more

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Duck confit and monkfish were good. Short menu. Was stuffy inside and the incense started irritating my eyes after a while. Bartender not very friendly or attentive. read more

Saigon Babylon - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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We had rooftop cocktails on a sunny Saturday afternoon and it was perfection. I had the best espresso martini of my life. The egg yolk foam was like a delicious, salty custard. Saigon Babylon, please don't ever take this one off your menu! read more

Gorgeous space, sort of casually chic. Love the use of natural elements in the decor. The space isn't huge but dining setup is clever and creative- there is a long community table in the middle which still gives you a feeling of privacy as they space you out from other diners with a large flower arrangement or Asian-themed ceramics. There are also cute marble tables alongside the window wall seating 2-4 each. Food was great- we (party of 4) enjoyed the shrimp salad and lemongrass clams, and three noodle dishes - duck, oxtail and monkfish. I also enjoyed the hibiscus mule- vodka based drink with ginger beer and lemongrass. read more

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A really beautiful location and space for a light meal. The two of us were seated inside at the long table in the middle, but despite others being sat next to us later on, it didn't feel cramped. The menu isn't extensive, but it has some inventive options. I got the Stormy Sai Gon, which was a little smaller than I hoped it'd be. To share, we ordered the Bac Ninh and the Watercress Salad with Scallop. The portions aren't huge, so we decided to order less and have a second meal elsewhere. The food was good, but not good enough that I'd come back for a full meal (but perhaps for a drink on the roof). read more

Saigon Babylon - Bac Ninh - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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I came here for a small dinner and drinks. We sat at the bar because we were only two people. The bartender was so friendly and knowledge of the menu. She offered plenty of recommendations. The inside of the restaurant is decorated so well. The food and drinks were all delicious, and I can't wait to go back. read more

Saigon Babylon - Alcoholic drink - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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If you want a zen experience on a rooftop setting, perfect for fall sunsets, with delicious & clean Vietnamese food...this is your place. I love the vibe, which is Asian inspired with bamboo and stone sculptures. No reservations available for the roof seating, as it is first come first served. Wonderful cocktails which are also Asian inspired. I highly recommend coming here when looking to chill from the busy city vibe. read more

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Terms Alexa Shabecoff This place was in my list of places I wanted to try. So weeks beforehand, my husband made a reservation for Valentine's Day. One week beforehand we got a text message that the menu was pre fixe.We often are cautious about pre fixe as we are pescatarians so had selected a restaurant that was NOT pre fixe, Not only that, the message was confusing. So after some phone tag, today I found out that not only is it pre fixe but you are limited to two apps and one entree per table (in other words, my husband and I would have to agree upon and share the two appetizers and one l entree). We are going to cancel because this is a terrible bait and switch. But of course none of the other places I wanted to go are available ;I started looking around in Sunday as soon as I got the message that they were pre fixe and nothing was available then. Worst customer service approach ever! read more

Beautiful watering hole in Cambridge. Especially, when it's warm outside and you can sit outside. We only got bar seats. It was really warm outside. Our drinks: Cicada Breeze, Gaspard Rose, good, but not my first choice for cocktails Food: Lemongrass Beef, Kohlrabi Salad, Duck Pho were good. No judgement on authenticity, since I have not been to Saigon. I hate bullshit "kitchen appreciation surcharge" even when it is immaterial at 3%. Please pay your staff and state real prices! read more

ROOFTOP BAR + HONEY MOUSSE ESPRESSO MARTINI enough said. The honey mousse was soooo good tasted like such a decadent dessert. The other drinks were good too. Rooftop ambiance was so nice on a summer night, service was good too. read more

Saigon Babylon - Honey mousse espresso martini - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I'm always excited to try out new Vietnamese restaurant, especially the ones that are doing modern Vietnamese food since we don't have much here in MA. But unfortunately this place turned out to be a huge dissappointment. My friends and I made a reservation at this place for our girls night, thinking we could have dinner in the dining room first then move out to their roof top for more drinks after. But that did not happened as we left hungry, mad, and everything in between after our dinner. Let go over the food first, I have to say they have some great ideas on some of the dishes but could not delivered the quality and quantity of food to match with their prices. Everything was extremely salty. Most of the dishes all we could taste was the salt or the saltiness from fish sauce and nothing else. You can get most of the dishes from here at any other casual Vietnamese place that will taste 100 better for 1/10 of the price, and you won't be hungry after. Things we ordered: Drinks: Pandan Long Island - tasted like a normal Long Island, nothing special as we could not taste any pandan flavor. Stormy Saigon with rum added as suggested - the description sounded good but it tasted and smell like Chinese medicine (very strong herbal taste). Food: Viet Festival Salad ($16) - this is just a typical Vietnamese shrimp salad, nothing special. Portion is extremely small for its price of a simple salad that contains 3 shrimps. Lemongrass Beef - Raw beef thinly sliced, served cold with yuzu crackers. It would be a great dish if it wasn't salty. Bac Ninh - stir fry Pho noodles top with grilled duck, this was the worst dish. The pho noodles were good with the right texture but the duck was inedible. The duck tasted extremely gamely, irony (?), salty and chewy. It was like they used some very old frozen duck. Corn - stir fry glutinous corn with dry shrimp. It's a simple Viet street food that simply hard to mess up and since it's a simple dish to begin with we werent expecting anything crazy. The moment we saw it we laughed out loud, it was a complete joke lol. Tiny tiny portion for its price and again it was salty. Oxtail - a modern twist on a Vietnamese beef stew but with oxtails. Great idea but flavors was not there. The broth was too watery, "tomatoey", and bland. Turmeric fish with dill (forgot the actual name of it) - This was the most salty dish of them all, I could not taste anything but saltiness. This dish has so much potential if they learn how to season it correctly. Service: Not sure why our server Catherine or Katherine was serving and checking up on every other tables except for ours. The one time she "checked up" on us, she managed to gave us the dirtiest look as soon as she walked away? We still don't know why she did that as we were very polite to her up until that point. We had to flag down other people/servers whenever time we needed something or even our check to pay. The only person seem to care was either the manager or the owner I'm not sure which one. She provided amazing service when we brought up the inedible duck dish, she comped the dish and also gave us the turmeric fish to try out. The only positive thing I can say about this place is the atmosphere. I would not come back nor recommend this place to anyone. Save your money, time, and frustration from rude servers. read more

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I'm of Vietnamese descent and I was really excited about eating at Saigon Babylon. I loved the eclectic decor - Asian inspired and real candle sticks burning. I'd give 5 stars for the ambiance. I tried the Good Dealer (pho cocktail), Cicada Breeze (bird eye chili pepper), and Honey Mousse (espresso) cocktails, which were all delicious. I really enjoyed the dishes that I tried: the Lemongrass Beef Carpaccio, the Bác Ninh, and the Oxtail. They were all very flavorful - if you are a fish sauce lover, these dishes are for you. The noodles were delightfully soft. My only gripe is that the hostess and waitresses were incredibly rude and short. From seating us to answering questions about the dishes. This really left a bitter taste, especially when I was so excited to dine here. I'd probably come again, for the rooftop and cocktails, since it was raining the night I went. If the service improves, I'll consider paying more for the dishes. There are multiple reviews about rude service, so I think it's important that management takes note. read more

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Cambridge doesn't deserve Vinh Le. We're here giving five stars to Waypoint and Alden and Harlow, we need to get our culinary issues sorted before we get gifted quality like Cicada and Saigon Babylon. Holy moly is this place good. I'm not talking "date night good" or "rooftop bar good". I'm talking some of the best food I've eaten in this city good. And it's good for a date. And it's a rooftop come on people how are you not already eating here?! Atmosphere is cute, a bit busy and crowded on the inside, but step outside and it's a totally different scene. Chill little tables and an unobstructed view so nice it'll make you a NIMBY. Cambridge is totally unaffordable and STILL we get awesome restaurants like this one. The dishes are what you might expect if you've been to Cicada, carefully crafted modern takes on Vietnamese dishes. If you come here and don't get the Bac Ninh you have wasted your trip. This dish is probably one of the best things I've had in Boston generally. The duck is perfectly salty and greasy, the noodles are fresh and whatever magic they do with the sauce should be outlawed. Or given a medal. Something should happen to it. The Nom Chay (I think) was really interesting - it had a metric ton of mint on there but somehow that worked with the other ingredients, making this mix of texture and flavor that didn't have the wow of the Bac Ninh but was new and different. The way the dishes are presented is also just gorgeous, each part of it is layered for a complete bite. It's like Le knows we Cambridge people are too stupid to figure it out ourselves. (we are) read more

Aesthetics: 5 stars Drinks: 3 stars What made my experience at this place awful was the rude service. Made reservations for trying this place for the first time for a group of 3. Didn't realize this place had limited menu for food, so we decided to just order drinks and something small to snack on before finding another place. Our waiter looked at us strangely because we didn't want to order any of their 3 choices of entrees and opted for the drinks&snacks only. Quickly after being served our drinks, another woman came and asked us to move to the roof top setting area since we were not eating a real meal. We quickly said yeah no problem. What threw us all off was her comment after asking us to move our seats was, "because you can't just sit here and order a plate of corn". LOL we were all baffled. Here is a photo of our $75 experience . read more

Saigon Babylon - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

They are never open. Blatantly racist. We tried to go few times and the first time we ordered 2dinners and a nice bottle of red wine. It was crocked/ gone bad. They had to have the mgr verify it in order to replace the bottle. By then our food had gotten cold, because we refused to drink vinegar with our inner. Just an over all bad vibe. read more

Foood was so much better than I expected. I had the Vietnamese shaking beef that reminded me of beef carpaccio. This was definitely my favorite dish. Staff were lovely but I think they can improve on their work flow. They are relatively new so this is expected. Lovely dinner read more

Saigon Babylon - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Excellent rooftop experience. The Pandan soft serve is a must have. A small menu but all food was excellent. Only way it could be more Vietnam is if there were more motorbikes in the street. read more

Saigon Babylon reminds me of Hanoi's West Lake, where you can find chic Indochine aesthetic combined with great food + drinks. I'd have to say the experience outmatched many restaurants I have been to in Boston, especially in terms of authentic Viet food. We were lucky to meet the restaurant's owner there and she welcomed us with a warm conversation. For starters, we went with Lemongrass Beef, Banana Flower, and Xoi Chim. These summer staples remind me of a northern Vietnam road trip where you can find these dishes for lunch. I had a Ratatouille moment right there and it felt great. For main dishes, we got the Bac Ninh, or stir fried Pho with duck. Once again, the taste is awesome and you can tell that so much thought has been put into the dish. Lots of traditional Vietnamese spices with a contemporary take on ingredients to create a balanced and memorable main. Drinks - Good Dealer and Cicada Breeze - are both delicious and manageable for a light drinker like my partner and I. Overall, Saigon Babylon made it into my list and I'll definitely come back often. read more

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