New York Times Says Atlantic City’s Vietnamese Restaurants Among Most Authentic in Country


On Monday, the New York Times dedicated hundreds of words to Atlantic City’s Vietnamese restaurants in an article entitled “Where the Pho Is a Sure Thing”. Now, it may seem strange that a paper like the Times would head to our little gambling town for Vietnamese noodle soup. I mean, surely there are zillions of great Vietnamese spots in New York. There must be, right?

Nope, suggests author Robert Sietsema, who was the Village Voice restaurant critic from 1993 until this year. “New Yorkers have been known to grouse about the Vietnamese food in their city,” he writes.

Sietsema suggests that those dissatisfied New York diners need to take the 125 mile journey to Atlantic City where there are “Vietnamese cafes that arguably rank among the nation’s most authentic, where the steaming bowls of pho have the kind of flavors that can make connoisseurs of the dish leap up from their plastic chairs with pleasure.”

Who knew?

Here are the Vietnamese restaurants in Atlantic City that Sietsema specifically calls out:

Hu Tieu Mien Tay, 700 Black Horse Pike, Pleasantville, N.J.; (609) 646-8977; hutieumientay.com.

Little Saigon, 2801 Arctic Avenue, Atlantic City; (609) 347-9119.

Noodle Village, Bally’s Casino, 1900 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City; (609) 340-2000; ballysac.com.

Pho Sydney, 2323 Atlantic Avenue, Atlantic City; (609) 348-5946.

Pho Cali, 3808 Ventnor Avenue, Atlantic City; (609) 340-0063; phocaliac.com.

Com Tam Ninh Kieu, 1124 Atlantic Avenue, Atlantic City; (609) 572-9211; comtamninhkieu.com.

[PHOTO: Kham Tran]