Saigon Dish

Since 2003, this strip mall restaurant has quietly kept the South Bay fed on the kind of breadth of high-quality Vietnamese cuisine that wouldn’t be out of place in OC’s Little Saigon. You’ll find a deeply satisfying beef pho and the familiar Vietnamese takeout appetizers, but a step outside of your comfort zone yields solid versions of bo luc lac, broken rice combo plates and even the usually lackluster bun bo hue. A separate section offers Teochew-style egg noodle dishes (reflecting the Chinese ethnic group’s cultural influence in Vietnam). An expanded outdoor seating area and remodeled dining room have given Saigon Dish a more polished look and feel, but the brisk, no-frills service and weekday crowds showcase the fact that this busy spot in Lawndale hasn’t lost touch with its neighborhood roots.