I am french and live in the Viet neightborood of Paris so I was quite eager to try "real" Vietnamese food and especially Pho Dac Biet.

I was painfully disapointed.

The setting is realy nice. Service is really average. But personnaly I don't care about the overexposed picture of the owner's familly on the menu. I came for food and was not much impressed.

The coffe was instant and despite and impressive saigon-like system lacked flavor -25 koueis for this?-

The Pho was small, with a tasteless broth, a ridiculous amount of soy and 2 -yes two- basil leaves -something like 50 koueis for this? The chainrestaurant in Raffle city offer a WAY better pho and he is only 22 rmb-

The nems (fried springroll) where fresh and good but 2 -yeah two- pieces of them the size of my thumb look particulary greedy, especially for a whooping 45plus koueis.

Of course to had insult to mediocre food, the bill came with an extra 30something fruit juice we never ordered. And I really felt It was the usual "we try to rip you off" scam in Beijing as the restaurant was basically empty.

I had to show excuse to the personn I invited there, I was quite ashamed of me. Maybe there couscous is good, but I doubt so.

In French we call this kind of establishment "Bobo", expensive overlingly pretentious and obsessive on irrelavant details but really bad on the essence -food-. The only personns I would suggest coming are french guys on a date with dull girls with no taste.

A real disapointment. BAsically the whole SE asian food scene in Beijing is a REAL disapointment.

Love the decor and their rooftop patio seating. Really great views of well, I don't know what it is, but some cool ancient structure in the distance.

I'd recommend the afternoon tea set. RMB 38 which comes with a choice of hot beverage and 3 cakes (chocolate, coconut pudding, and apple pie) which are simply delectable, especially the chocolate cake.

Will definitely, definitely be back!

Had the typical spring rolls, which were very good and came with dipping sauce, lettuce, mint and coriander. Ordered two curries, one which tasted like airline food and the other was a bit watery, but in fairness I don't think Vietnamese food is known for its curries in the same way as Thai. We got a freebie shot of creamy vegetable soup which was thick and flavourful. The tart tatin was also simple, but nice. I would like to try more of the standard Vietnamese dishes like pho and nem and also give the French side of the menu a go. Good wine list, didn't try the coffee, but looked and smelled good. Atmosphere was very warm and welcoming (including a huge table of about 10 boisterous Viets) and decoration very a pleasant aspect of the dining experience. Would definitely come back again, especially to experience the roof terrace in summer and its proximity to Hou Hai is a definite plus. Good for a date or dinner with friends.

I finally went to Little Saigon last Friday night after hearing tell of it for some time. I was worried that I was visiting at the wrong time of year, cause most of the recommendations mentioned how nice the rooftop terrace was - which seemed a bit irrelevant in late Autumn. I was delighted to discover a warm bistro like space, with comfortable banquettes, specials written up on the mirrors and a great selection of wine and aperitifs. Amazed to find trad french aperos like Dubonnet and three different kirs - these latter were excellent. We ordered from both the Vietnamese and the French side of the menu, and found that, contrary to what you might expect, it was the French side of the menu that won out - delicious, un-pretentious comfort food. Recommended, esp if you keep to the French side of the menu.