Miss Saigon

Location

Yelp Reviews

Miss Saigon is where Lauren and I go when we need a comforting meal.  The service is always quick and friendly which is actually kind of hard to come by in Tucson.  Miss Saigon creates a really relaxing atmosphere, it's easy to loose yourself in an hour of conversation after you eat though you may want to take off to avoid the dirty looks from other diners waiting to eat in the tiny alcove crammed with chairs that serves as a waiting room. 
The real highlight at Miss Saigon though is the food.  The Pho is, if not the best in town, the most consistent.  Consistency is one of the most important aspects of a restaurant to me, and it's one of Miss Saigon's strong points.  The broth is clean and strong.  The bean sprouts always have a good snap to them, often we forgo any appetizer and just snack on them before our food gets there.  The cilantro and basil are always fresh though I have seen a junk lime from time to time.  Frequently I get the pho without noodles to avoid the rice flour used to make them.  In those instances I load the pho up with those bean sprouts and let it set for awhile so they get nice and noodle-y.  Last time we went though I got the 53 which is charbroiled steak over red rice and "greens."  The greens are a joke, a piece of lettuce, a semi ripe tomato and a couple of cucumbers.  It would be nice if they used some sort of Vietnamese greens but that's a minor complaint.  I always get a couple of sunny side up eggs to put over the rice which really ties the dish together.  The eggs are sometimes a bit runny but on times when they're not the whole meal becomes pretty sublime. 
Lauren got the pho as well as a hot Vietnamese coffee.  For some reason the Vietnamese coffee always takes forever to get to the table.  It is always busy so that may have something to do with the delay but our food always comes out so fast I just don't get it.   If I didn't eat twice as fast as Lauren maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal.  But either way, it was hot and sweet just like Lauren wanted the last chilly evening we went.
There are other dishes worth talking about at Miss Saigon too, the chicken dumpling and noodle soups are all delicious and there bun is quite good as well.  I took my dad when he was in town a couple of weeks ago and we tried the chicken wings as an appetizer.  They were well fried and sizzling hot.  The spice wasn't as strong as it could be but they were still good and worth trying again.  The only real flat out miscue that I've ever had at Miss Saigon was an appetizer that's listed on the menu as "chicken tenders."  We thought initially that they would be some sort of satay with a peanut sauce.  They turned out to be just chicken tenders with a bowl of ranch dressing.  We pretty much ate them to be nice, well Lauren did, I ate them because they were fried pieces of chicken.
If you haven't been to Miss Saigon or haven't been in a long time, you really should make the trip.  It never disappoints.

The Bagelry

Location

Yelp Reviews

I went to the Bagelry for breakfast today.  I probably should've just had a bowl of cereal but for some reason this was callilng me.  I got a breakfast sandwich, egg, bacon and cheese on a whole wheat bagel.  It was dense thick and hearty just like I wanted because I was really tired after sitting through the musical Wicked last night.  It made me tired of so many different things.  But the bagel cured all.  I was especially happy to see that they sort of burnt the bacon.  I like burnt bacon in situations such as these, bagel sandwich situations I suppose, because greasy floppy bacon is simply untolerable on a sandwich.  The rigidity of bacon is connected to its taste in no uncertain terms.  I can take floppier bacon next to a short stack or a thick ass Belgian but on a sandwich it's deplorable.  I understand some people like floppy bacon.  These people are strange and untrustworthy.
Normally I would've liked this sandwich on a salt bagel but I'm on a diet and am steering clear of white flour.  But salt bagels are my favorite.  I've only recently discovered them, perhaps in the last three or four years.  Bagels always taste a little sweet to me (don't get me started on blueberry or cinnamon raisin, christ, get a muffin) and the salty, savory contrast really appeals to me.  Especially with a little cream cheese.
The Bagelry has been my bagel spot for most of the time I've lived here in Tucson.  I think it's the only local establishment devoted solely to bagels.  I might be wrong.  Bagels at Breuggers and Einstein Bros taste a little manufactured for my taste.  The Bagelry has a good product.  It's rarely crowded if you go in for breakfast, most of the traffic goes through the drive through and very early at that.  I went at seven thirty this morning and only waited behind one car.  All of their bagels are excellent.  They are light and airy with a nice thin crust around the outside that provides a tell tale crunch of a decent bagel when toasted.  I highly recommend the Bagelry for your bagel needs.  Unless you do something creepy with bagels like put jam on them.  In that case you better buy them shits at Albertson's.