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The cut-rate spinoff of Alphabet City's Bao 111 specializes in homestyle noodles, salads, and stir-fries inspired by classic Saigon cuisine. Steamy bowls of crab noodle soup and succulent stews are pure Southeast Asian comfort food, and zesty dressings enliven grilled shrimp and seared steak. For the most part, the splendid dessert exceptions, like pandan-leaf panna cotta, are welcome. The space uses artfully aged mirrors and floor tiles for an effect that's part French bistro, part Irish pub. Lively crowds pile into wooden booths and slurp soup and cocktails at the bar.

Pandan-leaf panna cotta, $6