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The cut-rate spinoff of Alphabet City's Bao 111 specializes in the homestyle noodles, salads, and stir-fries of chef-partner Michael Huynh's Saigon youth. 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, Huynh stifles the urge to fuse East and West—and the splendid dessert exceptions, like pandan-leaf panna cotta, are welcome. He designed the place, too, using 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. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Pandan-leaf panna cotta, $6