The best restaurants in ho chi minh city, vietnam
After two winters of stuffing my face around this đô thị I love, I decided to put together a guide to Saigon street food, gathering some of the places I keep coming back to in one place. These are not the absolute best of everything, but rather a cross-section of delicious, cheap và authentic foods that are also conveniently located. I tended khổng lồ head lớn outer districts more often, on the hunt for that bun mam a friend told me about, or what was billed as “the best Peking duck in town” by my enthused landlady.
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While fun side trips khổng lồ outer districts are great, I wanted khổng lồ put together a post that would be more helpful for short-term trips. The restaurants and street stalls below are fairly central khổng lồ where most travellers stay, meaning people can frequent them even if in town only briefly.
The Ho bỏ ra Minh thành phố / Saigon Street Food Guide: Self-Guided Street Food Tour
Last Updated: NOVEMBER 20, 2022
One specific soup, a sweet-and-sour canh chua (photo in the “street food” section below), was what initially led me to the city. I was lured in by the complicated tastes and unfamiliar sting of the rice paddy herb on my tongue. It might have been one soup that brought me khổng lồ Saigon, but it was the rest of the food that kept me there, and keeps me coming back. It is not just taste of food that makes Saigon so enthralling, but the act of eating as well, và all of the craziness that eating comprises. The swirling noise, the families all sitting và enjoying a meal on the street, smiling at you fumbling with your condiments. The beauty of food being not just a necessity but also a sight in và of itself: a window into culture, & a source of endless wonder.
Countless moments of me smiling as an old lady came over shaking her head at my terrible rice paper folding skills, correcting my technique as we sat at the edge of traffic. Or the bo la lot vendor who discovered my love of starfruit and made sure to have extra on hand when I returned. The beloved grandpa at the pho ga restaurant below, who ran over khổng lồ my bowl repeatedly lớn ensure I added pickled garlic, lest I forget. The landladies that adopted me into their homes, feeding me, giving me hugs, teaching me how khổng lồ cook.
There are hundreds of moments like these baked into the aggregate of my memories in Vietnam. Most of them derive from food. As Luke Nguyen says in The Songs of Sapa: Stories và Recipes from Vietnam,
For Vietnamese people, food is our life; we are forever eating, cooking và talking about food. Food is communication – food is culture.
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I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, all I want is chicken noodle soup. Sadly this option is often off the table (literally) in North America; as a celiac, I can’t eat the noodles. But Vietnam is a perfect place for sick celiacs, because their chicken soup is made with thick rice noodles. This pho ga (ga is chicken) place also serves pho bo (bo meaning beef), but I wouldn’t go there for the beef soup. Instead opt for their flavourful, rich chicken broth & thinly sliced chicken breast. For those wanting a different fix, opt for mien ga (mien are mung bean noodles), both of which come with their signature spicy sauce, pickled garlic, và basket ‘o herbs. Chú ý that this is a place xe taxi drivers frequent at all hours of the night — it’s mở cửa 24 hours a day. It was a frequent visit during bouts of the flu, or even when full but walking by; one sniff of their chicken broth và you vì chưng an about turn and sit down for a bowl.
Where: Pho So 1 Ha Noi25 Nguyen Thi minh khai Street, District 1Open 24 hours.
Banh MiI can’t eat it, since it’s wheat, so I apologize for not being able to opine about the best one. However! Voracious friends recommend the two following places:
Where:
Banh ngươi Huynh Hoa 26 Lê Thị Riêng, Bến Thành, District 1
and
Banh ngươi 37 Nguyen Trai (aka bánh mỳ Thịt Nướng, ngóc ngách 39)
Also see this lovely 2020 piece from Austin Bush, about baking banh ngươi in Saigon.
For an all-in-one option, please see this post from Tom of Vietnam Coracle, who shares a guide lớn “Noodle Street” in District 2, where you can find many of these dishes all near each other. This includes pho, banh canh, hu tieu phái nam Vang, bun mam, and more.
A Slightly Fancier Meal
Bloom Saigon (formerly May Restaurant) is tucked at the kết thúc of a tiny alleyway near the canal’s edge, not far from my recommended Pho place on Hoang Sa. It’s mix in a lovely old colonial-style house, and run efficiently with delicious food. Would recommend trying the beef wrapped in mustard leaves, the tofu with lemongrass, và the sour soup, among other dishes. It’s a nice change from the more chaotic restaurants near the heart of District 1, and a lovely choice place for a date or anniversary.
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For vegetarians wanting a bit of a nicer restaurant, try Hum Restaurant, located near the War Remnants Museum in District 3.
