Ho Chi Minh City Restaurant Tips by bpacker

File picture, I sat near

the staircase

Restaurant Name: Lemongrass

What do you do when you're dining alone in a strange city on the first night? Well, live it up of course and go to the best restaurant in town!

Thanks to the helpful Caravelle hotel staff, I found a lovely place to enjoy my first dinner in town. All these within a block of where I was staying...

What I liked about the place :
1) The ambience was softly romantic. Too bad I was alone! Decorated french-styled, this two storeyed restaurant had soft candle-lights and soothing tunes from traditional instuments.
2)Very attentive service from English-speaking waiters. I guess those fellas took pity on this lone diner and gave extra attention to me.

Favorite Dish: 1)Steamed spring rolls
2)Spicy seafood soup
3)Delicious desserts and coffee.

TIP:The beef pho was only so-so and paled in comparison to the cheaper one I had at Pho Hoa.

Back to what I was saying, I especially love the lovely spring rolls as they were decorated very artistically. More importantly, they taste heavenly! I found whole chunks of lovely big prawns inside, yum....

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Phone: (84-8) 822 0496
Address: 4 Nguyen Thiep
Directions: District 1

Pho Hao: The Best Pho in HCMC

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Updated by bpacker

on Nov 21, 2004

Slurp Slurp Slurp in Pho Hao

Restaurant Name: Pho Hoa

Well before you wonder what the hell pho is(say "fur") , it is a thin and white long thing, the most delicious noodle in the whole of Vietnam. This place is listed in Patricia Schultz's "1000 places to see before you die" so it's practically an instituition.

In all my 4D in HCMC, I've tried pho from street stalls to fine-dining establishments. The best, IMHO, is found at PHO HOA (say 'fur hua' ). The shop is tucked away quietly in Pasteur St and it can be quite difficult to find unless you hijack a cab (well,hunger drives you crazy sometimes ). Upon reaching, you should see a shop crammed with locals eating at all hours of the day ( see photo ) .

Favorite Dish: Choose a table and order PHO BO (say fur boar) or beef noodles. This is their specialty and it's way better than their chicken noodles (pho ga).

What makes their PHO BO good? Well for one , the beef is tender and the soup naturally flavourful unlike the msg-laden crap you find elsewhere. No names here but sometimes you shouldn't believe in celebrity endorsement.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Address: 260C Pasteur
Directions: Write down the address and show it to your cab driver. No point trying to say Pasteur in a Vietnamese accent.

Eat & Drink like the locals: Bill Clinton ate here

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on Nov 2, 2004

Ho Chi Minh City Eat & Drink like the locals

Pho 2000, HCMC

Restaurant Name: Pho 2000

Believe it not, Bill Clinton once made an impromptu stop in one of the Pho shops in HCMC. Kinda like how he would make a pit stop at Mac's in the US. Well, since this wasn't the US, I'm quite sure that he gave all his agents instant cardiac arrests. Along with that, he also made the owner of the shop very, very happy. Snapshotos of the former United States president shaking hands with the owners take the pride of place on a wall, along with more than 7 press reviews.

Favorite Dish: I popped in here more out of curiousity. The pho here pales in comparison to Pho Hao. Not only was the soup msg-laden, the herb serving was paltry and the beef nonedescript. Maybe they should have called this place "MacPho" in honour of Clinton.
I staggered out of the shop after I finished my meal as my heart went hippity-hop, post-msg . So much for celebrity endorsement !

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Address: 1-3 Phan Chu Trinh
Directions: Just beside Benh Tan Market

Eat & Drink like the locals: A Mekong Delta Specialty

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on Oct 6, 2004

Yummy Elephant ear fish

Restaurant Name: Restaurant, Pheonix Island.

The best thing about those trips out of HCMC is the opportunity to savour really fresh food from the rural areas. Well, thanks to really helpful tip from a VTer, I went to a Mekong Delta excursion organised by Sinh Cafe and had the opportunity to try a fish with a strange name.

Favorite Dish: It's called the "Fried Elephant Ear Fish" . Sounds really out of this world right? Well, before you expect a fish with two gigantic ear lobes, let me just say it's actually a normal fish with lots of protruding, spiky scales .

Well, this spiky bugger is fried to a golden crisp and made to stand upright on lots of greens and spring onions s.haped like flowers. That's not all though, a waitress with really deft hands will tear pieces of the fish out with chopsticks and wrapped the flaky flesh inside a delicate rice paper with lots of basil, mint and vemicelli.

This treat cost about USD6 and thanks to the new Japanese friends I made during the trip, I had a free taste. Best roll I've ever tried!

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Directions: Out of the beaten path, contact your tour agent! I'll put sinh's cafe's contact as they were excellent.

Eat & Drink like the locals: Yummy Vietnamese Coffee

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on Sep 27, 2004

Fancy Coffee, Caravelle Hotel

Restaurant Name: Any coffee shop in town

According to a Viet Kieu (that's overseas Vietnamese for you ) I spoke to, it takes an average of half an hour to drink the local coffee and 1 min to drink a cup of java in the US. Well, I don't know how many times he must have scalded his tongue in the process but he was right about the local coffee...

Over here, Vietnamese love to use a fancy coffee strainer that makes coffee drip out in an agonisingly slow fashion. So, too bad if you're a Type A. In any case, it's worth the wait . The coffee is thick but excellent .
Think Italian expresso. One shot of of this powerful drink is enough to propel you to the moon. Perhaps, this explains why all the motorists over here drive as though they're competing in the grand prix.

Favorite Dish: You can find coffee everywhere but tell them that you want VIETNAMESE COFFEE. They'll serve you instant coffee since they think we foreigners love this soot-tasting invention.

Tip: Take the coffee with condensed milk like the locals. Since the composition is about 40% milk and 60% coffee, this drink will make probably your eyeballs roll backwards. But heck, it just doesn't taste the same with fresh milk. Dilute it with hot water if you must.

Double Tip: If you want to buy back some of the delicious coffee, pop over to BenTanh Market and get freshly ground coffee that comes from "BUONMETHUOT". That's the premier coffee district and all coffee beans from there are roasted in butter! Needless to say, I'm addicted to this fragrant smelling joe

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Theme: Local

Eat & Drink like the locals: Street Food in Vietnam

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on Sep 27, 2004

Restaurant Name: Fried Spring Rolls

Other than Goi Cuon, the commonly seen cold spring rolls, you could also try Cha Gio Chay , the fried version. I had mine in the Mekong Delta region, along with the famed Delta rice which is supposedly very flavourful because of the good flood waters...

Favorite Dish: This spring roll is fried to a golden crisp and stuffed w/ tofu, cellophane noodles, black mushrooms, carrots, served w/ lettuce, mint, etc.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter

Eat & Drink like the locals: Rice Paper Rolls

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on Nov 21, 2004

Yummy rice paper rolls

Restaurant Name: Stall beside Benh Tan Market

If you have not eaten Goi Cuon, or the steamed spring roll, you have not been to Vietnam! What is it? Well, yummy pieces of pork, prawns, vemicelli are tightly wrapped around a delicate white skin known as 'rice paper'.

Favorite Dish: Spring rolls make an excellent light, late-night snack. Just pop over to Ben Tanh in the evening ( yes you read that correctly) , go to the right side of the market where you'll see a long row of stalls and order the rolls from anyone. It should cost less than a dollar.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Directions: The right side of Ben Tanh Market

Lemongrass: Rice Paper Rolls - Lemongrass Rest.

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on Nov 21, 2004

Rice Rolls, Lemongrass, HCMC

Restaurant Name: Lemongrass

I've deliberately put this picture here so that you can see in contrast the styles in which the spring roll is served. This yummy roll was taken at Lemongrass, a fine-dining establishment whereas the previous one was served street-style. Anyway, the one at lemongrass cost me less than US$4. Cheap and good !

To see more delicious picture of Vietnamese food, click on b'packer's hcmc page

Favorite Dish: Haha, you're definitely in luck if you're reading this. In my sneaky ol' bpacker style, I've autopsied the roll at Lemongrass and figured out what makes it so good. Here's what I found out and since I've tried this at home. Let me assure you it's bloody good.

Leomongrass Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients
1)Rice Paper
2)Asian Lettuce.Wash and seperate leaves
3)Tiger Prawns, boiled, de-shelled and sliced into two. Save water after boiling
4)Roasted peanuts, ground
5)Hoisin Sauce
6)Peanut Butter
7)Garlic Chilli Sauce ( optional)
8) A plate of lukewarm water
9)Finest grade Vermicelli, boiled in prawn water ( see #3 )
10) Carrots and Cucumber, sliced jullienne
11) Fermented Fish Sauce
12) Asian mint , spring onion or basil

Begin sadistically by boiling the prawns alive and filleting them. If this horrible to you or if you're living somewhere near the Arctic circle make do with with the small boiled ones. Of course, don't be daft and sliced the small buggers for gdness' sake. Use them whole. Save the briny prawn water after this and boil your vermicelli.

While your noodles are cookin', slice your carrots and cucumber into toothpicks and make your magically delicious sauce. Here's how..mix hoisin sauce together with a dash of garlicky chilli sauce and stinky fish sauce. Of course, the sauce will stink to high heavens but that is what makes the sauce gd! After that, sprinkle the ground peanuts on the sauce.

Now, your noodles should be ready. Drain it really dry.

Now for the real thing! Dip the rice paper quickly unto the lukewarm water. After that, put 3 chunky slices of prawn on the paper and slap a lettuce leaf on it. Pluck some vermicelli, mint, basil leaves carrot and cucumber and put it on top of the leaf. Fold the papery sides next and the bottom. Roll the thing like a scroll next till it's tight. There you go. Voila!

To eat, dunk it in the fish sauce and bite into the juicy goodness.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10 » Currency Converter
Phone: (84-8) 822 0496
Address: 4 Nguyen Thiep
Directions: District 1

An upscale restaurant somewhere in Dist 1: Haute Cuisine - Chinese Food

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on Dec 28, 2004

Fried Rice Paradise, HCMC

Restaurant Name: An upscale restaurant somewhere in Dist 1

I just had to attach this picture as I liked the presentation of the fried rice very much. Can you see the yam butterflies surrounding the fried rice set in a flower of petals?
Well, that's the only nice thing I can say about this dish. Chinese food here sucks big time, whether it is eaten in a pricey restaurant or in a mid-priced joint.

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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum

Eat & Drink like the locals: Eating Chinese Food in Vietnam

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Updated by bpacker

on Dec 28, 2004

Seafood Rice, Coffee