Eat & Drink like the locals, Ho Chi Minh City

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People just come to KFC, Lotteria or lately Burger King for fast food. However, I've found out a great place for those things. At The Burger Corner, they serve classico burger and also rice burger - an excellent combination between burger and Vietnamese rice. They have us beef, bacon, teriyaki, tonkatsu...and they are pretty good! You could come and enjoy at 43 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, district 1, HCMC or have a look at their menu and order online from their website: http://www.theburgercorner.com.vn/ Becoming a fan is also great, it's usually interesting in what they post everyday, zoom in what they actually do: http://www.facebook.com/TheBurgerCorner. If u crave for burgers, come here and it's worth the wait!

Favorite Dish: try out rice burger here, they are really original with different tastes. honey toast is also good!

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Here is a vietnamese version of Dried Squid or rather Squid Jerky. Suprisingly it is not sweet nor very spicy and has that right amount of crunchiness for taste. A 100 gram pack cost 35,000 VND.

You can buy it at the convenience stores or supermarkets and even at the Benh Thanh Market but again you must have good haggling skills when buying it at the market.

Favorite Dish: this roasted squid is really good

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like in any country, Vietnam has it's shared of bottle water and like in many countries, people don;t trust the tap water coming from the faucets and hence it is best to buy bottle mineral or spring water when in saigon and the prices of a bottled water here is one of the lowest in South East Asia so don't scrimp on buying bottled water on the convenience stores or supermarkets or at the markets or hotels.

5000 VND for 500 ml and 10,000 VND for 1,000 ml and 16,000 VND for 2 liter of Joy bottled water

Favorite Dish: most 3 star hotels and up give complimentary 2 bottles of water everyday to guests and it that is not enough, then buy at the nearest convenience store or local store.

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Cashew nuts are available across asia but each area has a different style to roast and flavor it. here in Vietnam, it is roasted in a very big wok and flavored with caramelized sugar with extra vietnamese flavoring, resulting in a distinct taste. It costs 60,000 VND a Pack at the souvenir shops at the mekong delta and 80,000 VND a pack at the souvenir shops at the thanh so nhat international airport.

Favorite Dish: it is cheaper to buy these assorted roasted cashew nuts goodies at the supermarkets like citimart of the supermarket at tax building since they are cheaper there at only 55,000 VND a pack.

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Bee pollen is a natural food. It is not a drug. Honeybee pollen contains every known vitamin, all of the minerals, proteins (amino acids), enzymes and coenzymes, fatty acids, and carbohydrates that our bodies need to sustain life, and all in perfect balance.

Bee pollen is used to retard hardening of the arteries, to strengthen the circulatory system and combat the symptoms of illness and allergies. It is believed to regulate the function of the endocrine system, aid digestion, reduce stress and increase alertness and stamina. Bee pollen has more protein by weight than meat, fish or eggs! Bee pollen is the richest known vegetable source of steroid hormones which improve overall strength, muscle mass, endurance and sexual potency. Pollen is known to accelerate healing, and increase blood and sperm count. How To Begin Eating Pollen

ADULTS: 1 teaspoon daily. Endurance runners and weight lifters can take 4-6 teaspoons a day. If you have allergies take Pollen in the morning and again in the afternoon. Pollen is totally safe to take even much larger doses.

CHILDREN: Start children out on 3 to 4 granules in the morning and build up to 1/2 teaspoon a day.

they sell it at 100,000 VND a pac

Favorite Dish: you can buy the bee polen on a mekong tour ar at some department stores in Saigon

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vietnam is not only a coffee growing area, they also have many tea plantations at the central highlands hence they also have many tea varieties and one of the most popular is the jasmine tea variety where they give you free hot jasmine tea at local restaurants (excluding the high end ones like lemongrass or vietnam house).

Favorite Dish: Jasmine tea sells for 40,000-80,000 VND per 100 grams at the markets and it depends on the variety (oolong, green tea, black tea, etc are also available here) and your haggling skills. cheaper in the supermarkets but they are already packed, unlike here in the markets where it is freshly ground and packed before your eyes and you can even smell the sweet aroma!

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There are many dried fruit brands in vietnam but the best is VINAMIT!

Vinamit organic dried fruits are simply amazing and thoroughly tickle your tastebuds! wherein they harvest the fruits and dry it in a special secret process then they vacuum packed it.

Vinamit produces, processes and exports fruit and other agricultural products. Vinamit products have been shipped to the US, Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines

Favorite Dish: Everything! the crispy dried jackfuit, mixed fruits, apple, taro, banana chips, etc. they are all crispy and not soggy plus are not that sweet. Prices starts from 18,000 VND for a 100 gram pack, 34,600 VND for a 250 gram pack to 44,000 VND for a 500 gram pack.

It is available everyhwere in Sai Gon but better buy it in supermarkets like citimart or at the Tax Building since it is cheaper there than in the markets like benh thanh.

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There is a choice of fatty or skimmed sausages. There are different kinds ranging in those made using fresh pork to those made using pig livers, duck livers and even turkey livers. Usually a livery sausage will be darker in colour than one made without liver. It is called "lop xýởng" or "lạp xýờng".They even have a pig face sausage that is shaped like a salami and is very tasty. These sausages are available in the markets and at the supermarkets and at the buffet tables of the hotels for breakfast.

Favorite Dish: different kinds of vietnamese sausages moreso the pig face sausage

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I am a long kong lover since we grow long kong in the philippines and harvest it at september-october. We have a 5 hectare plantation there that I missed to eat lansium fruits. I would be first to admit that the vietnamese longkong and thai longkong variety of the lansium fruit are sweeter than philippine duku variety (called lansones in the philippines).

Lansium or Long kong fruits have orbs around five centimeters in diameter, usually found in clusters of two to thirty fruits. Each round fruit is covered by yellowish, thick, leathery skin. Underneath the skin, the fruit is divided into five or six slices of translucent, juicy flesh. The flesh is slightly acidic in taste, although ripe specimens are sweeter. Green, seeds are present in around half of the segments, usually taking up a small portion of the segment although some seeds take up the entire segment's volume. In contrast with the sweet-sour flavor of the fruit's flesh, the seeds are extremely bitter.

[edit] Distribution

Favorite Dish: it cost VND 50,000 a kilo of long kong in vietnam.

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Banh Bao are Steamed bun dumplings that can be stuffed with onion, eggs, mushrooms, vegetables, etc. Banh bao is an adaptation from the Chinese baozi to fit Vietnamese taste. You can buy them everywhere and they cost 15,000 to 30,000 VND depending on the filling inside.

Ity goes well with the assorted vietnamese noodles too.

Favorite Dish: steamed bread dumplings with fillings are a generic in South East Asia And East Asia and are copied from the chinese Bao Zi and each country has it's variations and names like the Banh Bao of Vietnam and the fillings inside these banh bao are pork with leafy vegetable and goes well with the sweet chili dipping sauce.