Street Vendors, Ho Chi Minh City

I will introduce to you a very popular noddle soup of Viet Nam, BUN BO HUE. This is also my favorite Vietnamese cuisine. We usually have it for breakfast.
You can see the origin of this cuisine in its name, Hue, which is an ancient city in the middle of Viet Nam. The dish contains rice vermicelli and beef. Bun means rice vermicelli and Bo means beef. Its special flavour is a perfect combination of fermented shrimp sauce (especially Hue shrimp sauce), lemongrass, pineapple and of course, beef. Some people just simply use sugar and may skip the pineapple but that is one of the most vital spices. The sweet flavour from sugar is not strong and pleasant enough.
Bun Bo Hue is commonly served with a bunch of vegetables (thinly sliced water spinach, banana blossom,mint, basil, etc)
A bowl of Bun Bo Hue normally costs 25,000vnd-30,000vnd. In Sai Gon, the popular brand for this cuisine is “Bun Bo Song Huong”.
Enjoy!

#hochiminhprivatetour #saigonprivatetour

Favorite Dish: Bun Bo hue

A fresh baguette, cut in half and fill with delicious roasted pork and beef sliced thin and shaved, then chopped and put in the roll , fill with condiments of slice cucumber, cilantro, carrots and mayo sauce.

Favorite Dish: Doner Banhmi sandwich for 18,000 dongs

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.

I love soft shelled crabs and it is hard to get these rare treat but here in vietnam, these are common fare since they have an abundant seafood supply and this is my second favorite dish here at saigon.

Cua Lot is vietnamese deep fried soft-shelled crab served with a sweet vinegar vinaigrette sauce and is an appetizer but can also be as a main course since it is crunchy! they only gathing crabs when molting season starts wherein the crabs lose their hard shell anf grow new ones and it takes 4 days for it to hardened hence it is during this time that these crabs are gathered. it cost 40,000 VND an order at nightmarkets and hawker centers and 75,000 VND at pricey restaurants like Vietnam House Restaurant.

Favorite Dish: the cua lot is available even at the stalls of benh than market and pho mua sam night market

this is easily one of my favorite vietnamese sour soup since it is slightly similar to the filipino sour soup dish, the sinigang but the difference is that it made with less souring agent and tends to be more spicy than the filipino sinigang.

this south vietnamese sour and slightly spicy soup is execellent and is available here at pricey vietnamese restaurants like Vietnam House Restaurant and even at it's sister, the lemongrass restaurant and even at other restaurants and small snack stands and sidewalk stalls and the pho mua sam nightmarket at Benh Thanh. Price is 50,000 VND an order at the street stalls and it costs 80,000-120,000 VND at the Upscale restaurants.

Favorite Dish: you can find them everywhere and try to taste it.

I chanced upon a Che seller stationed at one of the streets. There were at least 5 different types of ches available and I wondered how it taste like. One of my volunteer guide told me that she liked a particular che and naturally I picked that che. It looked a bit gooey but it really did not disappoint.

There were white beans(if I'm not wrong), sago pearls, and thin strips of black fungus cooked with coconut milk. The dessert was delicious. The white beans were soft and the black fungus added a bit of crunch to the texture. It was a good contrast of texture. Usually, black fungus was prepared with savory dishes and this was the first time I had black fungus with dessert. The packet of che cost me 5,000VND.

Banh Bao is the same as the chinese steam bun which could be found almost anywhere from street vendors to convenience stores. The size of banh bao is so much bigger than the big bao(savory) sold in Singapore. It also had a denser texture too.

There are 2 types of banh bao: sweet or savory. I tried the banh bao with sweet custard-like fillings and the fillings were smooth. The fillings was made with egg and mung beans. I had no idea how much the banh bao cost because my volunteer guide's brother bought it for me.

This rice stall is along Co Bac Str. I stayed at Nam Chau lodging (a lane off Co Bac Str.) and found this stall accidentally. From Nam Chau, turn right into Co Bac, walk to the intersection where there is a traffic light and a secondary school. Cross to the opposite and continue walking along Co Bac. You will see noodle stalls, an internet cafe etc. before coming to this rice stall.

This stall sells food for lunch and dinner. You will find many locals eating there. Free iced tea is provided. I ate dinner there twice. The first night, I had rice with a palm-sized piece of roast pork and vegetables for 9,000 Dong. The second night cost more. I had rice, vegetables, chicken fried in soya sauce and steamed egg (too salty) for 12,000 Dong. Very cheap.

This rice stall is the nearest I saw to the Malaysian economy rice stall.

Favorite Dish: Roast pork. About just as good as the one I ate at a Sapa street stall.

The best Pho (beef noodle) I think is the local Pho at the markets. I had a chance to taste the local beef noodle there. There are a wuite a number of strips of beef and the noodles is really soft. In fact , its like the noodles just stream right through your mouth

Its about 13000 Vmd (plus the drink). Took me a while to figure out the pricing although they a price list (as per photo)

Favorite Dish: Its the Beef.

In the Pham Ngu Lao Area you can find so many restaurants serving anything from Vietnamese Spring Rolls to Pizza and all of them are competing for your business so the price of food is pretty cheap. Also there are street side vendors selling pho and bread and even corn on the cob.

Food is VietNam are cheap. As a born Vietnamese-american I could give you one advice, and that is Expensive restuarant in saigon does not make good food. those indoor air-conditioning restuarant is usually open for tourist (especially the ones in the 1st district) so you might not be able to experience the actual local food and culture. There are so many restuarant in saigon that it's hard to tell which ones is better than the other. China town n 5th district are famous for, of course, Chinese food, But they usually open at night only. 3rd district has a whole entire block that's fill is restuarant of Viet cusine at night. Some are "bot chien" and 'banh canh". As for "pho" , probably the most known Viet food in the world is pratically everywhere in the city, and I have not yet try them all. I heard that Pho 2000 restuarant(first district) is pretty good, that where president Clinton have breakfast, but I wouldn't say it's the best. My all time favorite Viet food would be Hu Tieu Nam Vang, it's similar to Pho but 10 times better, Especially the Ti-Lum restuarant in Cao Thang Street (5th district) The resturant is only open in the morning so wake up early. all the food would be gone by 10 am.
One final advice that I could give you is that.... if you want to fully enjoy Vietnam, hire a tour guide.

Eat with the locals at this street stall serving piping hot Vietnamese Beef Pho (noodles). Run by a middle aged lady (I hope she is still there), a bowl of noodles cost you only 6000dongs. She does not speak English so use sign language. Condiments, chillis, fresh herbs and vegetable are available on the tables, so add them as much as you desire into your hot bowl of noodles and slurp them up in gusto. Her stall is situated in the Pham Ngu Lao area, about 5 minutes walk from Mdm Cuc's Hotel 64, after turning right. Hope you can find her and Bon Appetit!

Some of the best places to eat in Vietnam are hard to find as they only set up at night to sell their wares. We would have never found this one if it were not for a nice older local man who sent me here via a motto that he hired and paid for. We wound up going back a couple times on our own as there was an easy to recognize landmark across the street. These places set up a small makeshift kitchen and some plastic tables and chairs on the sidewalk. They might be illegal for all I know but what they serve up is tasty and cheap. I guess they can’t stay open during the day as they might block pedestrian traffic too much. I’m sure they make more than enough money at night as they are justifiably packed with locals. So, you know the food's good.

Favorite Dish: This place specialized in bun thit nuong. Bun is rice vermicelli, a thin rice noodle very popular in Vietnam. Thit is pork and nuong means it is grilled. It is garnished with bean sprouts, mint and coriander leaves, and pickled vegetables. It is light and refreshing and perfect for the hot local climate. There was a sugar cane drink vendor right next to it for something to wash it down with. Two servings of the bun and a couple of drinks cost 27,000 dong (less than two dollars). I would have to say, it was our favorite meal of the entire two month trip to Southeast Asia. By all means, seek this place out or one like it.

This little place hit the spot one afternoon after we had a few beers at the local bia hoi joint. We had been eating lots of sandwiches in Vietnam as most Westerners grow tired of noodles and rice after a few weeks. One good thing about French colonization of the region is they taught the locals to bake bread. Their baguettes are fantastic and very cheap to boot. This was a very typical place so just look for some baguettes in the storefront and go in and order one.

Favorite Dish: You can get many different fillings. They generally do a nice pate and pork is always popular. They generally add some greens and often pickled vegetables. I found the best move was to just let the sandwich maker do what they wanted, which generally involved a little of everything. It is surprising how nice pate mixed with pork can be! They range in price according to the filing but generally you’ll not pay more than 1000 to 1500 dong (less than a dollar). Cans of beer can inflate your cost so grab one and bring it to a bia hoi joint instead.

This was the best Pho I have ever had. The alley blue sign said 'Cu Xa Van Hoa 288. Nam Ky Khoi Nghia'. It's over there by the art galleries or by the stinking bridge - Cau Cong Ly. Go down this alley - all the way to the back at the end - don't stop at any of the other open vendors in this alley. There is a place that looks like an open garage with tables and no-back metal chairs. Get there early if you want certain meat selection.

Favorite Dish: Pho was the only thing I ate there.