Are you a gourmet? Are you fond of exploring a new cuisine? Do you know that there is a heaven for street food staying in Vietnam? Follow us to discover right now.
Among different local cuisines along Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, as known as Saigon, is no doubt one of the best places for food culture. With the unique speciality in each stall, Saigon street food has seduced many tastes, even the pickiest ones. Here in this heaven are top dishes that will make you regret without paying a visit to South Vietnam.
1.Banh my Hoa Ma:
Staying near the intersection of Cao Thang – Nguyen Dinh Chieu, this food stall has been famous for almost 50 years as one of the best places to try a unique style of eating bread in Saigon. People have bread with various food such as omelette, onion, ham, sausage, pâté or cha lua (a kind of grilled chopped pork), accompanied by side dishes like pickles with a slight gingery smell and secret special sour sauce. However, it is the way to eat that makes this food original. You can either taste the whole loaf of bread or in a hot pan with separate ingredients. The price for a pan as below is 47,000 VND, quite high compared to average budget, but this is no doubt worth money.
A full ingredient pan eating with bread
The modest outlook of food stall
Address: 53 Cao Thang St., District 3
Open hours: 6 am – 11 am
Price range: 30,000VND – 60,000VND
2.Banhtrangtron Uncle Vien (Mixed Rice Paper of Uncle Vien):
A top must-eat dish in Saigon that tourist can easily find on any road. The simple, easy cuisine of mixing different available ingredients spread its name around; people rush to learn the recipe and open their own business in almost every corner of the city. The strange combination of rice paper, boiled quail egg and green mango creates an interesting flavour when being chewed. Adding some beef jerky, little chilli paste, mix them up and then enjoy with a glass of iced lemon tea. It is absolutely well-noted if you want to start a Saigon food tour.
It will be a great pity without trying this delicious snack at the food stall of Uncle Vien. Surely you will not disappoint with a full bowl of many appetizing toppings at a reasonable price. Because of its convenience, Saigonese especially youngsters can buy it take-away as their break meals.
A full bowl of banhtrangtron Uncle Vien in Saigon
Address: 38 Nguyen Thuong Hien St., Precinct 3, District 5
Open hours: 1 pm – 7 pm
Price range: 10,000VND – 22,000VND
3.Com tam Tu Map (Broken steamed rice)
Rather than being considered as some random Saigon street food, com tam is a symbol ofSouth Vietnam cuisine culture. It may somehow be too heavy to be called a snack, so the best time to try it is at lunch or dinner time, as the main dish. Customers can freely choose various options to eat with tender, flavoury broken rice grains, but the most common is with BBQ pork rib or grilled chopped pork and shredded pork skin. The golden fatty ribs are cut into small pieces for convenience. In addition, guests can also select either vegetable soup or sour soup to suit their taste.
With the famous hand-made grilled pork skin and rib, Tu Map has earned its reputation as one of the most well-known long-standing restaurants in Saigon. Besides the spacious, regularly cleaned layout; small bowls, fish sauce, toothpicks, chillies are neatly put on a tray, making customers feel comfortable about the hygiene of the restaurant. After a long journey around Saigon in the daytime, a full dish of com tam will be such a deserving award for hard-working and hungry tourists.
The temptation of broken steamed rice with tasty pork rib and side dishes
Address:812 Su Van Hanh, Precinct 12, District 10
Open hours: 7 am – 2 pm
Price range: 12,000VND – 42,000VND
4.Bun Mam PhanBoiChau (Fish sauce Noodle)
Bun mam is specifically a southern Vietnamese dish, and just like most other Saigon street food, you’ll find it at both sit down restaurants and portable street food stalls around town. It has attracted guests with a characteristic aroma of the dark colour broth prepared with a fermented sauce made from specialities available in the South West Rivers. At first, rice noodles are loaded with the entire assortment of meats like squid, prawns and pork are all scattered on top, then sousing the fishy broth over the bowl. In addition, guests can optionally sweeten the flavour with tamarind juice or sugar.
We recommend Bun Mam PhanBoiChau for its great location and serving hot fresh bowls with beautiful tasty broth. You can easily stop by to sample it after going shopping in Ben Thanh market.
Bun mam at 22 PhanBoiChau
Address: 22 PhanBoiChau St., across from Ben Thanh Market, District 1
Open hours: 6 am – 7 pm
Price range: 40,000VND – 70,000VND
