Since I enjoyed Vietnamese food so much, this post would summarize my food hunt in HCM. =)
STREET FOOD / STALLS / TRADITIONAL VIETNAMESE FOOD
Ban Can Cuoh (A random stall in Ben Thanh Market)
Our first stop in HCM was Ben Thanh Market, which is a popular shopping heaven among the tourists. We weren't very fascinated by the idea of shopping there because we heard that the prices weren't that attractive (tourists' price). What attracted us more was the food. Ban Can Cuoh refers to Vietnamese udons in crab soup. Love the broth but the portion was small for the price paid.
Our first stop in HCM was Ben Thanh Market, which is a popular shopping heaven among the tourists. We weren't very fascinated by the idea of shopping there because we heard that the prices weren't that attractive (tourists' price). What attracted us more was the food. Ban Can Cuoh refers to Vietnamese udons in crab soup. Love the broth but the portion was small for the price paid.
Bun Mam
Address: 22 Phan Boi Chau, located right across the street from Ben Thanh Market
Price: 65000 vnd
It is another type of Vietnamese soup noodles. The broth is flavoured with fermented fish sauce. I love everything containing rice vermicelli and thus I fell in love with this immediately. We tried the highly recommended stall, located just outside Ben Thanh Market. The pricing was rather high but the portion was big and a wide variety of ingredients such as shrimps and meat were added. Two people sharing one would be just nice.
Sidetrack here: the famous weasel coffee. No sampling here but we could smell the coffee beans. It was really easy to tell between good and bad coffee beans. Coffee beans of lower quality smelled a bit sour and less fragrant. My friend bought two packets of the coffee. The packet came with a coffee dripper.
Sidetrack here: the famous weasel coffee. No sampling here but we could smell the coffee beans. It was really easy to tell between good and bad coffee beans. Coffee beans of lower quality smelled a bit sour and less fragrant. My friend bought two packets of the coffee. The packet came with a coffee dripper.
Che Chuoi
Address: 241 Vo Van Tan Street, District 3.
Business Hours: 5pm to closing time, it can be as early as 8pm
Business Hours: 5pm to closing time, it can be as early as 8pm
It's a dessert made from thick coconut milk sauce and bananas. Apparently the locals really like this because the uncle was so occupied with serving the customers all the time. However, I couldn't stand the sourness of bananas and the sauce, just not my cup of tea. We didn't finish the dessert. Huge disappointment after walking all the way to District 3 for this. But the uncle also sells other kinds of desserts, maybe you should try them instead.
Banh Xeo
The sizzling cake. I like the crispy rice paper =) A mix of ingredients were added on top of the grilled rice paper. One of my favourite in Saigon (Saigon is the ancient name of HCM). There were a lot of
stalls selling this in the park near the cathedral. Get this snack to fill your empty stomach after visiting the cathedral =)
stalls selling this in the park near the cathedral. Get this snack to fill your empty stomach after visiting the cathedral =)
RESTAURANTS
Com Tam Moc
Address: 85, Ly Tu Trong, Q1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Address: 85, Ly Tu Trong, Q1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Com tam or broken rice is a traditional Vietnamese dish made from fractured rice grains, which is rice of lower quality. It is a popular dish in Southern part of Vietnam, particularly in Saigon. I couldn't really taste its difference from normal rice but the grilled pork was awesome, haha.
Oh yeah, Vietnamese green tea is usually served free in all parts of Vietnam apart from HCM. Can try to request for it but bear in mind that normally restaurants will charge on the green tea still.
Address: 234 Bùi Viện, Phạm Ngũ Lão, District 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam.
Business Hours: Daily 9am to 11pm
Apparently it's one of the restaurants recommended by Trip Advisor. I love the drinks here, especially the fresh fruits yogurt. The food was okay, met our standard, not too spectacular.
Mushrooms and veggies pho.
( Left ) Strawberry and mango smoothie.
( Right ) Yogurt with fresh fruits.
Banana Cake.
CAFES / COFFEE HOUSES
Accoding to my friend, there are two popular coffee chain stores in Vietnam - Nguyen Trung Coffee and Highlands Coffee. For me, Nguyen Trung serves more traditional coffee whereas Highlands coffee is more well-known for blended coffee and coffee jelly. Nonetheless, both brands have a lot of branches around HCM and it's not difficult to find one. Their popularity is exactly like our Starbucks in Malaysia or Singapore.
Nguyen Trung Coffee claimed to be the No. 1 coffee in Vietnam and we shall verify the statement. I ordered No.4 coffee, which matched its description on the menu - strong aroma.
Traditional dripping coffee.
It's different from Niguyen Trung Coffee, it sells more fun and innovative drinks. The highlight was definitely the coffee jelly! I ordered the classic one whereas my friend opted for the hazelnut flavour. I like both!
Yeap, that's all for today! Will try to update more frequently! XD
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