If you’re wondering where to eat the must try dishes of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest, most exciting metropolis, then you’ve come to the right place. Well, actually, the right place would be Ho Chi Minh City, but in the virtual world, you’ve come to the right place, IDEAL magazine, for the top tips on the best food in Saigon.
We’ve all got a bit confused here, haven’t we?
Let’s start again, and stick to what we know; insider tips, street food recommendations, and the very best versions of the very best Vietnamese dishes. Here’s our guide on where to eat in Ho Chi Minh City, the IDEAL restaurants, stalls, shophouses and everything in between.
Bun Thit Nuong Chi Tuyen (District 1)
Ideal for a grilled pork belly, fermented rice noodle and fresh herb salad…
Let’s hit the streets and do what the Viets do best; perch on plastic stools and eat some of the freshest, lightest, most delicious grub in the world.
Bun thit nuong is one of the South’s finest dishes; a barbecued pork salad over lightly fermented ‘bun’ noodles, crisp lettuce and loads of herbs. This is topped with roasted peanuts, crispy shallots on occasion, pickled carrots and daikon, and a dipping sauce which defines southern Viet food; fish sauce, a little lime, sugar and chilli.
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There are proud purveyors all over town slinging this classic to hungry punters, but Chi Tuyen’s version, on Co Giang street (a great strip for all manner of Vietnamese street food), is perhaps our favourite. Make sure you include cha gio in your order; a crispy spring roll filled with glass noodles, wood ear mushrooms and, usually, a little minced pork and prawn or crab.
Address: 175C Cô Giang, Phường Cô Giang, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Facebook: @bunthitnuongchituyen
Xoi Bat (Binh Thanh District)
Ideal for Vietnam’s favourite comfort food, reimagined…
Though the dish certainly doesn’t need refining, Xoi Bat is redefining the traditional Vietnamese comfort food of steamed sticky rice – or xoi – to really exciting effect.
A brave opening at the height of the pandemic in 2021 by a young, dynamic team, Xoi Bat aimed to be all about attention to detail and a few gentle flourishes, and so the vision has been realised.
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Their signature xoi, the pha lau trung non, features sticky rice topped with quail eggs, pig ears and fried shallots, served with soup and kimchi (which is becoming increasingly ubiquitous on the Southern Vietnamese table, we’ve noticed). Rather than redefining the wheel, the team at Xoi Bat have simply given it shiny alloys, and we love it.
True to the anything-goes, eat-anytime nature of xoi, the restaurant is open from 7am to 10pm daily, ideal for a breakfast fix or a late evening snack, equally.
Address: 8 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Ward 7, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Facebook: @xoibat
Cuc Gach Quan (District 1)
Ideal for traditional family-style dining and for trying everything…
Whilst the majority of our favourite places to eat in Ho Chi Minh City are one-bowl-wonder, one dish specialist kinda places, there’s also still room for a broader, family-style spread in our hearts and appetites.
Cuc Gach Quan is one of the best places to come for that kind of sharing meal, with traditional Vietnamese home cooking-style dishes served in a charming French colonial house.
Founded by architect Tran Binh, the restaurant features vintage tiles and antique furniture that help give the impression that a Vietnamese grandmother is at the stoves cooking your dinner. The spring rolls – both deepfried and fresh ‘summer’ style – are excellent here, as is the claypot fish stewed with pepper, that comes up caramelised and umami-rich. It’s joyous over rice. It’s even better with a few cold beers.
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The restaurant gained international fame when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt dined here in 2011, and it continues to be one of the grand dames of the Saigon dining scene. Whilst Brad Pitt has well and truly sullied his reputation since, Cuc Gach Quan just goes from strength to strength.
It’s a great spot for group dining, too, with large tables and an expansive menu to satisfy even the most fickle members of the squad. What’s not to love here?
Address: 10 Đặng Tất, Tân Định, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Website: cucgachquan.com
Banh Mi Huynh Hoa (District 1)
Ideal for a gold standard version, in the city that birthed the banh mi…
Needing little in the way of introduction, the world conquering Vietnamese sandwich appears in myriad forms across Ho Chi Minh City. And since this was the city that (probably) spawned the first banh mi, there really is no better place in the world to eat the crispy baguette filled with grilled and cured meat, pickles, herbs, hot sauce and more than in Saigon.
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Though we’d rather not put our neck on the line and suggest just one place to enjoy ‘the best’ banh mi in Ho Chi Minh City (hell, we’ve barely tried 1% of them…there are just so many), the popular consensus is that Banh Mi Huynh Hoa does a damn fine, damn definitive version. But honestly, if you simply step out of your hotel and look for a queue forming, you’ll likely stumble across your favourite version in the world. And that’s what it’s all about, right?
Address: 26 Lê Thị Riêng, P.BT, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
Facebook: @banhmihuynhhoa
Read: Where to find the best banh mi in Hanoi
Banh Mi 37 Nguyen Trai (District 1)
Ideal for a banh mi with a difference…
We couldn’t eat our way across Ho Chi Minh City and only have one banh mi. This is the home of the celebrated sandwich, after all.
That said, we’re going for something a little different this second time around. At Banh Mi 37 on Nguyen Trai, the baguettes are stuffed with grilled, caramelised pork patties (not dissimilar to those you get in your bun cha up north) and paired with thick wedges of gently salted cucumber, shredded, pickled papaya, coriander, and a piquant chilli sauce. Heaven.
This one is takeaway only, but you can lean against a wall (or against your motorbike) in the adjacent alleyway and wolf down several quite easily. No one will judge you for it…
Address: 37 Nguyễn Trãi, Ho Chi Minh City
Beo Oi Quan (District 1)
Ideal for ebullient, light hearted dining with plenty of flavour…
With a name translating (affectionately, we should add) as ‘Fatty’s Restaurant’, you know you’re in for a good feed at Beo Oi Quan, a comfortable, pleasingly airy restaurant that leans on the Northern Vietnamese culinary canon to satisfying ends.
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It’s a cheerful place to settle into, with cartoon illustrations of some of the signature dishes on the wall, buoyant service, and a vibe that doesn’t feel rushed. Hell, even the menu font is a little jaunty! From that menu, many come for the hotpot, which is convivial and generous, but the bun rieu cua is the real star of the show here. That Hanoian freshwater crab and tomato noodle soup is just so refreshing in the sweltering heat.
Speaking of refreshing, the kumquat and honey drink, served over ice, is as thirst quenching as it comes. Một cái nữa, please…
Address: 15/20 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Facebook: @MonngoncuanguoiHaNoi
Bo La Lot Hoang Yen (District 1)
Ideal for grilled beef wrapped in piper leaf, to be enjoyed kerbside…
Back to Co Giang street, which is home to a string of bo la lot restaurants; one dish you certainly want to try before leaving town. Minced beef – a little spicy, a little peppery – is wrapped in piper leaf (‘betel’ leaf to many), grilled until smoky and served with a huge plate of herbs and lettuce, which you use to make your own wraps. So good, so moreish, and so cheap, too.
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At Hoang Yen’s you’ll see the addition of a sweet, sour mayonnaise on the beef wraps. If that’s not your thing (weirdly, it works), then let them know; a simple ‘khong’ (meaning ‘no’) + ‘may/yon/naise’ (just split those syllables out) should do the trick. The do-it-yourself assembly job routine makes for a more languid approach to dinner than some other street food joints where you may feel a little rushed. Great for an evening with friends and beer, then.
Address: 143 Cô Giang, Phường Cô Giang, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Hu Tieu Nam Vang Nhan Quan (District 3)
Ideal for a noodle soup of shrimp, pig heart, quail’s egg and more…
We’re going to resist pho recommendations just yet, because if it’s noodle soup we’re after in the south, it has to be hu tieu. Though it comes in many forms, our favourite version is Hu Tieu Nam Vang, a glorious meeting of Chinese and Cambodian influences and just a fantastic, uniquely flavoured bowl of goodies.
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The hu tieu noodles are defined by a proper rice-y flavour and decent bite, and the pork bone based broth is clear and light. Expect plenty of sliced pork offal and mince floating in the soup, as well as a couple of large shrimp as standard. The rest is up to both the server and your own whim. The district 3 joint Hu Tieu Nam Vang Nhan Quan do an excellent version.
Address: 488 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Phường 2, Quận 3, Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
Com Tam Ba Ghien (District 1)
Ideal for broken rice and grilled pork chop close to the backpacker strip…
Only fools commit their fractured rice grains to the bin. Indeed, ever creative Vietnamese cooks have created a whole dish celebrating their imperfection; com tam (‘broken rice’) is found all over Ho Chi Minh City, served with an array of customisable sides and toppings. And regardless of just how many of those toppings you plonk on your plate, and despite the fact that you’ll feel as though you could always add one more, this dish is proudly all about the rice.
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That said, the city’s most popular accoutrement is a thin, grilled pork chop, glazed until sweet and burnished until bronze. But no local would stop there, and neither should you. A cripsy, runny egg, a mound of pork floss, fresh cucumber, pickled carrot…these are just some of the many delicious extras you should be adding. Don’t hold back, and you’ll be richly rewarded with a nourishing plateful. And full is the operative word here.
Address: 84 Đặng Văn Ngữ, Phường 10, Phú Nhuận, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Facebook: @ComTamBaGhien
Banh Xeo 46A (District 1)
Ideal for Bourdain-approved, pork and shrimp filled crispy crepes…
Next up, a dish from Central Vietnam that’s wildly popular on the streets of this Southern juggernaut; banh xeo. Rice flour, turmeric flour and water is fried until crispy, forming a taco-like shell which is filled with shrimp, minced pork, bean sprouts and the ubiquitous, ever welcome mountain of fresh herbs. Traditionally this pancake is then wrapped in rice paper and more lettuce and eaten accompanied with a sharp, salty dipping sauce of fish sauce, vinegar and chilli.
At Banh Xeo 46A, made even more popular by the patronage of Anthony Bourdain, you’ll find pancake slinging of the highest order, and baskets of fresh herbs stacked even higher. Ăn ngon nhé!
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A word of warning; prices are pretty premium here, owing to the joint’s popularity following its numerous TV appearances. Other (cheaper) versions do exist!
Address: 46A Đinh Công Tráng, Tân Định, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Facebook: @banhxeo46A
Pho 2000 (District 1)
Ideal for beef pho done right, close to Ben Thanh Market…
Pho 2000, close to Ho Chi Minh’s famous Ben Thanh Market, is found via the stairs of the now ubiquitous Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and its first floor position means it’s a more upright, comfortable meal than those eaten with eyes at Honda Wave level.
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Bill Clinton is proudly pictured on the walls enjoying a bowl; so much so, he ordered two apparently. A more reliable judge of the pho’s quality is the fact that it’s packed, every lunchtime, with plenty of locals, who come in their droves for the huge bowls of delicately flavoured, sweet and spicy broth and tender cuts of beef. Take us back.
Address: 210 Đ. Lê Thánh Tôn, Street, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Website: pho2000.vn
Pho Hung (District 1)
Ideal for an excellent version of Hanoi-style pho in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City…
An arguably even better bowl of the good stuff is found over at Pho Hung, a short walk along Duong Le Lai from Pho 2000.
Owing to its bold black and yellow signage, you’ll spot Pho Hung even sooner than you catch its enticing aroma, all sweet star anise and smoky aniseed notes from black cardamom wafting out from the gently ramshackle shophouse.
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Follow your nose inside and pull up a stool at the restaurant’s stretch of shared tables. Though service is straightforward, you’ll find all the bells and whistles you need in that bowl that’s placed unceremoniously in front of you; this is truly sublime pho, clean yet rich, and close to the Northern-style of being savoury and supremely well balanced.
Order the Dac Biet (house special) which has both raw slices of sirloin and long braised bits of brisket alongside meatballs and our favourite, chewy, resilient tendon. It’s very good indeed.
Address: 243 Đ. Nguyễn Trãi, Phường Nguyễn Cư Trinh, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Pho Mien Ga Ky Dong (District 3)
Ideal for a nourishing bowl of chicken pho with added offal alongside…
All that said, the best bowl of pho in Ho Chi Minh City, we think, is served at Pho Mien Ga Ky Dong over in District 3. The chicken version of Vietnam’s most famous dish, this particular rendition is best enjoyed with glass noodles, the broth adhering to the sticky strands just so.
A light, bright, clean dining room that’s open from the moment the sun comes up until late in the evening, Pho Mien Ga Ky Dong is always bustling, with locals ordering dark thigh meat for the bowl, and a side plate of braised liver and a tangle of Vietnamese mint for picking over. You should do the same.
Address: 14/5 Bis Ky Dong Street, Ward 9, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam
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Bun Bo Hue Chu Ha (District 3)
Ideal for spicy noodle soup served in a fishbowl…
Bun bo hue is a dish of contradiction. It’s supremely light, yet below the surface, the baritone thrum of shrimp paste is unmistakable. It’s clean and clear, superficially, but dappled across its facade is chili oil, ready to induce a humidity-defying sweat.
That contradiction continues, where the best version of the dish we’ve tasted isn’t served in the city of its origin (Hue, hence the…), but instead here, in Saigon. At Bun Bo Hue Chu Ha, where the noodles, oxtail and braised meats are all stacked high out front, the art of bun bo hue has been perfected.
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Served from glass bowls, it’s pleasing to observe your own personal flourishes, of lime juice, chilli oil, garlic vinegar and the rest, dropping to the bottom of the bowl, fish tank style. It’s just what the doctor ordered in Ho Chi Minh City’s 40 degree heat.
Address :300 Võ Văn Tần, Phường 5, Quận 3, Tp Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Facebook: @BunbohueChuHa
Anan Saigon (District 1)
Ideal for Michelin-starred Vietnamese haute cuisine…
Though Ho Chi Minh City is a modern, cosmopolitan city with a contemporary, occasionally cutting edge dining scene, it’s still on the streets and in the shophouses that the vast majority of the very best food is found. Michelin-starred, properly fancy Anan Saigon bucks the trend on this list, with a tasting menu (currently priced at £75) of thought-provoking, intricately delicious dishes that celebrate Vietnamese food through the lens of its ever more globalised position in the world.
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Chef-owner Peter Cuong Franklin has worked in top kitchens in Hong Kong, Chicago and Bangkok, and it shows. So, that’s foie gras spring rolls with truffle, a ‘petit’ banh mi with A5 wagyu, and a fish sauce caramel ice cream with a dusting of the celebrated Phu Quoc black pepper, which is, quite frankly, as good as it sounds!
There’s even a pho tasting menu, which begins with ‘caviar egg pho’ before moving into a one-bite ‘molecular pho’ and continues in that vein for several more courses. A creative cocktail list that draws on Vietnam’s incredible array of fruit seals the deal.
Address: 89 Ton That Dam Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, 710000, Vietnam
Website: anansaigon.com
Pho Hoa Pasteur (District 3)
Ideal for another round of pho after several rounds of craft beer…
Pho tasting menu dispensed with, and we’re back in search of the real thing, keen to recalibrate our sense of what this famous dish is all about.
There’s no better place to do so than at Pho Hoa Pasteur, which sits on Pasteur Street (named after the renowned microbiologist Louis Pasteur). Incidentally, the soon-to-be world-conquering Pasteur Street Taproom is just round the corner, and their signature craft beer is excellent.
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Anyway, this popular restaurant has been serving exemplary beef pho for almost six decades now. As well as the usual braised and raw bits, you can add tripe, tendon and golf-ball sized meatballs to your pho here. An absolute mountain of foliage, including sawtooth coriander, several forms of basil, and mustard greens, arrives alongside the main event, all in the name of personalisation.
Address: 260C Pasteur Street, Ward 8, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam
Website: phohoapasteur.restaurantsnapshot.com
Oc Dao (District 1)
Ideal for streetside snails and Bia Saigons…
One of Vietnam’s most beloved street food experiences, eating sea snails, reaches its gold standard version at Oc Dao, just a five minute walk from the backpacker hub of Bui Vien.
Open from 10:30am to 10pm daily, you’ll find a huge variety of these cherished molluscs, done in both prosaic and inventive ways.
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Follow your nose, of course, but certainly order the Oc Toi. Here, palm-sized shells are grilled until smokey and bubbling from their aperturals. Hoik the snail flesh out with a toothpick in one graceful motion and dredge through its adjacent, piquant chilli and garlic dipping sauce. Also order Oc buou nhoi thit – that’s snails stuffed with pork.
If snails aren’t your thing, there’s a whole host of other shellfish options here, from clams to scallops and beyond. This is nhậu culture at its very best. Shout for a few Big Saigons with plenty of attitude and plenty of ice, and settle in to one of the quintessential Saigon eating experiences.
Address: 212B/D48 Đ. Nguyễn Trãi, Phường Nguyễn Cư Trinh, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Read: Where to eat near Bui Vien backpacker street
Chay Garden (District 1)
Ideal for delicate but flavour-forward vegetarian Vietnamese food…
Ho Chi Minh City does brilliant vegetarian food, too, and some of the very finest is found over at Chay (literally meaning ‘vegetarian’) Garden.
Boasting high tables and chairs with back support, Chay Garden is a lovely place to settle into, particularly on the verdant terrace, its ambience almost as nourishing as its plates. The signature spring rolls, bouncy and soft rather than deep-fried, come filled with local termite mushrooms and are served with a rose-scented dipping sauce. It’s as heady and intoxicating as it sounds.
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Even better is the claypot braised aubergine, cooked long in its vessel alongside unripe bananas until both are fudgy and umami sweet. Pair it all with a speciality iced tea – the jasmine tea with kumquat jam and salted apricot is particularly special – and feel that all is right with the world.
Address: 52 Võ Văn Tần, Phường 6, Quận 3, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Website: Chaygarden.com
Quince Eatery (District 1)
Ideal for classy, wood-fired cooking in a serene setting…
Billing itself as a modern European restaurant, and the only non-Viet place on our list of the IDEAL 22 places to eat in Saigon, Quince is a relative stalwart of the city’s more contemporary dining scene. Sitting pretty in a beautifully restored colonial house, the copper-scented décor, bistro-style furniture and soft lighting create a warm atmosphere that synergises with the gentle smell of the wood-fire grill to soothing, multi-sensory effect.
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The open kitchen, with its sleek copper counter, allows diners to watch the chefs at work. The menu features a modern kind of fusion between Mediterranean and South East Asian cuisine that works a charm, with chef Julien Perraudin having a pleasingly light touch on both plate and palate.
A dish of charred baby carrots, Thai basil salsa verde, salted chilli and bo kho oil perhaps most purposefully encapsulates the restaurant’s approach, though if you’re keen for big, bold flavour, then the umami bomb of wagyu tartare and sea urchin atop a hash brown will see you right. A dish of charred brussel sprouts, ajo blanco, and sultana jam was another highlight from a brilliantly realised recent meal. Anyway, after yours is done, head to the second floor for a digestif; it feels slick and suave up there.
A recent collaboration between Quince and Bangkok legends Samrub Samrub Thai was excellent, by the way. More of the same soon, please!
Address: 37 Bis Ky Con Street, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam
Website: quincesaigon.com
Chao Ech Singapore Tan Dinh (District 1)
Ideal for curing the night’s ills with frog congee…
We’re having frog congee next, at Chao Ech Singapore. We’ve waited this long to introduce this lovely Singaporean-inspired dish to the mix as this streetside joint, located on the peripheries of bustling Tan Dinh Market, is only open from 7pm.
Really, it’s positioned as a late night place that cures the evening’s sins, the signature sweet and spicy frog stew and accompanying plain, cloudlike congee the perfect foil to a night of rice wine. Iced lettuce shows the deceptively simple restaurant’s commendable attention to detail.
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A perch on plastic stools and an open grill wafting thick smoke around only adds to the lively atmosphere.
Address: 315 Hai Bà Trưng, Tân Định, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
Facebook: @chaoechtandinh
Lang Nuong Nam Bo (District 10)
Ideal for beer fuelled feasting and making new friends…
Lang Nuong Nam Bo is a sprawling, beer-fuelled restaurant that opened just before the turn of the millennium and has been packed with rowdy revellers ever since.
They’re all here for one thing; the whole-roasted baby suckling pig. Served with deep-fried glazed buns that either look like snails or turds depending on how you look at them, the pork is served portioned into cubes but still on the bone, retaining all its juices. Crisp, lacquered skin adorns every bite-sized chunk. Heaven.
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Really, it’s just one plate though, of a massive spread of Vietnamese drinking food, the shredded bamboo salad another highlight. Plates of prawns showered in deep fried garlic, salted ribs, boiled paddy crabs… It’s all here, and it’s all designed to make you drink more beer. Not that we’re complaining.
You better practise your chugging skills before pitching up; this is the kind of place where it’s a surprise if you don’t end up joining forces with the party next to you. Clinking glasses and downing beers with your newfound friends naturally follows…
Address: 302A Tô Hiến Thành, Phường 15, Quận 10, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
Website: nhahanglangnuongnambo.com
Bun Mam Phan Boi Chau (District 1)
Ideal for a funky, fishy finish…
We end, as so many do in Ho Chi Minh City, sitting across from Ben Thanh Market, hunched over a bowl of noodles. Bun Mam Phan Boi Chau is one of the city’s most popular purveyors of bun mam, a popular Southern noodle soup that boasts a moody, funky broth that’s salty and pungent from a good dose of fermented shrimp paste and fermented fish sauce. All that pugency is tempered by both an underlying sweetness and the tartness of tamarind, both of which help pull things back from the brink.
Added to that incredibly moreish broth are noodles, of course, but also squid, prawns and pork belly. Grab yourself a napkin and get slurping; this is one fine way to end our roundup of Ho Chi Minh City’s best food.
Address: 103 Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Care to join us in Thailand next, as we check out Bangkok’s best pad Thai? Go on, you know you want to…