Ho Chi Minh city is famous for being one of the best local street food centers in Vietnam, where you can find different specialities of every part of the country selling at local street food stalls. I traveled around the city and made this list of dishes which impress me and share this to you. Some of these have already popular among food lovers around the world such as Pho, Bun Cha or Com Tam Saigon, but I also present you few new interesting dishes that I have just found out. 

Originated from the central area of Vietnam, Banh Beo is translated as “water fern cake”, compiles a small plate of rice flour. The shape has the resemblance of lily flower pads that people often see in the old imperial city of Hue area. Served with crunchy pork grinding, shrimp powder and a little bit of fish sauce, the dish is best to enjoy in groups as they often come with multiples of 8 or 10. 

Many foods I have tried have the same name as the dishes in different language. An example is that, “air” in Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia means water – and we all know what that means in English, not something we can eat or drink. Similar to that, “hen” means baby clams in Vietnamese – there was no way I could predict that, when I ordered the dish I was expecting a bowl of rice with chicken, didn’t have the slightest thought that “hen” might not be a regular hen. My mind did not follow.
 

Banh Da Xuc Hen - an unique dish that makes a lot of people fall in love at their first try

Nonetheless, banh da xuc hen is an enjoyable and delicious snack. The ingredients can be seen on the plate are a large rice paper crisp, with a little sesame and coconut. The look wasn’t exciting, but when the rice cracker was lifted and you take a look under it, it was quite satisfying. A pile of tiny little clams will be found, fried with lemon grass, rau ram (Vietnamese coriander), chili, onion and garlic. The ingredients required in order to make this dish is very simple, but the taste is certainly unlike anything I have tried before. If the plate is too small for your stomach, then you’d better try com hen, the same way clams were made but eating with rice, along with a small bowl of clam broth.

Banh canh is Vietnamese variation of udon noodles, the noodles are made thicker with the ingredients usually be tapioca flour or rice flour, sometimes both. “Cua” means crab in Vietnamese, and then we have “Banh canh cua” – a dish compiles of viscous crab soup and thick banh canh noodles, definitely not a dish for people who dislike goopy food. The thickness of the noodles was from tapioca flour, therefore it is absolutely gluten free, added with chillies, green onions and fresh limes, the dish is a brand new experience for customers who like to discover new culinary boundaries.

Banh cuon is a great choice for someone looking for a healthy and tasty breakfast which is made of wood ear mushrooms and seasoned grind pork wrapping by steamed rice crepes. I may be criticized by my friends for saying this but I would prefer Banh Cuon over eggs and bacon every single day. there are the carbs, meat, along with vegetables, decorated with steamed bean sprouts, a little basil and fried curls of shallots on top. It is a full meal but not heavily filled. The dish name was literally translated as “rolled cake”. Its origin came from the North of Vietnam, but you can still find good Banh Cuon anywhere, including Saigon. Tasting the sweet taste of fish sauce through every bite is just marvelous. You can also add chilies into the dish, as much as you want.
 

Banh cuon is a great choice for someone looking for a healthy and tasty breakfast 

Banh Khot are small round pieces of fried rice cakes that I’d like to add a recipe for the dish here, however, I decided adding Banh Xeo (rice cake in larger size) here because the restaurant I recommend makes both dishes. There are many places people can find delicious Banh Xeo in Saigon. The most worth mentioning is Banh Xeo at 40B on Tran Cao Van Street, which appeared on one episode of “Bourdan trail” when he visited Saigon. The In my opinion, both dishes were great, even more delicious when eating with mustard leaves and herbs. 

The Banh Xeo doesn’t add too much oil, Banh Khot has various toppings to add to the dish, and the restaurant offers clean water purifier system using to clean fresh herbs and vegetables, so if you have stomach problems, vegetables won’t be a problem.  

Banh tam bi is a new member in my list, having just recently found during my last trip to Saigon. I was walking down to the Co-op supermarket to buy some supplies, that’s when a restaurant caught my eye, looking quite tempting with wooden tables and chairs and a funny looking logo on the outside. I took a look at the menu, just dishes that I have tried before like Hu Tieu, until I found something that tickled my curiosity, Banh Tam Bi. I didn’t hesitate stopping shopping in order to try the food, a little nervous though, as I didn’t know what I was going to get, as “banh tam” means “silkworm cake”. When the dish came out, they turned out to be tapioca noodles that resembled the look of a silkworm, wrapped around with thick coconut sauce, pickled vegetables, a big pork meatball, and more.
 

A delicious dish of Banh Tam Bi  

Of course, it was worth sharing to my friends what I have found, I started texting them “I FOUND A NEW FOOD COME MEET ME NOW IT’S DELICIOUS”. Surely I kept coming back for more before leaving the city. I’ve come to other places in Saigon to try the dish – originated from Bac Lieu, Mekong area, nonetheless Quan Sadec was the best place to look for banh tam bi. For people that doesn’t find goopy food attractive, this is not your type of cake. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great dish, but it is unsuitable for people who are afraid of trying something new. 

If only this magnificent soup originated from the ancient imperial city of Hue was as well-known as pho outside of Vietnam. They are two completely different dishes. Bun bo hue is made of lemongrass and chili, bringing a strong flavor for the broth, along with thick cuts of beef. Paprika or annatto oil give the broth its red hot color, along with fermented shrimp paste offer many strange and tasty experience, which my Western aesthetic taste certainly didn’t find familiar before eating the soup. The ingredients are not different from other dishes I’ve tried, but bun bo hue has strangely combined them magnificently. 
 

Bun Bo Hue - one of my favorite dishes with the combinations of strong flavor for the broth, beef, chilis, noodles and herb.

Many other foods from northern Vietnam, most notable from Hanoi, are considered to be just a light breakfast or lunch, however, they are enough to be a big meal in Saigon. Some of the places serve bun cha only open in early morning, but mostly every restaurant serves for a full day. Hungry customers will be able to have this delicious meal anytime, serving with a bowl of sweet fish sauce, sliced carrots, garlics, chilies and young papaya. On the side, there is a plate of fresh vegetables and herbs like mint and perilla, along with the “bun”, white plain pasta. The highlight of the dish is definitely the crispy grilled pork, well seasoned and either formed into meatballs or thin sliced.  In order to fully enjoy the meal, a little bit of everything has to be included, dipping in the sweet fish sauce with a pork slice, herbs, a handful of noodles together. Trust me, you will need more than one plate of perilla. I have eaten bun cha in a few places in the city but the restaurant on Mac Dinh Chi is my favorite spot. The most crowded time is around lunch, and the place closes at 8 pm.
 

You still can enjoy the flavor of the iconic dish of Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh city.

Bun mam is a dish compiles fermented fish broth with a bunch of seafood, pork belly and a few other ingredients. Remember the time I first described the dish for my friends, there was utterly disappointment on their faces, certainly “fermented fish broth” is not something they’d like to try. But once the food enters their mouth, everything went well with the sweetest broth, thick white bun noodles and a lot of tasty fish and meat.

The best bun man stall is around Ben Thanh market area, often filled with locals and foreigners. Many tourists crossing the place with curiosity and nerves, but only a few really come into the place. I often bring my friends here during their first time coming to Saigon, trying to comfort them that the “fermented fish broth” is not as bad as they think. The owner of the food stall is a very nice guy, a reporter once interviewed me, asking what job I had in Saigon, then the owner guy didn’t stop talking about how I kept bringing new people to the place. Once he knew I was a “food journalist”, he insisted on asking me to go around telling people to come to his place and eat during my visit at Saigon. I gave him some presents, including a giant photo to place outside the restaurant with the title “Girl Eats World” before leaving the city. The price isn’t very friendly – 65,000 dong per bowl – but the same goes for the local diner. It wasn’t a big issue for me, because the flavors are great and the ingredients were kept in good conditions. 
 

Bun moc is the kind of food that I look for when I have no idea what to eat for the time when my stomach just overloaded with nutrition from various other dishes and now all I want is a simple, plain dish. Bun moc includes a few slices of cha lua (pork meatloaf wrapped by a thin layer of cinnamon), pork meatballs, and more slices of pork meat. In spite of the fact that it has pork all over the place, the dish was not that heavy, all came together well, from the noodles to the meat. The soup is decorated with fried shallots and fresh cilantro. A large number of tourists never even heard of bun moc, but it adds a light flavor compared to the strong tastes other dishes have to offer. I brought some kids here once and they seemed to enjoy it, so I would recommend bun moc if you come to Saigon with your wife and kids. 
 

If you are craving for somthing simple but still enough to fill up your stomach, Bun Moc is a perfect choice.

I wrote an article about bun rieu once, telling the story how I got myself into a fight in order to have a proper bowl of bun rieu in Mekong area. I am not exaggerating when I’m telling you this is the best crab and tomato soup, some of the places offers fish as well, but my favorite place is the place that doesn’t too fishy. Remember to tell the chief if you want the blood cube prevalent, as she wouldn’t add them if you are a foreigner, she always gives some with a gorgeous smile. 

Bun thit nuong is my favorite. My friends shortened it to BTN, this dish can be found easily all around the city and is the real flavor party you looking for in one single bowl. Various ingredients like rice vermicelli noodles, grilled pork on a stick, especially the spring rolls, stands for the “cha gio” in the name of the dish, eating with fresh lettuce and herbs. Of course the dish will be served with sweet fish sauce, sometimes with chili as well, adding even more flavor into every single bite you take. There are more than one place serving BTN that I really like and often come to eat, but Chi Thong on 195 Co Giang, District 1 is the best in my opinion, since they serve the best spring rolls in town. Normally they would make spring rolls with cloudy rice paper, however, this place uses big banh trang (rice paper) to make them, after softening the paper, they use it like our Western people using the summer rolls in Canada. The outcome is a thin covering with awesome tastes inside. I have always asked for more every time I visit the place. 
 

Enjoy the full bowl of delicious Bun Thit Nuong

As I’ve said above, the first time I arrived at Vietnam was in 2012, and the reason I came to this food store is just simply beacase of canh chua. The sweet and sour taste on the tongue came from many ingredients like rice paddy herbs, pineapples, fish and tomatoes. They serve the dish regularly on the street in Mekong area, but you can only find canh chua in restaurants if you are staying in District 1, instead of normal street food stalls. Quan Com So 7 on number 3 Nguyen Van Trang is my best place for canh chua, and they also serve other good food like chicken and fried fish, offering you a delightful meal. Rice is optional but highly recommended for a fully completed meal. 

The bitter flavor is not easily enjoyable, but for people who are into food with bitter tastes, then “canh kho qua” or bitter melon soup is definitely for you. Especially this dish, named “canh kho qua nhoi thit”, it isn’t that bitter though, since they boiled the melon for so long that the bitter feeling only appears at the end of your tongue, long after you have experienced other flavor in the dish. For a meal it is not much, but it is certainly enjoyable, with the melon being stuffed with grinded pork, wood ear mushrooms and sometimes glass noodles. They are tied together and boiled in water, adding a little cilantro and finally served to customers. If you are not staying in Saigon but feeling confident enough, you can try making it yourself. For people planning on going to the restaurant, it’s best to eat with some pork chops or a bowl of rice.  
 

Canh Kho Qua  healthy but the taste is not for everyone 

Che chuoi is a refreshing dessert, with its main ingredients are tapioca and sweet banana, dipped in coconut cream and decorated with sesame and crushed peanuts. There are countless types of che and this one it just a part of the list. I have discovered that many of my friends didn’t really fond of the regular mung bean or black bean che, but once they’ve tried che chuoi, they just couldn’t stop having more. The stall I usually go to lies on Vo Van Tan Street, run by a man, sometimes with the help of his son, he has many options for a good dessert for you to choose, including che khoai mon (taro with coconut milk).
 

Refresh yourself with a sweet bowl of Che Chuoi 

Nothing much to say about this, since this is one of the most well-known and favored dish in Saigon, suitable for lunch, dinner and even breakfast too. The main ingredients are just rice with grilled pork chops, a great combination for a quick and full meal. On the side you can find fried green onions with pork fat, or crispy pieces of pork rind and pickles, vegetables, last but not least a bowl of light broth. If you want an even bigger meal, try com suon op la (grilled pork chop and rice as usual, but adding a fried egg). You’ll be fully powered up until the next meal.
 

Com tam is translated as “broken rice”, normally a dish served within a family, since the quality of the rice was not deemed good enough to serve elsewhere. However, it has become famous and grown into one of the most popular street food in Saigon, can be found anywhere in the city, one way or another. The rice is kept on one side, while the other has a glass shelf that is holding the real hero of the meal: a combination of various well-cooked food, including braised, boiled and stewed dishes, made to eat with the rice. A few restaurants offer a banana as dessert as well. 
 

Com Tam - one of the most popular street food in Saigon
 

A famous dish that serves with com tam is ca kho to, which means braised catfish. If you are not into fish, then there are other choices like fried chicken, pork belly plus braised eggs. It is best to go eating in a group and share the dishes to one another.

The dish is simple and looks light, but strangely I find it very accomplished, so I would not consider it to be a dessert. The dish includes mustard leaves wrapping around vermicelli noodles, chopped mushrooms and tofu inside. No fish sauce this time, instead you will be able to try sweet peanut sauce. The dish is both tasty and healthy, so it is very suitable for people who are looking for a healthy meal. 

Hu tieu is truly the most complicated dish I’ve ever tried. The most popular hu tieu worth mentioning would be Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Hu Tieu My Tho and Chinese Hu Tieu. The Chinese actually had a lot of influences with Hu Tieu appearing in Vietnam in the first place. Hu Tieu Nam Vang was brought by Chinese – Cambodian from Cambodia, Vietnamese learned and borrowed the recipe to make their own version of hu tieu. 

As complex as the origins, hu tieu is just meaning the noodles, not actually the soup. The noodles served in hu tieu can be any type of noodles, from tapioca noodles, to white rice noodles usually used for pho, or thin Chinese egg noodles. The toppings for hu tieu also offer a variety of choices, most commonly boneless pork, pork ribs, pork offal, shrimp, squid, wonton dumplings, fried garlic, fried shallot, and/or scallion. It depends on your choice, of course. Hu tieu offers you freedom in making a meal in your own way, there is also a “dry” version of hu tieu.
 

Hu tieu offers you freedom in choosing toppings

From the information above, my advice for you is walking into any hu tieu stalls you see along the way, because normally the two places won’t serve the same hu tieu. I like hu tieu soup but I always prefer the dry variation, as the noodles are separated from the broth. You can find places serve hu tieu anywhere, commonly Chinese style hu tieu.

YES! PHO! This just couldn’t be excluded from any list of food in Vietnam, even though I found out later that there are many more delightful dishes in Vietnam. One thing worth mentioning is that you will often find two main types of Pho in Saigon: the Southern style – with sweeter broth, sometimes adding a little cuttlefish to the broth, and the original Northern style. Personally I always prefer the original variation from Hanoi, despite finding the Southern style quite good, too. The flavor is stronger, made from combining stuffs like cinnamon, star anise, and roasted ginger. I like the thicker taste the original style offers, the spices were great, and I find either raw or well done beef very satisfying. The fact that most of the pho I ate back home was from the Southern Vietnamese who fled back in 1975, therefore bringing the recipe belongs to the Southern people, makes me enjoy the Northern version more.
 

You can find Pho making in both southern style or the original northern style in Ho Chi Minh.

In Vietnam, chicken soups are so easy to find anywhere, especially pho ga. Restaurants often serve pho ga (chicken) along with pho bo (beef), but my advice is that you’re looking for good pho bo, don’t go to places that serve both, because chicken and beef broth taste very different and stalls here only serve either good pho ga or pho bo, rarely both. If you are looking for a different variation, try mien ga (glass noodles with chicken), the only difference is the noodles, besides they are the same spicy sauce, pickled garlic, and basket of herbs.

 

Some address of street food in Sai Gon:

+ Fried fish ball Luong Huu Khanh, District 1

+ Alley 76 Hai Ba Trung

+ Market 200 Chieu hamlet, District 4

+ Alley 84 Nguyen Du

+ Alley 177 Ly Tu Trong

+ Snacking alley at Nam Ky Khoi Nghia school

+ Nguyen Van Troi alley

+ Hung Vuong - Nguyen Kim snack area

+ Snacking alley Nguyen Thuong Hien, District 3