Ho Chi Minh City Restaurant Tips by mnhaus

Bun Bo Hue: Local Food II

Served for breakfast, this lady made the BEST bun bo hue I've ever had.... it's a spicy soup made with pork, banana flower, chili and lime. Cost me a whopping $.40 USD per bowl.....

Address: Go Vap District

Comparison: least expensive

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

everywhere: Local Restaurants

there are so many good places to eat! Went to a small place in Go Vap where I was told they served "food from the forest", recommended to me by a local. They had an interesting array of foods. One of my favorites was the fried fish - they are just crispy little things that have a mild flavor and go great with a bia.
Wish I could remember the directions....sorry

Comparison: about average

Directions: Go Vap District

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Trung Nguyen: Coffee!!!

Trung Nguyen is like Starbucks in the US - throw a stone on any corner and you're bound to hit one. Have to admit though their coffee is pretty good. The cafes range from hole-in-the-wall storefronts to huge multi-story establishments, so try and choose one with a little atmosphere.

Favorite Dish: Chon coffee.....in cafe sua da - yum!

Address: Everywhere!!!!!

Comparison: about average

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Coffeehouse

Santa Lucia: Italian....in HCMC?

Don't ask how we ended up going to this place....just felt like something a little different I guess. Anyway it was another upscale shop, definetly on the upper end of the price scale. Their dishes were relatively flavourful, and it was a nice clean place to eat. I wouldn't recommend it for people on a budget but if you're REALLY craving for Italian in HCMC....this is an option.

Comparison: most expensive

Directions: District 1 towards the river 3-4 blocks from City Hall building

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 2

Theme: Italian

Quan An Ngon: Packed nightly Quan An Ngon Review

We asked our hotel deskperson where to go for good but inexpensive food, and he told us to come here....when we saw the outside of this place we were a little worried as it looked nice, but expensive. There was a HUGE amount of people lining up also, and quite a lot of foreigners. So atleast, we thought, it would be safe. Anyway we were still seated within about 5 minutes, and although the menu covered just about everything in Vietnamese cuisine, everything was edible and of pretty good flavor. I wouldn't say it was the BESTmeal we had but solid and a great introduction to anyone venturing into VN food for the first time.

Favorite Dish: Can't pick a favorite.....the banh xeo was OK for a restaurant version.

Address: 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia

Comparison: about average

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: Local

Minh Phu II: Dining in District 3

Massive restaurant serving many locals as well as some foreign guests. It's a huge place, hard to miss as you are driving through District 3.

Favorite Dish: Canh chua ca/tom (sour soup with fish or shrimp) - very good version of it served here. You have to have ca kho (fish in clay pot) with it and that wasn't bad. Ga xao xa ot (chicken with lemongrass/chilis) is pretty good too. And the com nieu - ask for the broken kind.

Comparison: about average

Directions: District 3 - SW corner of Dong Khoi

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

Pho 24: Pretty good....for a chain

So apprehensive....it looked like an expensive version of a McDonalds/pho combo. Again, pleasantly surprised that their pho was pretty good. I don't usually eat at these places (in fact I make it a point NOT to in most cases) but we were really hungry and craving pho.

Favorite Dish: Pho Tai/Pho Bo Vien/Pho Ga were what we had, and it was pretty good. More flavor than some of the other places we'd gone.

Address: Couple places in District 1

Comparison: more expensive than average

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Soup

Lemongrass: If you want to splurge.... Lemongrass Review

This was actually much better than I had expected - most of the time when one spends some extra cash on dinner you can get the same thing, better quality, for much cheaper on the street. I have to admit though this place was through and through very good.

Favorite Dish: We had chao tom, grilled pork ribs, goi cuon and one other dish - all were excellent.

Address: 4 Nguyen Thiep

Comparison: more expensive than average

Directions: District 1

Phone: (84-8) 822 0496

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Local