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1 A bowl of Pho Minh's specialty pho bo 2 The exterior of Pho Minh 3 The crowds at 5Ku Station 4 A serving of bun thit nuong cha gio 5 Meat skewers at 5Ku Station 6 Streetside seating at 1 Nguyen Trung Truc
Street eats
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Follow the crowd Out with the new, in with the old — at least when it comes to local food stops in HCMC’s District 1
TEXT BY CONNLA STOKES PHOTOS BY LEE STARNES
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o Chi Minh City is in the midst of a makeover — heritage buildings are coming down and high-rises are shooting up. This gung-ho development has also transformed the culinary landscape at street level. To wit: street food and old-school, family-run eateries are fast disappearing from the heart of the city. That only adds to the urgent charm of institutions like Pho Minh, where a local family has been making pho bo (beef noodle soup; VND50,000, or about P110) for over 60 years. The
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mellow ambiance of the alleyway setting is worth the price of admission alone. And once you’ve slurped down the perfect noodles, there’s no harm lingering over an iced coffee. Come lunchtime, another longstanding family operation can be found at a French colonial building at 1 Nguyen Trung Truc. The signature dish, bun thit nuong cha gio, is heavenly. In each bowl (VND40,000, or about P88), you’ll find succulent grilled pork, a spring roll, cold rice vermicelli, and herbs and peanuts, doused with spicy
Breakfast: Pho Minh, 63/6 Pasteur, District 1 (turn into the alleyway beside Liberty Central Hotel); opens at 6.45am, closes at 10am or whenever they run out of pho Lunch: 1 Nguyen Trung Truc, District 1; open 10am to 5pm, but arriving early is recommended Dinner: 5ku Station, 29 Thai Van Lung, District 1, open 5pm until late
fish sauce — the perfect antidote to savory food cravings on a hot afternoon. When the sun goes down, 5Ku Station, a pop-up bar and grill, comes alive. Run by millennial entrepreneurs, this restaurant reflects an age-old Saigonese dining concept known as nhau (eating and drinking for pleasure) — that means ordering congee, hotpot, barbecue and more (from VND75,000 to VND200,000; or P164 to P437) — to share with friends, and washing everything down with bottles and bottles of cold beer.
NO WET NOODLE
WHEN BUN CHA STOLE THE SHOW
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ate last year, then-US president Barack Obama joined Anthony Bourdain for a bowl of bun cha (barbecued pork served with cold rice noodles, salad and herbs) in a family-run Hanoi eatery called Bun Cha Huong Lien (24 Le Van Huu; open 10am to 9pm). As a result of this uber-celebrity endorsement — the meal was featured in an episode of Parts Unknown on CNN — Huong Lien has become the capital city’s most popular (and overrun) restaurant. Is it worth the trip? Yes, but make sure you get there early — the restaurant is usually crowded by 12.30pm. For a just-as-tasty bowl of bun cha in a more classic Hanoi setting (read: in someone’s living room, or on the sidewalk), head to the no-name establishment at 34 Hang Than (open 10am to 2pm). It’s just the kind of place Bourdain would go to, if he wasn’t with an American president. July 2017 Smile 37