THE ROUGH GUIDE TO SAIGON - THE NOMAD HOUSE OF SAIGON

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO SAIGON

GUIDEBOOK 2017

THE GARLIK DE THAM RESTAURANT 216 De Tham Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, HCMC

You shouldn't be disappointed if you decide to have a meal here. We went for dinner - all servers extremely friendly and helpful. Loved the Banana Flower salad and the three way cooked pork. Cheesecake for dessert. Definitely would revisit

CHI HOA 31A Le Thanh Ton, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist. 1, HCMC

Vietnam’s family and street food goes indoors and a little upscale too, at Chi Hoa in Saigon’s downtown area.

THE DECK SAIGON 38 Nguyen U Di, Thao Dien, D2, HCMC

It was good to meet you and your family on your recent visit with us. I am pleased to see you enjoyed our food, staff and drinks. Also happy you shared your experience here on TA. We hope one day to welcome you back on the river.

BANH DA CUA DI LY 103 Dong Khoi Street District 1 | Diagonally opposite Sheraton Hotel

The eatery is located on second floor of Dong Khoi, the most famous street of Saigon.

The main dish is banh da cua--red noodles with fresh water crab. It also serves other Vietnamese food which is equally good.

QUAN BUI SAIGON 17A Ngô Văn Năm, Bến Nghé, Quận 1./ Opening Time: 28 Ngô Văn Năm, Bến Nghé, Quận 1./ Opening Time: First floor 39 Lý Tự Trọng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1.

55 Ngo Quang Huy, Thao Dien, District 2, HCMc

I loved everything about this place, wonderful food and service. Also very nice decor and even the menu is also a great read of dishes from both North and South Vietnamese cuisine.

BEP ME IN 136/9 Le Thanh Ton, District 1 | Near Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City

Cute little restaurant to be found down a small alley.

Fun and practical with a tuk-tuk for a bar and cash register, fans on table hooks (not hot enough to need when we had lunch) and items for fun photo ops. All three were good with crisp vegetables and flavoursome sauces. The bamboo with pork stew slapped you in the face with its flavour, we finished off the broth with no hesitation!

BANH MI HUYNH HOA 26 le Thi Rieng P. Ben Thanh, Q.1, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vi

It is the best Banh Mi that I had in Vietnam. Local people said it is the best Banh Mi at Saigon. A small store with crowed people.

People line up to wait for their turn to order. Menu is simple, price is fair and the food is super good.

I would strongly recommend.

BUN THIT NUONG 1 Nguyen Trung Truc, D1, HCMC

Bún thịt nướng is a popular Vietnamese cold rice-vermicelli noodle dish topped with grilled pork, fresh herbs like basil and mint, fresh salad, Giá, and chả giò. The dish is dressed in nước mam fish sauce.

L'USINE SAIGON 70B Le Loi St., District 1, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vi

This was a great find. L'Usine is upstairs in Le Loi St. Had the special prawn cannelloni. and my wife had grilled salmon.

Very delicious. They also have a happy hour for wine which was quite reasonable. Decor and atmosphere is very hip. A collection of locals and very little tourists. We went there twice whilst in HCMC. Food was fresh and tasty and would go back again if we come back.

Hint: to get into the restaurant you have to down a lane way close by then up some stairs.

CAFE APARTMENT 42 Nguyen Hue, District 1, HCMC

The Cafe Apartment is packed with cool places to hang-out, meet-up, socialize, bring a date, or do some work. The building, which is an attraction in itself, is like a library of coffee shops: browse each floor, checking out the décor of each cafe, before deciding which one to settle into. All the cafes face southwest, with little balconies overlooking the Walking Street, downtown, and the Saigon River. A staircase leads to all floors or you can pay 3,000vnd to use the elevator (cafes will refund this fee when you pay your bill). Most cafes are open from 8am to 10pm (when the building closes); prices for drinks and snacks are reasonable but not cheap; parking is next door at Lucky Plaza (5,000vnd). You could easily spend a whole day exploring this building and its cafes: it’s very fun and very ‘Saigon’. In this guide, I’ve written a description of all the cafes on all the floors of the Cafe Apartment.

BUN RIEU GANH 4 Phan Boi Chau, Dictrict 1, HCMC (next to BEN THANH market)

Coming there, you only choose a place to sit on the pavement and order a bowl of crab noodle soup at your wish. It will be served after one minute.

The question is why it attracts so many people for many years. Perhaps because it’s cooked in Southern style with pork pie, pork blood pudding, tofu, crab paste.

COM TAM Anywhere in SAIGON

Cơm tấm, or broken rice, is a Vietnamese dish made from rice with fractured rice grains. Tấm refers to the broken rice grains, while cơm refers to cooked rice These imperfect rice grains were traditionally discarded after the milling process but have been elevated into a delicious signature street food dish by the ever-resourceful Saigonese Com tam is a pure gastronomic pleasure: barbecued pork on broken rice, topped with a fried egg and other accouterments.

For locals, it is a delicious traditional dish but for foreigners, com tam is a quintessential Saigon experience.

BUN THIT NUONG 1 Nguyen Trung Truc, D1, HCMC

Bún thịt nướng is a popular Vietnamese cold rice-vermicelli noodle dish topped with grilled pork, fresh herbs like basil and mint, fresh salad, Giá, and chả giò. The dish is dressed in nước mam fish sauce.

PHỞ PHỞ NGỌC 30 Ho Hao Hon, Dictrict 1, HCMC (next to my place) PHỞ HÙNG 302 - 304 Võ Văn Kiệt, D1 (next to my place) 371 Hai Bà Trưng, D3 243 Nguyễn Trãi,Nguyễn Cư Trinh Ward, D1 PHỞ LỆ 413- 415 Nguyen Trai, District 5, HCMC 303-305 Võ Văn Tần, D3 PHỞ HÒA PASTEUR 260C Pasteur, Dist. 3 PHỞ 2000 1-3 Phan Chu Trinh, D1 PHỞ DẬU 288 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, D3 PHỞ PHÚ GIA 146 Lý Chính Thắng, D3 PHỞ MINH 63 Pasteur, D1 PHỞ CAO VÂN 25 Mạc Đĩnh Chi, D1

BANH CUON HAI NAM - STEAMED ROLLED RICE PANCAKE 11A Cao Thang, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam

People at the restaurant don't really speak English but the menu has english translation.

The Ban Cuon was so delicious, we ordered 2 plates at the restaurant and another 2 to go for supper.

There were many other food selections but they were underwhelming (we ordered crab noodles soup, fried spring roll and yang chow fried rice). Should have just stuck with having a few plates of Ban Cuon for dinner!

BUN BO HUE 42 Nguyen Hue, District 1, HCMC

Bún bò Huế or bún bò is a popular Vietnamese soup containing rice vermicelli and beef

BÚN BÒ GÁNH 110 Lý Chính Thắng, W. 8, D3 BÚN BÒ NAM GIAO 248 Bùi Viện, Phạm Ngũ Lão W., D1 (Bui Vien backpacker town) BÚN BÒ HUẾ ĐÔNG BA 110A Nguyễn Du, Bến Thành W., D1 BÚN BÒ GÁNH 110 Lý Chính Thắng, W. 8, D3 BÚN BÒ GÁNH 110 Lý Chính Thắng, W. 8, D3

PIZZA 4P’ 8 Thu Khoa Huan, District 1, HCMC 8/15 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, HCMC

This is a Japanese pizzeria in Vietnam, what's great about it is all produce is locally sourced and produced in farms in Vietnam.

The burrata and cheeses used are produced by the restaurant working with farmers in Da Lat. You can also see the team in action on the restaurant floor making the pizzas.