How much HCMC street food can you eat in four hours while dodging traffic and potholes? Well you’re about to find out. Vietnam has always been my #1 bucket list country and there was no chance I wasn’t jumping on the back of a motorbike for a food tour as soon as I landed in Saigon.
I reached out to numerous companies in the city and ended up choosing Saigon Vibes. Why? First off, they were the only company that didn’t bat an eye at some of my requests for a customized tour. Second, the price was phenomenal compared to what I had been quoted by several other companies.
From planning with the owner, to touring around several districts with my awesome guide, this could not have gone any better. Not to mention I ate some of the best food I had found during my time in Saigon. And I did it all on a Saigon motorbike food tour. So let’s take a look at their general tours and what a fully customized tour looks like
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Table of Contents
What to expect on an HCMC street food motorbike tour
Saigon Vibes offers a few different food tours around the city. Walking tours, coffee-focused routes, vegan, and private food tours. But this is the only one that runs entirely by motorbike. And for good reason. It’s the most popular and most fun by a long shot.
The standard tour hits ten spots over four districts, runs around four hours, and includes pickup and drop-off depending on your location. You ride passenger with one of their local guides who handles everything. Driving, ordering, parking, translating, the works. All you have to do is show up hungry and hang on.
Group sizes max out at seven guests, though tours typically run with much smaller groups of 3-4. There are five daily time slots available for booking the Saigon motorbike tour so you don’t need to worry about not finding one available. Everyone rides with their own driver, the vibe is casual, the pace is smooth, and they don’t rush through the food.
The traffic? Honestly, less scary than you think. Maybe I’ve been travelling around the world for too long, but the whole western panic mode traffic scare in Ho Chi Minh City is totally blown out of proportion. It’s no different than any other major city in the world.
Helmets are provided, the drivers are locked in, and within a few minutes it all feels normal. It’s controlled chaos, but with grilled meat at the end of it.
You can check out their other tours if you’re after something different, but if you want HCMC street food without wasting time standing around, this is the one you book.
Why I chose Saigon Vibes for my HCMC street food tour
There are no shortages of Saigon street food tours. You’ll find everything from luxury restaurant crawls to street food stalls with a guy named Tony who may or may not be licensed to drive. You’ll even find several other companies that offer HCMC street food tours on motorbike. I wanted something legit with local guides, real food, and a company that wasn’t just regurgitating the same route they’ve been running for five years or trying to rip me off.
Saigon Vibes stood out immediately. When I reached out with a few specific requests, they didn’t hesitate. No automated nonsense. I was talking directly with the owner. We sorted out the custom tour details in a couple of messages, and it didn’t feel like I was getting upsold or funneled into a generic package. This was a pleasant surprise after discussing this with two other large companies that came back more than triple the price of what I was quoted by Saigon Vibes and I wasn’t even getting what I wanted with the others.
After a little research on the company I was even more impressed. More than 1700 reviews and a 5 star rating on Tripadvisor. Over 2100 reviews with a 5 star rating on Viator. And on it goes through Expedia, Agoda, Booking, and AirBnb. Obviously a well respected company. Combining that with great communication directly with the owner, and price, this was a no-brainer for me
There are other food tours out there, sure. But this one had the right mix of flexibility, responsiveness, an awesome guide, and zero BS. That’s why I booked it and why I’ll do it again on my next trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
Where to Stay in Saigon
Luxury Accommodations: – The Reverie Saigon – The Reverie Saigon brings full-throttle luxury to Ho Chi Minh City with bold decor, skyline views, and serious five-star service. Easily one of the most extravagant hotel stays in Vietnam.
Mid-Range Accommodations: – Mai House Saigon – Mai House Saigon keeps it classy without trying too hard. Big rooms, old-school charm, and just enough polish to feel rich without feeling stiff. Solid pick if you want comfort without the circus.
Budget Accommodations: – The Signature Hotel Saigon – Signature Boutique Hotel gives you big rooms and working AC for under $30 a night. It’s clean, quiet, and close enough to everything without dumping you in the tourist circus.
Looking for other great places to stay in Saigon? Use the search bar below to find more options!
More food from around the world: HCMC Night Markets: Hồ Thị Kỷ
My custom Saigon motorbike tour
I want to take just a second to talk about my guide, Harry, and what we set out to find on this tour. As I mentioned, my tour was customized with some of the standard items left in. I had read about a few Vietnamese street food dishes before arriving in country and Saigon Vibes went above and beyond finding them for me.
Harry was absolutely amazing. A young man whose family has been involved in street food for decades. He is extremely knowledgeable about all of the foods served and I think even he was excited to break up the monotony of the usual tours he leads daily.
Bánh mi
Our first stop on this tour was Bánh Mì Bảy Hổ. This was a special request on my part because I wanted to try out the quintessential HCMC street food at one of the oldest banh mi shops in the city. To be fair, I had already eaten probably forty banh mi before doing the tour with Saigon Vibes but come on. I had to do this one right?
Bánh Mì Bảy Hổ has been serving their famous sandwiches at the same location in District 1 for almost 90 years. It’s not unusual to show up here and see a line of motor bikes lined up along the road to grab their fresh sandwiches.
One of their claims to fame is freshly baked bread. They don’t mass produce and store. They bake fresh bread every hour, and yes, you may show up and not be able to get a baguette because they are still baking them after a large rush.
Their other claim to fame is their special house made paté and I must say it does have a fatty quality you don’t find at a lot of banh mi shops in Saigon. The bread is super crisp on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside, and then you get all the meat and fresh veggies mixed in. It’s a super tasty banh mi.
And yes, I will be using simplified spelling where I can because once again, my Vietnamese is atrocious.
Bò lá lốt
Next up, we head over to District 3 for another famous Vietnamese street food: bo la lot, served at a Michelin-recommended stall. This location is on the standard tour as well so you don’t have to worry about missing it if you want to go that route.
Bo la lot is an extremely popular grilled beef that is wrapped in betel leaves and served with scallion oil, peanuts, pickled vegetables, and rice paper wraps. Harry showed me how to make a proper wrap with the bo la lot so I could eat it like a local would.
What’s interesting with this version of HCMC street food is the shrimp paste accompaniment you get with it. Shrimp paste throughout SE Asia is usually extremely salty, pungent, and umami. Here the shrimp paste is cooked down with pineapple juice which adds a lot of sweetness to it while mellowing out the salty and pungent attributes.
I personally love fermented shrimp paste in all its overwhelming glory. While this version works, I would take a standard shrimp paste every day of the week. This version is a great introduction to shrimp paste if you’re a westerner though as most westerners can’t handle how strong shrimp paste is.
The bo la lot wraps wraps have a sweet and savoury flavour profile with a hint of saltiness from the shrimp paste. You get bonus points from your guide if you can handle the tableside chili oil.
Chuối nếp nướng
Right across the street from the bo la lot stop, we hit a roadside stall for chuoi nep nuong. Or grilled banana wrapped in sticky rice. This one’s also on the standard tour, and it’s there because it is an extremely popular HCMC street food.
It’s one of those deceptively simple desserts that absolutely wrecks anything you’d get back home. You’ve got a ripe banana that is grilled and then wrapped in sticky rice. It’s then wrapped in banana leaves again and once the banana leaves are burnt, it’s removed and grilled again. Then it’s topped with rich coconut cream and a handful of toasted sesame seeds. And yes, all of this is done roadside, fresh for every customer. How’s that for HCMC street food?
The outside gets slightly crisp and smoky, while the inside stays gooey and sweet. It’s hot, messy, and stupidly good.
I really wasn’t looking for too many desserts on my customized Saigon motorbike tour but the owner of Saigon Vibes insisted we do two stops for sweets. This is just the first one and I totally understand why he wanted us to stop here.
Cút chiên bơ
Next we head to district 10 for the star of this Ho Chi Minh City street food tour. This was another of my requests because I had read so much about it and had to try it. So cút (quail), Chiên (deep fried), and Bơ (butter). That’s what it is. Whole quails deep fried in pure butter. You have got to be kidding me, I thought. I have to have this.
After your quails have been deep fried in a vat of butter, they are served with a fresh baguette, Vietnamese coriander, pickled vegetables, and special sauce they won’t tell anybody the ingredients of. As best I can tell, and I may be totally wrong, the sauce contains tamarind. It’s the only ingredient I think I can pinpoint.
You tear a little piece of baguette off, add in your veggies, herbs and quail and then dip it into your secret sauce. The quail is insanely good. Fatty butter and savoury meat dominate. Then you get the fresh crisp veggies, earthy and bitter herbs and a sweet and sour flavor from the sauce. All of it encased in a soft and crunchy baguette. This is food of the Gods.
Hột vịt lộn
Staying in district 10 we head over to Hồ Thị Kỷ. It’s mid-afternoon so most of the night market food stalls aren’t open yet, but there are a few stragglers that are open for snacks to serve workers at the flower market. So snacks it is, and it’s one of my favorite snacks in the world. You’re probably going to be intimidated, but you should really try it before judging it.
Hot vit lon is a popular street food in several Asian countries and you may know it better by the more common name of balut. Who would have thought it would also be an extremely popular Vietnamese street food as well?
Hot vit lon is a partially fertilized duck egg. The gestation period is what will set your hot vit lon apart. These are eaten anywhere from 16 days to 21 days. The longer the gestation the more developed the chick will be. At 16 days, the chick has developed but there is no noticeable bone, beak, or feathers. At 21 days you get the full spectrum of development.
The ones Harry and I tried were 18-19 days so there should be some development to them. There was zero in these, so I can only assume the vendor thought I might be scared of it and gave me a 16-day-old egg.
In Vietnam, hot vit lon is served with salt and pepper mixed into kumquat juice and a side of Vietnamese coriander. Open your egg up, and first sip out the juices. Relax, it tastes like chicken broth. Next sprinkle on your salt and pepper mixture and scoop out a spoonful of your fertilized duck and chase it with your cilantro. What you get is a rich and creamy egg yolk and the only point of contention is the texture of the chick. It’s there and you notice it, but its flavor resembles chicken.
This is the kind of HCMC street food that freaks people out until they actually try it.
Hải sản
Next we head back to district 3 for hai san or seafood. This wasn’t even on my radar. The owner of Saigon Vibes suggested this stop for the tour and thank God he did. The location is the stuff of folklore amongst locals. They’re known for great seafood and the owner, who wears more than 7 billion VND worth of jewelry and proudly displays his customized motorcycles. Even the staff get in on the gaudy jewelry display.
But Harry and I were here to try out this legendary seafood so that’s what we did. We went after three separate dishes. Oysters with cheese, half naked pen shells with scallion oil, and scallops with scallion oil. All are grilled on their half shells.
The oyster here is of the giant variety. Literally the size of a baseball. The plump briny and sweet oyster gets topped with a creamy melty cheese. It has zero mineral flavor to it and the best part is the cheese is Laughing Cow cheese. I have still yet to find an instance where Laughing Cow cheese doesn’t work.
The half naked pen shells and scallops are both prepared the same with scallion oil and both are fantastic. You also get three side sauces to top them off but the only one that matters is oddly enough a condensed milk, chili, lime leaves, and salt. Sounds disgusting, but it works so well.
Chè
Our final stop on our HCMC street food motorbike tour takes us to District 2 for more desserts. This stop is on the regular tour and it’s for a classic Vietnamese dessert called chè. If you’re not familiar, chè isn’t just one thing. It’s a whole category of sweet soups, puddings, and drinks. Think coconut milk, beans, tapioca, sticky rice, fruit, jelly, you name it. Sometimes it is iced and other times it’s served warm.
Harry picked up four kinds of chè for me to try. All of them delicious. First up is chè bắp. This version of chè has sweet corn, tapioca pearls, sticky rice and coconut cream. If you’re Western, corn probably sounds a little weird as a dessert but all over SE Asia corn it’s prepared as a dessert in some form or another and it’s delicious every time.
The next one I tried was chè táo xọn. This chè is made with yellow mung beans and thickened with a little tapioca flour and once again topped with coconut cream. It’s thick, gooey and sweet. What’s not to love?
Third on the list is chè đậu trắng. Same prep as táo xọn but instead of mung beans this is made with black-eyed peas.
And the final one and my favorite is chè mè đen. This version is with black sesame and holy hell is this good. It’s nutty, it’s earthy, and it’s not too sweet. Easily the best of the four.
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How to Book Your HCMC Street Food Motorbike Tour
Saigon Vibes offers a few different tours depending on what you’re after. The motorbike street food tour is the top-seller, but they also run walking food tours, coffee tastings, vegan routes, and private food tours. Everything can be booked through Viator, and most of the tours run multiple times a day.
Here’s a breakdown of what they offer:
Top Notch Street Food Motorbike Tour In Ho Chi Minh City
- 10 dishes, snacks, drinks & local beer included.
- Free pickup & drop-off by taxi at your hotel (district 1, 3, 4) or meet at Opera House in district 1.
- Accident Insurance up to $5000 per case
- Available time slots daily: 11:00, 1:00, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00
- From $27 per person
Super Niche Walking Street Food Tour in Ho Chi Minh City
- Get around the city with a combination of walking and taxis
- Round-trip transfers from hotels in Districts 1, 3, 4, and the Opera House
- 10 tastings of Vietnamese dishes as well as Saigon beer
- This is a light activity, and it’s suitable for everyone
- Available time slots daily: 11:00, 1:00, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00
- From $27 USD per person
The Coolest Vegan Food Tour in Ho Chi Minh City
- Motorbike Tour
- Free pickup & drop-off by taxi at your hotel (district 1, 3, 4) or meet at Opera House in district 1.
- 8 dishes in total. Includes traditional Vietnamese dishes that have been customized for vegans.
- Accident Insurance up to $5000 per one case
- Available time slots daily: 1:00 and 5:30
- From $29 USD per person
Private Food Tour In Ho Chi Minh City With Saigon Vibes
- Nothing’s fancy, everything authentic. Eat with locals, talk with locals
- 10 dishes, snacks, drinks & local beer included. No extra cost for food and drinks
- Complimentary pick-up and drop off either at your accommodation at district 1, 3, 4 or Opera House
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
- Available time slots daily: 12:00, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00
- From $32 USD per person
If you want a fully customized experience like I had, you’ll need to contact Saigon Vibes directly. But for most people, the standard tours are more than enough.
Is the Saigon Vibes Food Tour Worth It?
In my opinion, I have established this tour is worth it ten times over in this post. But do what you want, I don’t give a shit. What I will say is that if you know me or have followed me at all, you know that I have a company that operates in numerous cities around the world.
They’re called A Chef’s Tour, and I have sung their praises eleven ways from Sunday. So why didn’t I take a HCMC street food tour with them? Because they don’t operate a tour in Saigon. In fact the only tour they operate in Vietnam is in Hanoi and I have been on that one.
All I know is that I’ve always wanted to do a motorbike food tour in Saigon. I reached out to several companies offering them and one after another, some bullshit excuse or inflated price was always at the forefront. By the time I got in touch with Saigon Vibes, I had lost hope of finding anything at all.
But to my great surprise, from the very first message, everything was professional and straightforward. My customized food tour was fantastic, Harry was awesome, communication was top-notch. I really could not have asked for a better experience. My customized tour cost me 1.05 million VND ($41 USD) and that includes a tip for Harry. So is it worth it? You tell me.
Final thoughts
That’s my experience. If you’ve done this tour or end up booking it, let me know how it went. If you’ve got a better one in Saigon, I’m all ears. Drop it in the comments. If you’ve got questions before booking it, drop them in the comments too. I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
HCMC street food tour: FAQ
How do I know if a HCMC street food tour is legit?
Look for third-party reviews on sites like Viator or TripAdvisor, not just social media. Real tours have hundreds (or thousands) of verified reviews and clear tour descriptions. Or scroll up and read this blog post. Do your due diligence if planning a customized tour. As I mentioned, I was quoted astronomical rates by some “well known” companies that weren’t even giving me what I wanted.
Do I need travel insurance to join a motorbike tour in Vietnam?
It’s not required. Saigon Vibes includes basic accident coverage up to $5000. But you should ask yourself why you’re travelling at all without travel insurance.
Is tipping expected on HCMC street food tours?
It’s not required, but I am going to be blunt about this. If you’re from the US, tip your damn tour guide. Any other nationality gets a pass because it’s not common in their country either. People in the tourism industry all over the world know the US has a tipping culture so while they will never demand a tip, don’t think they are not expecting one when they know you’re a US citizen. It makes you look silly and feeds into the stereotype of American travellers.
Is Ho Chi Minh City safe for solo travelers at night?
Absolutely. Much safer than New York, London, Paris, and Toronto that’s for sure.
How spicy is the food on HCMC street food tours?
Are there vegan food tours in Vietnam
Of course. Saigon Vibes has one designed specifically for vegans that includes traditional Vietnamese dishes that have been customized specifically for vegans.
