What to Eat in Saigon: 17 Absolutely Can’t Miss Dishes

Months before I even arrived, I had one question on my mind. What to eat in Saigon? It consumed me day and night. I had read all the stories, saw all the videos, but still I had no idea outside of maybe bánh mì and phở. I knew of the lighter meals with fresh herbs served on the side, but what exactly were they? What would the flavor profiles be like? Is Ho Chi Minh City going to be the tourist Mecca of Vietnam and the food sucks?

Add on top of that the stress that Vietnam had been my #1 bucket list country for well over 35 years, and I was an absolute mess. I can happily report that the experience of my arrival and the food was more than I could have ever hoped for. So in this post I am giving 17 can’t miss dishes in Saigon. You’ll see the Vietnamese spelling in the headers, but I’m keeping it simple everywhere else so don’t come at me.

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What to eat in Saigon: Bánh mì

We are starting off with probably the most well known Vietnamese food in banh mi. Full disclosure, there are a ton of shit banh mi in Ho Chi Minh City. So thank God there are also a ton of really good banh mi in the city too. This quintessential Vietnamese street food can be found on just about every street corner all over the country.

With its French-inspired baguette and Vietnamese fillings this may be the perfect sandwich…..anywhere….in the world. But let’s make no mistake in regards to that baguette. It is French-inspired but that’s about it. A Vietnamese baguette has a softer and fluffier interior, with a thinner and crispier crust to its French counterpart. They also tend to be more on the sweeter side which is perfect for these sandwiches.

You can get banh mi without it, but the starting point should always be paté. The type of paté will depend on location but it could be pork, duck, goose, or whatever else they feel like. Then it’s topped with a protein of your choice and fresh herbs and veggies. It’s finished off with a dressing of your choosing which could be mayo, chili sauce, soy sauce. Basically there are a ton of options. Or just order a bánh mì thập cẩm and get an assortment of all the proteins and toppings and never ask what to eat in Saigon again.

Hủ tiếu Nam Vang

This was one of the first dishes not named banh mi I tried in my quest to figure out what to eat in Ho Chi Minh City. Turns out it’s not a Vietnamese dish at all but a Cambodian dish known as Kuyteav in Khmer, and this is the Vietnamese take on it. If you’re smart, unlike me, you’d realize Nam Vang in Vietnamese is Phnom Penh and the hu tieu refers to noodle soup. No worries though, I am pretty sure nobody in the history of the world has ever claimed I am a heavyweight in the brain department.

The hu tieu nam vang broth is light with an extremely fresh flavor that’s made from pork bones, dried squid, and shrimp. Your noodles can vary apparently, but I have only ever had it with transparent rice noodles. Your bowl of soup noodles will include pork meat, pork liver, quail eggs, poached prawns, fried shallots, and garlic. And as is the case with every vietnamese meal you will get a side of fresh herbs and sprouts to top it off like Chinese celery, chives, and cilantro. Tables in almost every establishment will have fish sauce, soy sauce, pickled daikon, and chili sauce to flavor to your preferences.

Hu tieu nam vang is savoury, a little sweet and extremely fresh tasting with the light broth and fresh herbs. I could literally eat this for breakfast every morning.

Bia hơi Hà Nội

Not a dish here on our what to eat in Saigon list, but definitely worth checking out. In Vietnam there is a long standing tradition of freshly made beer. Bia hoi translates to fresh beer and Ha Noi is of course the city of Hanoi. While it originates in Hanoi it can be found all over the country, including Ho Chi Minh City.

Bia hoi will be served in bluish/greenish glasses that are intentionally imperfect. Maybe rough edges around the rims, full of air bubbles, etc. The glasses were born out of struggles due to war, but today many Vietnamese won’t drink their fresh beer out of anything else, so they continue to make these imperfect vessels solely for the consumption of beer.

Bia hoi also has the reputation of being the cheapest beer in the world, with some claiming you can still get a glass for as little as 5k VND ($.19 USD) for a half litre of beer in Hanoi. I never saw those prices. In Ho Chi Minh City expect to pay 20-40k VND ($.76-$1.53) for a glass. Still great prices by western standards. For the record the cheapest I found it, even in Hanoi, was 15k VND ($.57)

Bò lá lốt

This is another Vietnamese street food that you will see everywhere, so you’ll never wonder what to eat in Saigon. Bo la lot is simply seasoned ground beef that is pressed, wrapped in betel leaves, skewered, and then grilled. What will blow you away is just how tender the grilled beef is and the smoky and nutty flavor of the grilled betel leaf.

Usually bo la lot will be served with grilled scallion oil, peanuts, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and sheets of rice paper. You assemble the wraps at your table and there will be a variety of dipping sauces to choose from. Fermented shrimp and/or fish paste, fish sauce, and sometimes there will even be a sweet and umami pineapple juice and anchovy sauce. It just depends on the location.

It is extremely inexpensive as well, with skewers going for 10k-15k VND ($.38-$.57) each. This is a simple, staple Vietnamese food and one you won’t want to miss.

Gỏi đu đủ khô bò

You won’t find goi du du on every street corner of Ho Chi Minh City, but if you’re serious about what to eat in Saigon, it’s one you should seek out. This is a papaya and black beef jerky salad that is extremely refreshing. The interesting part is that beef jerky. It’s black because it is made with beef offal and more specifically lungs and liver.

If you’re like me and not a big fan of beef liver, goi du du will change your mind. There is literally zero metallic flavor to it, and that super heavy paté texture is completely gone because of the hydration process. It’s like snapping into a Slim Jim, but better. The real star of the dish is the dressing. A mixture of vinegar, fish sauce, chilies and a citrus of some kind. It could be kumquat, it could be lemon, it just depends where you get it. It’s topped off with fresh herbs like Vietnamese coriander and Thai basil, peanuts and rice crackers.

The finished product is sweet from the papaya, bitter from the fresh herbs, nutty from the peanuts, and salty from the beef. Then it’s drenched in that glorious sour, sweet and umami dressing. Think along the lines of Thailand’s som tum with a twist. God, I hate saying “twist”, but here we are.

Chuối nếp nướng

Let’s introduce our first sweet into this list with chuoi nep nuong. This dish is a dish of ripe bananas that are grilled and then wrapped in sticky rice and that is then wrapped in banana leaves and grilled. Once those banana leaves are burnt beyond recognition, they peel them and throw the remaining sticky rice and banana on the grill again.

After some beautiful char marks have covered the sticky rice, they top it with rich coconut cream and toasted sesame seeds or crushed peanuts. It’s smoky, it’s sweet, the outside is crispy from the char and the inside is soft and mushy banana flavor overload. The coconut cream is an added bonus in every bite and it’s to die for. It’s hot, it’s messy, and all of it is prepared roadside by the sweetest people you will ever meet.

If you still have to ask what to eat in Ho Chi Minh City, I assure you, you’re doing this wrong.

Bún chả

Bun cha is a northern dish that originated in Hanoi, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it when you’re figuring out what to eat in Saigon. In fact, I will go so far as to say that best one I had in all of Vietnam was in Saigon. And yes, I will tell you where this one is.

But first the dish. Bun cha is a dish of rice vermicelli with grilled pork belly and meatballs, that is served with a dipping sauce of fish sauce, sugar, msg, minced garlic, chili’s, and other aromatics. It’s served with pickled vegetables that act as a palate cleanser and of course, a metric ton of fresh herbs. This is much greater than the sum of its parts and I don’t think I can do justice to just how awesome this dish is. It’s savoury with a hint of umami, and it’s literally perfection. Bun cha may be my favorite Vietnamese dish.

The location I found sits on the outskirts of district 1 in Ho Chi Minh City and I highly advise you to use the link I provided or you will never find it. There is an Auntie and Uncle that own and operate the shop and both of them are from Hanoi.

The Uncle made sure I never ran out of anything. If I looked like I wanted more he would rush over to fill my bowl again. I also ordered a bowl of his bún ốc, which is a soup of rice noodles and snails. Both dishes were out of this world good, and this spot was one of my favorite dining experiences in all of Vietnam.

Cút chiên bơ

Alright, this is also stupid good. I should probably stop saying I have a favorite of anything because boom, I hit myself with cut chien bo now. This is deep fried quails and that probably doesn’t sound all that interesting. That is until you find out it is deep fried in pure butter. Now I don’t know about you, but after fifty three years on this earth I still have not found anything that butter doesn’t make better.

Your birds come to the table piping hot, golden, and crispy. You get a fresh baguette, salt and pepper mixed with kumquat juice, a secret sauce that the only thing I clearly identify is tamarind, pickled veggies, and once again that mountain of herbs. OK wait. Every damn Vietnamese dish comes with a mountain of herbs so unless I state otherwise, just assume it comes with them going forward.

Anyway, tear yourself off a piece of baguette and start loading it up with deep fried bird meat and toppings until you have a miniature sandwich. Savoury, sweet, sour, and bitter in every bite and something you would gladly punch a kid in the face for when look for what to eat in Saigon.

Where to Stay in Saigon

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More food from around the world: 60+ Must Try Vietnamese Foods From North to South

Nước Mía

I’m giving you another liquid addition here because I think you’re going to need it when you see the next two in our what to eat in Saigon list. Nuoc mia is sugarcane juice. Pretty straightforward, yes? You will see carts or small stalls all over the city and you will probably drink a lot of this for two reasons. One, Saigon gets unbearably hot throughout the entire year so a refreshing drink is always welcome. Two, they are dirt cheap. You can get large servings of nuoc mia for as little as 10k VND ($.38)

Now you would think being sugarcane juice it would be extremely sweet right? And why would anybody in the world want to drink so much sugarcane juice? Because it’s all natural and you don’t get that sugar crash you get from processed sweeteners. And surprisingly it’s not an extremely sweet drink. Think more earthy and woody than full on sweet. In fact, many vendors add kumquat juice to it to give it a citrusy flavor and more sweetness.

Now that you are all freshened up on your Ho Chi Minh City journey, let’s make your stomach churn a bit.

Hột vịt lộn

Bottom line, hot vit lon is a partially fertilized duck egg. You may know it better by the Filipino term balut and you’re goddamn right it’s getting included in my list of what to eat in Ho Chi Minh City and can be found all over the country.

I know it sounds scary and your mind, with all its pre programmed conditioning, is telling you not to even think about eating this. Well your mind and your programming are dumb. I will never for the life of me understand why someone refuses to even try something because of bullshit societal values.

Here is the truth about hot vit lon. The liquid inside tastes like chicken soup. The egg itself is rich, creamy, and savory. And if the gestation period is under 18 days and you were blindfolded, you would think you were eating a typical hard boiled egg. After 18 days you may notice some development but it still tastes like a chicken egg. The only thing holding you back now is your mind. So give your lady bits a tug and stop acting holier than thou. It’s delicious!

Trứng cút lộn xào me

Since I have already offended half of you, I see no point in stopping now. Next up in our what to eat in Saigon rotation is trung cut lon xao me. Basically, it’s balut again but this time it’s quail eggs instead of duck. Maybe the smaller bite-sized version will be easier to handle? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

The difference here is after steaming or boiling these little shits are peeled and then stir-fried in a tamarind sauce with garlic, chilies, and fish sauce. It’s still creamy and you get a bit of natural sweet and sour from the tamarind, and kick of pungent garlic. Follow it up with those bitter herbs for the perfect bite.

The only thing with these is the egg white, which calcifies into an eraser like disc, is still intact. It’s edible but almost flavourless, so unless you were the weirdo chewing on erasers in grade three you will want to pick these off.

Phá lấu bò

Let’s end your torment with stomach churning-dishes with pha lau bo. This one is not so bad, but it does contain beef offal. Pha lau bo may also be Vietnam’s only version of curry. Well, it’s not so much a curry as it is coconut milk it’s cooked in. It clearly lacks the spice profiles you find in Indian or Malay curries.

All of the protein in this dish is full on offal though. Liver, stomach, spleen, intestines, and whatever else they throw in there. This dish allows you to experience the full chewy and fatty flavor of the offal followed by a bitter aftertaste of fresh Vietnamese coriander. You’ll always get a baguette on the side to soak up your curry as well. It’s an excellent dish and if you’re not afraid of offal, it’s one you should try when seeking out what to eat in Saigon.

Bánh su kem

Now that your stomach is in full knots, let’s give you another sweet overload. Banh su kem is the Vietnamese version of a French cream puff or choux a la crème. They come in different sizes and with a variety of fillings. Strawberry yogurt, cheese, chocolate, blueberry cream, orange zest. The list goes on and on.

One thing I noticed about banh su kem is they are overstuffed with filling. There are holes on each side when they fill them and when you bite into them, the filling oozes out of the other side. I was told by a few locals that you actually have to suck some of the filling out as you are biting into it so it doesn’t go everywhere. I could never make that work but maybe you will have better luck.

But these are super sweet, and you can feel like an 8 year old overindulging on treats. Definitely worth checking out in your search for what to eat in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hải sản

Hai san just translates to seafood and you should try it at every opportunity because you will find some of the best in the world in Saigon. But I am here to talk about a specific location. It’s the stuff of folklore amongst locals. They’re known for great seafood and the owner. A man who proudly displays hundreds of thousands of US dollars worth of gaudy jewelry and custom motorcycles. Even his staff get in on the gaudy jewelry display. And that location is none other than Ốc Loan in District 3.

The owner and his staff are all lovely people and quite fun to be around, but let’s not sleep on their shellfish dishes. Literally every style of shellfish you can imagine is here and as the name suggests snails (oc) are a specialty. From clams, oysters, and scallops, to rare shellfish and prawns, you won’t miss anything at this location.

They do an awesome giant oyster, grilled over open flames and stuffed with cheese that you won’t want to miss. Another reco would be their scallops with assorted dipping sauces. Scallion oil is great, sweet fish sauce is good, but the one that really blew my mind was a salt, condensed milk, chilies, lime juice, and lime leaves sauce. The condensed milk sounds disgusting, but it is so good. I wish I had a better description than “good” but that is all you are getting out of me.

Have you had enough of this list of what to eat in Saigon? No? Ok, here are a few more.

Bánh tráng nướng

Banh trang nuong is Vietnam’s version of pizza. Is it touristy as hell? You betcha. Is it worth trying out when you’re wondering what to eat in Saigon? Oh hell yea. You will find it all over the city in every district and even more so where tourists are gathered.

There are a multitude of varieties but typically it will be a rice paper sheet grilled over open flames. Toppings can include pork, shrimp, sausage, onions, chicken floss, eggs, cheese, and sauces. Those sauces may be as simple as mayo, or combined with crispy chili garlic oil. Scallion oil is also a popular option.

This is a build-your-own type of dish. If you can’t communicate, just point at what you want on it and they will be more than happy to oblige you.

Xiên bò nướng

Xien bo nuong are Cambodian in origin but that doesn’t mean they aren’t making my what to eat in Saigon list. They are very common in District 10 where Cambodian immigrants have settled. The dish itself is seasoned and grilled beef skewers. It will normally be served with a side of fresh papaya salad with a sweet chili sauce. Nothing over complicated here, you order with or without cheese. Some places take an extra step and use lemongrass for the skewers that adds even more flavour.

They’re cheap, filling, and worth every bite. Bonus points if you make your way to the Hồ Thị Kỷ night market and find the stall where a retired Cambodian boxer has been serving his xien bo nuong for more than 33 years.

Chè

And we wrap up our what to eat in Saigon list with another sweet and that is che. Although it’s not really sweet. If you’re from North America, SE Asia is going to throw you for a little bit of a loop with most of their sweets. Back home, sweet means processed sugar rush for the most part, but in Vietnam and the rest of SE Asia, sweets are much more subtle. Don’t get me wrong there is sweetness to them, but it’s not as intense.

Che is something you will find all over the country, but in Ho Chi Minh City get out of tourist mode and make your way over to District 2’s Khánh Vy Sweets, who just so happens to have the best che in town. They serve numerous flavours, sixteen in total I believe. But I am sending you here for one in particular.

That is their chè mè đen or black sesame che. Don’t even think about knocking it if you’ve never tried it. You have black sesame mixed into sticky rice and a giant dollop of thick and sticky coconut cream plopped into it. It’s nutty, it’s sweet, the coconut cream gives it a decadent touch. Oh I miss this so much.

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Where to Start Looking in Saigon

Now you’re probably asking yourself; where am I going to find these dishes on my what to eat in Saigon journey? Well, I have already given you a couple of locations, and honestly the best thing to do is get out there and explore. What I think is great, you may dislike. But here are some general rules of thumb regarding some of the districts in Ho Chi Minh City.

District 1: This is the tourist hub of Saigon, so most of it will be overpriced and geared towards those tourists. Let me be very clear overpriced means overpriced for locals. If you’re coming from a western country the prices will seem very reasonable to you. Having said that, if you can hit the outskirts of District 1 you can find some great prices and food.

The bun cha we talked about was located here and the best banh mi I had in all of Vietnam was no more than 20 metres outside of their door. If you blink you will miss her because she runs a tiny kiosk. But she literally was feeding me everything on her station with her tongs before making my sandwich. Sorry I can’t link to her because she does not exist according to Google.

District 2: More residential expat and not known as a food destination but some great finds as evidenced by Khánh Vy Sweets.

District 3: Much more relaxed, though the expat crowd is growing here too. Great food scene here though. You can even sample bo la lot at a Michelin recommended restaurant here at Quán Ăn Cô Liêng.

District 4: Rougher edges, louder streets, and unexpectedly great food. It’s the type of place where you wander in hungry and leave full without knowing what hit you.

District 5: Chinese-Vietnamese fusion. Different feel, totally different dishes. Home to Chinatown and that’s never a bad thing anywhere in the world.

District 10: Easily the most underrated district in my opinion. Large Cambodian community, home to the Ho Thi Ky Night Market and my favourite cut chien bo location. If you make your way here, just know that I love you.

What to eat in Saigon final thoughts

Saigon is chaos, but the food makes it all worth it. You’ll sweat, get lost, maybe almost get hit by a motorbike or twelve, but then some random auntie hands you a plastic bag full of grilled meat or a coconut-filled dessert and suddenly everything’s fine again.

This post isn’t here to tell you what’s best or where to eat. It’s what made a mark on me while I was eating my way through this city. Some you’ll love, some you’ll probably hate. That’s the point.

If something on this list hit, missed, or made you violently uncomfortable, tell me in the comments. I read everything and I don’t bite, unless you insult the chè.

What to eat in Saigon: FAQ

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