By N1
Pho bo (beef pho) and pho ga (chicken pho) at Bac Hai (25 Ng The Minh
Khai, District 1) - I preferred the herby southern pho to the less
herby northern variety.
Crab Shack at Quan 94 (84 Dinh Tien Hoang Street , District 1) - the
soft shelled crabs are amazing. I had them both deep fried and in
tamarind. Apparently the crab vermicelli is great too, but there’s
only so much crab I can manage on my own. Watch out for the copycat
Quan 94 which really is at number 94.
Banh Xeo (fried rice “crepes” filled with beansprouts and prawn and
corn, eaten wrapped in lettuce and herbs) and bun ba lot (beef in
betel leaf) at Banh Xeo 46A (46A Dinh Cong Trang Street, District 1) -
luckily the couple next door were able to teach up good rolling
technique, despite the language barrier. Everyone there was sharing a
banh xeo and having another dish on the side, often also involving
making up rolls. The place is also supposed to be good for deep fried
food, such as nem (deep fried spring rolls). Portions are big, e.g.
spring rolls came in a portion of ten. Definitely for sharing. Eat the
crepe first, as it goes a bit soggy with time.
Mi Ga Tiem (chicken, bok choy and noodles in an anise broth) at the
Lunch Lady Near 23 Hoang Sa Street, District 1- we had to wander round
the back streets peering in at the different stalls to see if it was
her, when she called out “Are you looking for me?”. After appearing on
Anthony Bourdin’s show, she’s very popular, and justly so. The stock
has a deep, rich taste - apparently she makes it from scratch each
morning.
We also were on Nguyen Van Thu street several times, eating fried rice cakes
filled with a mushroom mixture and dried salted pork (there c. 4pm, to
catch the children coming out of school), drinking fresh juices from
the juice bar on a corner near the school (try the sapodilla) and
having coffee at Thoai Vien (159A Nguyen Van Thu). It’s the northern end of district 1, where it turns residential, and we liked being out of the way of the tourist hordes. A lot of the above places were nearby, so were up here a lot. Next time I would try to stay in this area.
On our first night we wandered around, trying to find somewhere filled
with Vietnamese near the backpacker district, which would also give us
a non-Western menu. This was surprisingly hard. In both Saigon and
Hanoi
food, they would still well-meaningly direct us to backpacker joints
with westernized menus. Having rejected the place recommended by our
landlady, we wandered until we found a street of busy kerbside seafood
restaurants. At the first place where we sat down, earmarked because
people were eating BBQ-ed chicken feet, the English menu had
Singaporean and western specials and we couldn’t get the chicken feet
even by pointing at them. So we moved to the next restaurant down,
which translated the whole menu, where we ate fantastic lemon grass
steamed snails and crispy fish skin (must be the Viet answer to pork
scratchings). Pigs’ ear - supposed to be made into wraps but no
guidance on this was forthcoming - and deep fried chicken feet were
less successful. The dipping sauces tasted like they were based on a
single shop-bought sauce, with other condiments added to make each
slightly different. Fine for a just-off-the-plane,
round-the-corner-from-our-hotel meal, but I wouldn’t especially
recommend it.
Lots of Viet stallholders were eating lunch in Banh Thanh market, but
the prices were clearly being jacked up for westerners and we had a
whole host of recommendations to get through, so we avoided it. We did
eat a couple of snacks in the market in Cholon. Tasty grilled pork
skewers (at a vastly inflated tourist price), and interesting
marinated oyster salad, and a less successful squid stuffed with pork.
Apart fromNguyen Van Thu street , the places I’d found recommended beforehand were vastly superior to those we stumbled into. My guess is that the further you get from the tourist areas, the better the food is.
District 4 would be on the menu if I’m back again.
Pho bo (beef pho) and pho ga (chicken pho) at Bac Hai (25 Ng The Minh
Khai, District 1) - I preferred the herby southern pho to the less
herby northern variety.
Crab Shack at Quan 94 (
soft shelled crabs are amazing. I had them both deep fried and in
tamarind. Apparently the crab vermicelli is great too, but there’s
only so much crab I can manage on my own. Watch out for the copycat
Quan 94 which really is at number 94.
Banh Xeo (fried rice “crepes” filled with beansprouts and prawn and
corn, eaten wrapped in lettuce and herbs) and bun ba lot (beef in
betel leaf) at Banh Xeo 46A (46A Dinh Cong Trang Street, District 1) -
luckily the couple next door were able to teach up good rolling
technique, despite the language barrier. Everyone there was sharing a
banh xeo and having another dish on the side, often also involving
making up rolls. The place is also supposed to be good for deep fried
food, such as nem (deep fried spring rolls). Portions are big, e.g.
spring rolls came in a portion of ten. Definitely for sharing. Eat the
crepe first, as it goes a bit soggy with time.
Mi Ga Tiem (chicken, bok choy and noodles in an anise broth) at the
Lunch Lady Near 23 Hoang Sa Street, District 1- we had to wander round
the back streets peering in at the different stalls to see if it was
her, when she called out “Are you looking for me?”. After appearing on
Anthony Bourdin’s show, she’s very popular, and justly so. The stock
has a deep, rich taste - apparently she makes it from scratch each
morning.
We also were on Nguyen Van Thu street several times, eating fried rice cakes
filled with a mushroom mixture and dried salted pork (there c. 4pm, to
catch the children coming out of school), drinking fresh juices from
the juice bar on a corner near the school (try the sapodilla) and
having coffee at Thoai Vien (159A Nguyen Van Thu). It’s the northern end of district 1, where it turns residential, and we liked being out of the way of the tourist hordes. A lot of the above places were nearby, so were up here a lot. Next time I would try to stay in this area.
On our first night we wandered around, trying to find somewhere filled
with Vietnamese near the backpacker district, which would also give us
a non-Western menu. This was surprisingly hard. In both Saigon and
food, they would still well-meaningly direct us to backpacker joints
with westernized menus. Having rejected the place recommended by our
landlady, we wandered until we found a street of busy kerbside seafood
restaurants. At the first place where we sat down, earmarked because
people were eating BBQ-ed chicken feet, the English menu had
Singaporean and western specials and we couldn’t get the chicken feet
even by pointing at them. So we moved to the next restaurant down,
which translated the whole menu, where we ate fantastic lemon grass
steamed snails and crispy fish skin (must be the Viet answer to pork
scratchings). Pigs’ ear - supposed to be made into wraps but no
guidance on this was forthcoming - and deep fried chicken feet were
less successful. The dipping sauces tasted like they were based on a
single shop-bought sauce, with other condiments added to make each
slightly different. Fine for a just-off-the-plane,
round-the-corner-from-our-hotel meal, but I wouldn’t especially
recommend it.
Lots of Viet stallholders were eating lunch in Banh Thanh market, but
the prices were clearly being jacked up for westerners and we had a
whole host of recommendations to get through, so we avoided it. We did
eat a couple of snacks in the market in Cholon. Tasty grilled pork
skewers (at a vastly inflated tourist price), and interesting
marinated oyster salad, and a less successful squid stuffed with pork.
Apart from
District 4 would be on the menu if I’m back again.
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