Since this was my very first trip to Saigon, it would be foolish not to cram the itinerary with food, food and more glorious food. This post is a culmination of all the Vietnamese food we devoured over a long weekend. One thing to note though: be careful not to eat any side dish you did not order – they are most likely to be chargeable.
Our first meal was bánh cuốn, a popular breakfast snack. It was made using minced meat wrapped in a thin sheet of steamed rice noodle, topped with fried shallots and served with a dipping sauce. Pretty similar to the Cantonese chee cheong fun, right?
Bánh Cuốn Hải Nam
11A Cao Thắng, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Open daily 07:30 – 22:45
Next, we headed to Bến Thành Market, which I honestly consider a tourist trap. But this old lady’s makeshift noodle stall caught our eye. There were no signages and no tables. Customers simply sat around on tiny stools and slurped up bowls of bánh canh cua (thick rice noodles with crab).
This modest bowl of noodles was topped with so many ingredients – crab meat, fishcake, prawns, quail eggs and sliced pork belly. And we could help ourselves to the bowl of fried dough fritters too!
Bến Thành Market
Lê Lợi, Bến Thành, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
There was a long queue outside this bánh mì stall when we arrived, and flocks of people just kept coming for a loaf of Vietnamese baguette sandwich. Packed with generous slices of luncheon meat, vegetables and pâté, this hearty sandwich was enough to satisfy two hungry folks!
Bánh Mì Huỳnh Hoa
26 Lê Thị Riêng, Bến Thành, 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open daily 15:30 – 24:00
Bánh mì ốp la (baguette with fried eggs) was undisputedly our most memorable meal of the trip. Maybe it was the crusty-on-the-outside-but-pillowy-soft-inside baguette. Or maybe it was the sunny side up eggs with perfectly runny yolks. But as we huddled together around a low table by the road and watched motorbikes buzz past, it was a unique communal breakfast experience that I’ll always remember.
Bánh Mì Hòa Mã
53 Cao Thắng, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Open daily 07:00 – 10:00 or until sold out
Bún thịt nướng is Vietnamese cold rice vermicelli topped with grilled pork and served with a refreshing fish sauce dressing. We ordered ours with chả giò (fried spring roll). Back in Singapore, I always get my bún thịt nướng fix at Mrs Pho. As their name suggests, they serve darn good pho too!
Chị Thông Bún Thịt Nướng
195 Cô Giang, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Open daily 07:00 – 22:00
On our last day in Saigon, we found ourselves in the backpacker district looking for a highly raved smoothie stall. The address pointed towards a back alley, where we spotted an unadorned table of fruits underneath a paper menu taped to the wall. Along the opposite wall lined a row of short blue stools. That’s it? I wondered. We cautiously approached the man tending the stall. He took our orders and then disappeared into the dark, deep alley.
Five minutes later, I was slurping up the best smoothie I ever had. The avocado durian smoothie was so thick and velvety and sweet and creamy and buttery, it was heavenly. Later, we found out that the actual stall was, in fact, further down the alley.
Five Boy Number One
84 Bui Vien Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1 Ho Chi Minh City
We stayed at an airbnb apartment and every morning we would turn left and walk to the main road. When we finally decided to turn right, what we assumed was a dead end surprisingly opened up to a bustling market in a long, narrow alleyway. As local housewives fussed over fresh vegetables and live seafood, I wondered what a pity it would be if we hadn’t taken a right turn that morning.
ESCAPE 
this was a brilliant read, and it makes me want to visit HCMC next 🙂