Vietnamese food that I crave for: vacation in Saigon (Part 1)

Dumplings soup/Wonton soup

Location: To Chan
41 Nguyen Cu Trinh, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Yup, I’m back to the old spot again. The price, not just this local diner but literally everywhere, has gone up a little bit due to the pandemic and inflation in Vietnam, which is understandable. But the flavor and hospitality are still there. The owner gave a big smile when he saw me again! After such a long time and he still remembered me, that warms my heart a lot.

Hoang Yen Buffet

Location: they have multiple locations in Ho Chi Minh City. The one I went to was inside Van Hanh Mall on Su Van Hanh street.

If you don’t have a specific dish in mind and are willing to try Vietnamese cuisine, this place is ideal for you. From appetizers to main courses and desserts, you can get all of them in one place, in a buffet style so that you can try many many Vietnamese dishes. Food and seasoning was good, great services, the place is spacious enough for group dinners or hanging out with few friends.

Note that the dessert – silken tofu pudding with ginger syrup and coconut milk (Đậu hũ chén, in the last photo), I have just realized that this Vietnamese recipe is such an ideal vegan dessert! So vegan friends, when you come to Vietnam or when you want to try Vietnamese dessert, don’t miss out!

Vietnamese crab udon soup (Bánh canh cua)

Location: Banh canh cua 14
221 Tran Binh Trong Street, Ward 3, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Another savory soup that I crave for is this Vietnamese crab udon soup, or so called “Bánh canh cua”. The noodle shape is similar to udon but it is made of rice flour and tapioca flour, cooked till soften then added to the broth, so we called it “bánh canh”. The broth was basically pork bone broth, with aroma from cilantro roots and onions, poured over “bánh canh” and crab meat on top. Garnish with spring onions and fried shallot, boom, we have an amazing bowl of Vietnamese crab udon soup! Or just go to this shop, they have it all! Just sit down and enjoy!

Broken rice, a.k.a. cơm tấm at my family’s diner

Location: Cơm Tấm Mai
129 Doan Van Bo, Ward 12, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City,, Vietnam

Can’t miss out on this place! It’s the best com tam in Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City), in my humble opinion! When you don’t know what to pick at a cơm tấm’s place, a small tip to enjoy as much as possible was to ask to have rice and meat, pickles separately. In this way, you can try different dishes, such as fish cake, grill BBQ pork chop, fried eggs, meat loaf… with the broken rice.
Funny story, I realized that I had not told this to my best friends of 15 years. So last weekend, for the very first time, we had it together!