The street-food capital where Saigon eats around the clock.
Saigon eats early, often and in the street. Breakfast is a bowl of pho or hu tieu pulled up to a plastic stool by 7am; lunch is com tam, broken rice under a grilled pork chop, from a sidewalk grill; late afternoon belongs to ca phe sua da, thick drip coffee over ice. The city carries three food histories at once: Southern Vietnamese cooking heavy on herbs, fish sauce and sugar; the Cantonese and Teochew kitchens of Cho Lon, the old Chinatown across Districts 5 and 6; and a French colonial inheritance that gave Vietnam the baguette, pate and the flan. Since the Michelin Guide arrived in 2023, District 1 and Thao Dien have sprouted tasting-menu rooms, but the soul of the place is still a snail joint, a banh mi queue and a beer over ice.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Ho Chi Minh City, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam's defining beef noodle soup, a bowl of flat rice noodles in a clear broth simmered for hours with beef bones, charred ginger and onion, star anise and cinnamon, topped with raw or brisket beef and a raft of herbs.
Where: Pho Hoa Pasteur, Pho Le, Pho Quynh
The Vietnamese sandwich, a crisp, airy baguette split and filled with pate, cold cuts or grilled meat, then loaded with pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, coriander, chili and a slick of mayonnaise and soy or Maggi seasoning.
Where: Banh Mi Huynh Hoa, Banh Mi Bay Ho, Banh Mi Hong Hoa
Broken rice, the quintessential Saigon plate: fractured rice grains topped with a marinated grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, a steamed pork-and-egg meatloaf and a fried egg, dressed with sweet fish sauce and a bowl of scallion oil.
Where: Com Tam Ba Ghien
A large, crackling turmeric-yellow crepe of rice flour and coconut milk, fried until lacy and folded over shrimp, pork and bean sprouts, then torn into pieces, wrapped in mustard leaf and herbs and dipped in sweet fish sauce.
Where: Banh Xeo 46A, Secret Garden
Fresh spring rolls, translucent rice-paper wrappers rolled around poached pork, whole prawns, rice vermicelli, lettuce and herbs, served cold and dipped in a peanut-hoisin sauce or nuoc cham. Light, clean and uncooked, the counterpoint to the fried roll.
Where: Secret Garden, Quan Ngon 138
A bright, room-temperature noodle bowl: cold rice vermicelli topped with charcoal-grilled lemongrass pork, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, cucumber, crushed peanuts and often a crisp fried spring roll, all dressed with sweet-and-sour nuoc cham poured over and tossed.
Where: Bun Thit Nuong Chi Tuyen
A Phnom Penh-style noodle soup that became a Saigon staple: chewy clear noodles in a sweet, clean pork-and-dried-squid broth, topped with sliced pork, prawns, quail eggs and offal, served either as a soup or dry with the broth on the side.
Where: Chu Se
Iced milk coffee, the drink Saigon runs on: dark, bitter robusta dripped slowly through a metal phin filter over a layer of sweetened condensed milk, then stirred and poured over a glass of ice. Thick, sweet, intensely caffeinated and built for the heat.
Where: Cheo Leo Cafe, The Workshop Coffee, Runam Bistro
Egg coffee, a Vietnamese invention of whipped egg yolk and condensed milk beaten into a thick, sweet meringue-like custard and floated on a cup of strong hot coffee, drunk by spooning through the foam. A Hanoi creation now poured across Saigon.
Where: Runam Bistro
A thick, gluey crab noodle soup of chewy tapioca-and-rice noodles in a starchy, savoury broth loaded with crab meat, pork, quail eggs and cha, finished with black pepper and a squeeze of lime. Comforting, rich and unmistakably Saigon.
Where: Banh Canh Cua 87, Banh Canh Ghe Muoi Ot Xanh
The fiery central-Vietnamese beef-and-pork noodle soup from Hue, built on a lemongrass-and-shrimp-paste broth stained red with chili oil, with thick round rice noodles, beef shank, pork knuckle and a slice of congealed blood. Bolder and spicier than pho.
Where: Bun Bo Nam Giao
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Ho Chi Minh City.
Cuc Gach Quan is a Bib Gourmand favourite: an architect's old villa turned into a warm room for home-style Southern Vietnamese cooking and clay-pot braises.
Signature: Braised pork in clay pot, Water-spinach with garlic, Tofu hotpot
Secret Garden hides on the rooftop of an old apartment block off Pasteur, serving home-style Southern Vietnamese cooking on a breezy open-air terrace.
Signature: Banh xeo, Fresh spring rolls, Grilled pork
Quan Ngon 138 gathers dozens of regional Vietnamese street dishes near the Independence Palace, cooked at open stalls inside a colonial-era house.
Signature: Banh xeo, Bun bo Hue, Goi cuon
Home Saigon tucks into a quiet alley off Pham Ngu Lao, plating polished versions of family Southern Vietnamese recipes in a set of restored old-house rooms.
Signature: Grilled pork, Clay-pot fish, Vietnamese salads
Ba Co Loc Coc is a Michelin Selected room for traditional Southern Vietnamese home cooking in District 3: grilled meats, clay pots and market vegetables.
Signature: Southern grilled dishes, Clay pots, Vietnamese salads
Hoi An Sense is a Michelin Selected restaurant bringing central Vietnamese cooking to a garden villa in Da Kao, from cao lau to white rose dumplings.
Signature: Cao lau, White rose dumplings, Central Vietnamese dishes
The downtown core: colonial boulevards, Ben Thanh Market, rooftop bars and the widest span of eating, from banh mi queues to Michelin tables.
Best for: Banh mi, Fine dining, Rooftop bars, Coffee
Also: pham-ngu-lao
Leafy and residential just north of the centre, with old villas, Turtle Lake snack stalls and some of the city's most reliable pho and vegetarian kitchens.
Best for: Pho, Vegetarian, Cafes
Saigon's Chinatown, dense with Cantonese and Teochew kitchens, herbal shops, dim sum houses and the hu tieu and roast-meat stalls of Cho Lon.
Best for: Dim sum, Hu tieu, Roast meats
The riverside expat quarter east of the centre, thick with specialty coffee, brunch spots, wine bars and international restaurants along quiet lanes.
Best for: Brunch, Wine bars, International
A fast-changing district between the centre and the river, home to the Landmark 81 tower, riverside seafood and a growing crop of modern Vietnamese rooms.
Best for: Seafood, Modern Vietnamese, Views
A working local district north of District 3, known for long-running com tam grills, banh canh stalls and neighbourhood coffee that never sees a tourist.
Best for: Com tam, Banh canh, Local coffee
Peak food season: November to April is dry season and the most comfortable time to eat outdoors. Tet, the Lunar New Year in late January or February, shuts many family stalls for a week.
Local dining hours: Breakfast 6:00-9:00, lunch 11:00-13:30, dinner 18:00-21:00. Street stalls and snail joints run late; markets open at dawn.
Tipping: Tipping is not expected at street stalls or local restaurants. Upscale rooms and hotels add a service charge; rounding up or leaving small change for good service is welcome.
Ho Chi Minh City's signature dishes include Pho, Banh mi, Com tam, Banh xeo, Goi cuon. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
TableJourney editors map Ho Chi Minh City by district. District 1 (Ben Nghe and Ben Thanh), District 3, District 5 (Cho Lon), Thao Dien are among the strongest for food, each with its own guide.
Editor picks in Ho Chi Minh City include Anan Saigon, CieL Dining, Coco Dining, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.
TableJourney covers 3 editor-picked food tours in Ho Chi Minh City, with what each shows you and how much to budget.
TableJourney's Ho Chi Minh City dietary chapter covers vegan, vegetarian venues, each editor-picked with what to order and how to ask.