The street-food capital where Saigon eats around the clock.
Free cancellation on most tours, with live prices on the partner's site.
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.
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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
Where to eat Pho in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Taste itSaigon Night Walking Tour with Banh Mi & Local Food$26Where to eat Banh mi in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Com tam in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Taste itSaigon Night Walking Tour with Banh Mi & Local Food$26Where to eat Banh xeo in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Goi cuon in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Bun thit nuong in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Hu tieu Nam Vang in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Ca phe sua da in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Ca phe trung in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Banh canh cua in Ho Chi Minh City →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
Where to eat Bun bo Hue in Ho Chi Minh City →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.
OrderThe clay-pot braised pork and the tofu the kitchen makes in house.
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.
OrderBanh xeo and the fresh spring rolls with boiled pork.
Quan Ngon 138 gathers dozens of regional Vietnamese street dishes near the Independence Palace, cooked at open stalls inside a colonial-era house.
OrderWork through several small dishes; the banh xeo and grilled meats are reliable.
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.
OrderThe caramelised clay-pot fish and the pomelo salad.
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.
OrderThe grilled dishes and a clay-pot braise to share.
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.
OrderCao lau noodles and the white rose shrimp dumplings.
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
Pho
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
Banh mi
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
Com tam
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
Banh xeo
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
Goi cuon
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
District 1 (Ben Nghe and Ben Thanh)
The downtown core: colonial boulevards, Ben Thanh Market, rooftop bars and the widest span of eating, from banh mi queues to Michelin tables
District 5 (Cho Lon)
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
Thao Dien
The riverside expat quarter east of the centre, thick with specialty coffee, brunch spots, wine bars and international restaurants along quiet lanes
Binh Thanh
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
A sample of Ho Chi Minh City hotels from our booking partner, who list 58,202 here. Live prices and availability open on their site.
Hotel Minh Minh Hieu
With a stay at Hotel Minh Minh Hieu in Ho Chi Minh City (Bnh Chnh), you'll be within a 5-minute drive of Bu...
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RedDoorz @ Hoang Minh Hotel
With a stay at RedDoorz Hoang Minh Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Binh), you'll be within a 5-minute drive...
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Sunny Hotel Ho Chi Minh
With a stay at Sunny Hotel Ho Chi Minh in Ho Chi Minh City (District 1), you'll be steps from Pham Ngu Lao ...
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Minh Chau Hotel - Dien Bien Phu
With a stay at Minh Chau Hotel - Dien Bien Phu in Ho Chi Minh City (District 3), you'll be a 5-minute walk ...
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Minh Nhu Hotel
Located in Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Binh), Minh Nhu Hotel is within a 5-minute drive of Ho Chi Minh City Inter...
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Minh Ha Hotel
With a stay at Minh Ha Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Binh Tan), you'll be a 1-minute drive from Aeon Mall Binh...
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Minh Tam Hotel and Spa
Located in Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Binh), Minh Tam Hotel and Spa is within a 5-minute drive of Ho Chi Minh Ci...
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Minh Vy Hotel
With a stay at Minh Vy Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (District 1), you'll be steps from Pham Ngu Lao Street and...
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Ngoc Minh Hotel
A stay at Ngoc Minh Hotel places you in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, steps from Pham Ngu Lao Backpacker A...
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Bao Minh Hotel
With a stay at Bao Minh Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Binh), you'll be within a 15-minute walk of Gia Dinh...
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MINH TAM PHU NHUAN HOTEL & SPA
With a stay at MINH TAM PHU NHUAN HOTEL & SPA in Ho Chi Minh City (Phu Nhuan), you'll be within a 5-minute ...
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Supe Homestay Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
With a stay at Supe Homestay Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in Ho Chi Minh City (District 1), you'll be steps from Co...
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Also compare: Booking.com in Ho Chi Minh City · LateRooms in Ho Chi Minh City · Expedia in Ho Chi Minh City
Stays are listed by our booking partners, not editor picks. We earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Ho Chi Minh City, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
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.
