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.
The name banh xeo means sizzling cake, for the hiss the batter makes hitting a screaming-hot pan. A Southern and central Vietnamese dish, the Saigon version is large and generously filled, its batter coloured and flavoured with turmeric and coconut milk. It is a hands-on, communal dish: you tear off a piece, roll it in lettuce or mustard greens with a fistful of herbs, and dunk it in nuoc cham. Specialists like Banh Xeo 46A near Tan Dinh built reputations on a single well-made crepe, and the dish drew international attention when Anthony Bourdain filmed at a Saigon banh xeo stall.
2 editor picks for Banh xeo in Ho Chi Minh City, ranked by editorial score. All Ho Chi Minh City signature dishes · Banh xeo across every city.
Banh Xeo 46A ★ 4.3
district-1 · 46A Dinh Cong Trang Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Banh Xeo 46A is the sizzling-pancake specialist off Tan Dinh, where turmeric-yellow rice crepes stuffed with shrimp and pork come wrapped in herbs and greens.
Secret Garden ★ 4.2
district-1 · 158 Pasteur Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
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.