The fastest, cheapest, frequently best food on Ho Chi Minh City's streets.
Vendors, food trucks and stalls: the cheapest, fastest, frequently best food in Ho Chi Minh City.
Banh Mi Huynh Hoa is Saigon's most famous banh mi, a pricey but overstuffed baguette of house pate, cold cuts and butter with a queue near Ben Thanh.
Try: Cold-cut and pate banh mi
Order: The full banh mi thit, loaded with pate, cold cuts and pickles.
Tip: It costs more than most stalls but is packed with meat; expect a queue at peak hours.
Banh Mi Bay Ho is a decades-old Da Kao stall known for its homemade pate, a tiny operation featured on Netflix's Street Food that sells out most afternoons.
Try: Homemade pate banh mi
Order: The classic pate banh mi, made to the family's old recipe.
Tip: It closes when the day's bread runs out, so come well before evening.
Banh Mi Hong Hoa is a busy bakery-and-stall near Ben Thanh turning out generously filled cold-cut baguettes, a rival to the nearby Huynh Hoa queue.
Try: Cold-cut banh mi
Order: The mixed cold-cut banh mi with extra pickles.
Tip: The bread is baked on site through the day, so it is nearly always warm and crisp.
Banh Cuon Hai Nam steams delicate rice-flour rolls to order, filling the thin sheets with minced pork and wood-ear mushroom, a District 3 breakfast favourite.
Try: Banh cuon
Order: A plate of banh cuon with cha lua and fried shallots.
Tip: It is a morning dish; go before noon while the steamer is still running.
Xoi Ga Number One is a Michelin Selected spot for its sticky rice topped with a fried or steamed chicken drumstick, eaten from a paper wrap.
Try: Xoi ga
Order: Xoi ga with a fried chicken drumstick and scallion oil.
Tip: It runs late into the evening; the fried chicken version is the one to get.
Banh Khot Co Ba brings the Vung Tau coastal snack to District 3: small crisp turmeric rice cups fried with a shrimp, eaten wrapped in mustard leaf.
Try: Banh khot
Order: A tray of banh khot, wrapped in greens with fish sauce.
Tip: Wrap each cup in the mustard leaf and herbs before dipping; the coconut batter is rich.
Chi Tuyen is a Co Giang sidewalk stall known for bun thit nuong, cold rice vermicelli piled with charcoal-grilled pork, herbs and a crisp fried spring roll.
Try: Bun thit nuong
Order: Bun thit nuong with an extra grilled spring roll.
Tip: Pour the whole cup of fish-sauce dressing over the noodles and toss before eating.
Chu Se is one of District 1's premier hu tieu spots, ladling the clear pork-bone broth of hu tieu Nam Vang over chewy noodles with pork and shrimp.
Try: Hu tieu
Order: Hu tieu Nam Vang, the dry version with broth on the side.
Tip: Order it kho, dry, with the broth alongside, to taste the noodles the way regulars do.
This Le Thanh Ton cart is a downtown fixture for bo bia, soft rice-paper rolls of jicama, dried shrimp and Chinese sausage, alongside silky tau hu da tofu.
Try: Bo bia and tofu pudding
Order: A handful of bo bia rolls with the sweet-savoury dip.
Tip: Bo bia comes sweet or savoury; the savoury rolls with dried shrimp are the classic snack.
Chi Thong is a Co Giang stall widely rated for some of the best goi cuon in town, fresh rice-paper rolls of poached pork, prawn, vermicelli and herbs.
Try: Goi cuon
Order: Fresh goi cuon with the peanut-hoisin sauce.
Tip: It is part of the Co Giang evening food strip; the rolls are made to order, so they arrive cool and fresh.
This Cao Thang stall grills banh trang nuong, the Dalat-style rice-paper pizza topped with egg, scallion, dried shrimp and chili, crisped to order.
Try: Banh trang nuong
Order: A banh trang nuong with egg, shrimp and plenty of chili.
Tip: Watch it crisp over the coals and eat it straight away while the rice paper is still crackly.
C002 is a popular Binh Thanh spot for banh trang nuong, grilling the crisp rice-paper pizza with a range of toppings from egg and cheese to dried beef.
Try: Banh trang nuong
Order: The loaded banh trang nuong with cheese and dried beef.
Tip: It offers more topping combinations than the classic street version; the cheese one is a crowd-pleaser.
On the Co Giang evening food strip, this stall grills bo la lot, minced beef wrapped in fragrant betel leaves, served with rice paper, herbs and a dip.
Try: Bo la lot
Order: Skewers of bo la lot to roll in rice paper with herbs.
Tip: Roll the grilled betel-leaf beef in rice paper with herbs and dip; the strip is busiest around 19:00.
The Turtle Lake roundabout is Saigon's most famous spot for banh trang tron, shredded rice paper tossed with dried beef, quail egg, green mango, herbs.
Try: Banh trang tron
Order: A bag of banh trang tron with extra dried beef and lime.
Tip: Grab a bag from a cart and eat it on the roundabout steps, the way local students do at night.