Where to Eat in Ho Chi Minh City

Bến Thành market has been around Saigon in one form or another for over 300 years. At some points it neighbored bodies of water including a small lake. It is a monster, overwhelming at first. If you come to Saigon and you love to shop, this is the one-stop shop you are looking for. Personally nothing is more thrilling at Bến Thành than the art of “The Barter.” It’s a strategic game of wits of where you pit product desire against pocketbook ability and the house always wins. It’s not always easy, in fact it’s never easy. Hot, stagnant air ripe with the smell of fish and squid always seems to hang in the air right over that gift you can’t live without. You’re constantly walking that fine line between feeling like you got ripped off or feeling you’re further oppressing the local population. Bến Thành is the stadium packed with hundreds of thousands of pieces of clothing, jewelry, and art- and they’re all yours to play for.

You want to find the best banh mi in Saigon - then go where the lines is. There was a huge line at Huynh Hoa on Le Thi Rieng street. It was a little hole in the wall shop, but the stand was packed with locals pulling up on their bike and getting them to go. A man sweat over a little oven warming up the perfect bread while a few women grabbed meat and veggies with chopsticks, placing it between the warm bread. After saucing it up they’d wrap it in paper and snap a rubber band around it and off you went. They had two stands in a little store space and only sold take away. Clearly a great local find!

Make sure you look inside that coconut as you may find one of the best desserts in Vietnam - Rau Câu dừa. This refreshing dessert is simply coconut jelly and custard made with agar agar. It is typically served in a coconut shell and often you see women selling it from their bikes on busy street corners. Make sure you stop and get one...or 5 on a hot day!