Ho Chi Minh City Staff Recommends

Restaurants & Cafes

Vietnam Development Director (& Former Restaurateur) Jack Bernard's Picks

Jack says, "As the 'new kid on the block' I have a growing list of favorites. I don’t claim real restaurant critic expertise, but as a former restaurant owner I look for several key things: quality of the food, ambience (can be gritty or funky or upscale but it should have some!), and service. These are my two current favorites:

• Hoa Tuc - 74/7 Hai Ba Trung, HCMC (84) 08 3825-1676. The restaurant describes itself as contemporary Vietnamese cuisine. It is located in a courtyard with three other restaurants – all good – near the Park Hyatt. Easy to miss the entrance to the courtyard. The food is delicious. It’s a white tablecloth place but very cozy and welcoming.
  
  
• Sandals -  93 Hai Ba Trung, HCMC   (84) 09 3734-5223. This very stylish three-story bar and restaurant is owned by the same people that own The Sailing Club in Mui Ne. The décor is wood with terracotta and the upper levels are open to the outside with a screen of bamboo. They describe their food as international fusion and it’s very good. A fine place for a drink and light dinner.

Development Officer Van Ly's Restaurant Picks
Van has an MA in International Studies and five years experience working for nonprofit organizations. Her qualifications for EMW restaurant reviewer are simpler: She loves eat out!  Read her descriptions of some favorite HCMC eateries below.

• Co Ba Vung Tau - 59B Cao Thang, District 3, HCMC. Co Ba Vung Tau serves a specialty of Vung Tau (a city south of HCMC) called banh khot, which are made from a batter of rice flour and water, then deep fried with shrimp or scallops on top, and served with a sprinkling of dried shrimp powder and scallions.  The banh xeo, a fried crepe made of a rice flour and tumeric batter, stuffed with shrimp and pork, is also quite good here.
  
  
• Com Nieu Saigon - 59 Ho Xuan Huong, District 3, HCMC.  This is where I take out-of-town guests. They do a variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes really well here, including lotus salad with shrimp and pork (goi ngo sen tom thit), caramelized fish in a claypot (caloc kho to), sour tamarind soup with fish or shrimp (canh chua ca/tom), stir-fried morning glories with garlic (raumuong xao toi) and more. The restaurant is also well known for a type of rice baked in a clay pot which the waiters playfully break to free the rice and then pitch to one another to serve crispy and warm, topped with drizzled scallion oil (com dap). 
  
  
• Che Nam Bo - 2 Bis Dinh Tien Hoang, Dakao Ward, District 1 (near the corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu), HCMC. Located near the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Che Nam Bo is popular with starving college students in search of an inexpensive, sweet treat between classes. It's a great place to try che, the sweet soup with ingredients ranging from mung bean (and various other types of beans), tapioca, lotus seeds, soy milk, gelatinous rice balls and peanuts.  They have over 30 types of che , but my personal favorite is the che chuoi with roasted banana and soy milk. Prices range from 8,000 – 15,000 dong – less than a dollar a dish!
  
  
• Hoa Dang - 38 Huynh Khuong Ninh Street, Dakao Ward, District 1, HCMC . This restaurant is a bit hard to find, but well worth the effort.  It's the best place in Saigon for vegan meals--meatless takes on traditional Vietnamese dishes. The food is clean-tasting and is prepared without additives like MSG.
  
• Regina Coffee - 84 Nguyen Du, District 1, HCMC
  Just around the corner from the Notre Dame Cathedral is this cute open-air café called Regina Coffee. They serve a great fruit smoothie (heaven on a hot day) as well as good coffee drinks. They also have noodle dishes and a daily lunch menu that is very affordable. The best part is that a portion of the proceeds goes to an education fund that supports poor and disadvantaged children in Vietnam. Their motto says it best, “All you add is love.
  
  
• Hideaway Cafe  - 41/1 Pham Ngoc Thach, District 3, HCMC. This is my refuge when the traffic is a little too loud and the city a bit too bustling. It is down a quiet alley a few blocks from the Notre Dame Cathedral.  They serve western-style sandwiches, soups, and salads here.