The best Vietnamese restaurants Ho Chi Minh City

It's a chain of restaurants with locations in Saigon, Hanoi and as far afield as Cambodia. The setting is particularly pleasant: flowering trees at the entrance, bright red walls, high ceilings and large tables on the open terrace where you can sit down as soon as there's room. The menu is rich in Vietnamese specialities at low prices: nems, banh xeo, grilled meats, soups, grilled beef, sweet desserts... The waiters are very busy and very efficient. The place is very popular. A place we recommend for dinner.

One of our favorite canteens in Ho Chi Minh City! This simple little restaurant is a big hit with the locals. The reason? Authentic, traditional cuisine prepared with quality ingredients. On the menu: bowls of noodles and grilled meats. Excellent bun thap cam (various pieces of grilled pork, egg rolls and rice noodles) and bun thit nuong (rice vermicelli and grilled pork). The other house specialty is bo la lot(grilled beef wrapped in a leaf), a must-try. The place is very popular in the evenings.

This restaurant is located in an authentic restored French colonial house. Here, we meet Vietnamese and Western customers. The name of the restaurant sums up its identity: serving specialties from different regions of the country in a traditional way. Everyone will be able to taste vegetarian dishes and the "Hot Pot" cuisine. The restaurant recreates a unique atmosphere inherited from the last centuries. A family atmosphere prevails and private rooms are available on request. Home delivery and catering services are available.

In the warm, elegant setting of a former opium refinery, Hoa Tuc offers subtle, fragrant contemporary Vietnamese cuisine. Dishes are delicately presented. Smiling, attentive service. Don't hesitate to ask the waiters for advice, as the menu is well-stocked. The restaurant also offers cooking classes. Reservations are recommended, especially at weekends. Another address is on Rue Ngô Thoi Nhiêm.

A classic, awarded several times. The setting and its oriental decor are very attractive and the cuisine refined. On the menu: crab soup with coconut, spring rolls with pork, corn soup with chicken, green papaya salad with shrimps, sautéed beef with asparagus, roasted duck, etc. However, those who are adept at a more popular and spontaneous gastronomy will not share this opinion, as the establishment rather welcomes a tourist and wealthy clientele. Traditional music orchestra or pianist to accompany your dinner.

Just a stone's throw from the Saigon River in the Dong Khoi district, in the refined setting of a former library, the counter serves French, Italian and Vietnamese cuisine. Open from 6:30 am, it offers breakfasts, lunchtime menus, and a wide selection of à la carte dishes for dinner. Specialties include duck confit, salmon tournedos and delicious homemade crepes. Recommended.

Cha ca is a specialty of Hanoi, and if you're not going there, here's a good opportunity to try it. The dish is made with Lang fish, a species of catfish, marinated in turmeric and cooked in a hot pan with dill and chives. Mix it all together in your small bowl with rice noodles, peanuts, chilli and coriander leaves. Add the sauce and you're done. The setting is plain but clean. Fast service. A good idea for lunch if you're wandering around this area.

A small, popular restaurant with a pleasant setting located directly on the most lively street in the " backpakers' district". Its specialty? Bun Cha, executed in a very honorable way. Served generously, it is a dish made of pork grilled over a wood fire served in a bowl of broth, rice noodles, accompanied by mint leaves and salad. Each person adds garlic, chili pepper, etc. to taste. You can accompany your meal with egg rolls, meat skewers or okra, and, of course, a cold beer.

Close to the lively Bui Vien district, but a little out of the way, this is an excellent address for those wishing to enjoy authentic pho . Night owls will be delighted, as the establishment closes late at night. Popular atmosphere. Take a seat at one of the large tables and order the pho of your choice. Several varieties with multiple combinations of beef. Greens, bean sprouts, lemons and chillies are brought in for garnish. Probably not the most attractive place, but the flavor and authenticity of the recipes won us over.

Formerly called Hôi An Restaurant, this famous establishment, frequented by many foreign personalities on official visits to Vietnam, has moved. The quality is still there. Fine and light cuisine from the Center with a particular care given to the meat and spices renowned for their virtues. The dishes are elaborated from local and seasonal products chosen with care by the chefs. Refined presentation in a beautiful traditional setting. Wine cellar. Possibility to book a table online.

Opened in 1968, this small restaurant devoted to pho is a veritable institution in the city, and its success continues unabated. This small, long restaurant offers excellent beef and chicken pho specialties in a variety of recipes. Also on the menu are nems, spring rolls, steamed pork bites (banh bao), and some meatless soups. To accompany your meal, you'll have a choice of cold drinks: coffees, teas, fruit juices and a variety of beers.

This small, modern and elegant establishment has a lot going for it. Firstly, the dining room is pleasant, with an immaculate open kitchen where you can watch the cooks at work. Secondly, Mama Pho offers 16 recipes of the famous soup: Saigon style, Hanoi style, and many others... The most popular is Wagyu beef pho. You can also order several small complementary dishes, such as spring rolls, egg rolls... Finally, service is fast and friendly.

An excellent little boui-boui that has become an institution. Operating since 1991, it serves specialties from Hué, the former imperial capital. Located in a small alley near the Ben Thành market, close to the Bep Me In restaurant, it offers a pleasant, compact setting, with wooden furniture and pleasant background music. Try the crab soup (Bun Cha Cua) and the small steamed rice paste pancakes. The dishes are adapted to Western palates and are not spicy. A good option for a snack at lunchtime.

This establishment located in a nice old house offers a very good traditional Vietnamese gastronomy. The atmosphere of the place is pleasant, with wooden furniture and a neat decoration. A good place to taste local specialties. Many choices on the menu, don't hesitate to ask for advice from the waiters (who speak English). The star of the menu? The rice cooked in a small earthen pot(com dâp) which is broken with gaiety. This is quite folkloric but can also generate an unpleasant background noise for the guests.

You will be able to taste the typical bun bo Hue, cha gio (fried egg rolls with chicken or pork), banh cuon thit nuong (spring rolls) and many other dishes from the central Vietnamese region. Run by a French-Vietnamese couple, the establishment also offers French and Mediterranean dishes. For wine lovers, the establishment also serves wine. To test also, the dishes "fusion food" such as the egg rolls with Camembert or the egg rolls tartiflette. The prices are really affordable, especially for the local specialties.

A few steps away from the Bitexco tower, Nhu Lan is a canteen-institution that is always full. Good popular Vietnamese food at very reasonable prices. Their excellent banh mi ham-pastry made the success of the establishment, but the menu has been greatly expanded: soups, chia gio, chicken, duck... The room is clean. English menu available. A part of the store proposes a range of products of the house: meats, sausages, cakes, dried fruits... Typical of Asian street-food. A good choice at lunch time.

Restaurant located near the cathedral, in a very pleasant setting: brick walls repainted with a rural scene borrowed from the iconography of propaganda posters. This establishment serves Vietnamese bistro cuisine: spring rolls, duck curry, organic black rice salad... It is excellent, fresh and tasty. Vegetarians will also find their happiness here. It is a pity that the price of drinks is so high.

The facility hosted U.S. President G. W. Bush during his visit to Vietnam in November 2006. The Vietnamese cuisine - including Hue specialties - is excellent. You can choose from a wide variety of soups, spring rolls, etc. You can also enjoy sautéed shrimps, lemon chicken or pork with caramel, steamed fish or marinated eggplant. Desserts have a lot of fruit in them. Another address serves exclusively vegetarian Vietnamese cuisine, which is no less delicious.

In a house of colonial architecture, a sober and pleasant setting to taste authentic Vietnamese cuisine. On the menu: vermicelli soup, plate of appetizers, grilled pork on sesame cakes, shrimp fritters... In particular, the delicious specialties of Huê, fine and perfumed. Some French dishes also with the mushroom and snail puff pastry or the Provencal salad. Desserts have the temptation of the West: ice creams and macaroons. Terrace. Recommended address. Spoken French.