17 May 7 Street Foods You Must Eat in Vietnam
7 Street Foods You Must Eat in Vietnam
Vietnam is home to some of the tastiest and healthiest food offerings in the world. Their emphasis on fresh vegetables and herbs, lean meats, and savory sauces is truly addicting.
Drew and I are adventurous eaters and we believe that one of the best ways to get to know a country is through its food. We’ll usually hit the streets and eat a little bit of everything that looks good until our bellies are full.
But Ho Chi Minh City presented us with particular challenges in that you should be careful where you eat and it’s not enjoyably walkable.
What do I mean by “enjoyably walkable”? Well, when you walk down the street in Ho Chi Minh (or any city in Vietnam) you soon realize that these sidewalks just aren’t meant for you.
You’ll dodge thousands of parked scooters, food vendors, and people enjoying a meal while sitting curbside in tiny plastic chairs. If you make it through that maze, you’ll face crumbling and broken concrete that makes up the sidewalks.
Given the language barrier and our short time in the city (here are the seven things you shouldn’t miss if you’re also short on time), we entrusted our food-finding mission to the experts at Saigon Street Eats.
We loved that they seem to put a real emphasis on explaining the culture and history of the areas we were going to visit.
Another fun thing about Saigon Street Eats is that you aren’t just a bystander to the excitement and chaos that is the Saigon traffic scene. You get in it!
Our tour guides picked us up at our hotel, helmets in hand, and Drew and I jumped on the back of their scooters and whizzed off into the labyrinth of streets. The fact that the tour started at rush hour just added to the thrill!
Find What You're Looking For
Learning About Vietnamese Food
At our first stop, we learned what makes Vietnamese food so tasty, unique, and so darn addicting. Our tour guides explained how, with influence from the Chinese principle of five elements, Vietnamese cuisine aims to hit your five tasting senses: bitter, spicy, sour, sweet, and salty.
Cooks in Vietnam also consider how you experience the food texturally. In other words, no dish should ever be just one texture; crunchy, chewy, and creamy elements are usually all present in each dish.
Along that same line, Vietnamese cuisine also applies a yin and yang philosophy to food. If something is oily and heavy, light and fresh vegetables are added to cut the richness.
» Tips to find the best street food in Vietnam (or anywhere for that matter!):
• If a place looks old or run-down, it usually means that the vendor or restaurant has been there a long time. That’s a good thing.
• Keep an eye out for bright lights and signs of active cooking, like bubbling pots, on the cooking and prep areas of street stalls and food carts — it generally means there’s nothing to hide and that it’s a busy stall.
• Look for lines of locals, not other tourists.
• This tip is particular to Vietnam: Look for trash on the floor because this is the sign of a busy and popular joint. District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City has a particularly cool vibe to it and is famous for street food. It’s perfect if you’re looking to dine like a local. It’s easy to find many cheap and delicious foods in this area; the streets are packed with restaurants.
Foods We Sampled With Saigon Street Eats:
- Bò lá lốt (beef wrapped in betel leaves)
- Bánh mì (banh mi sandwiches)
- Bánh xèo (savory crunchy fried pancake)
- Seafood on Nguyễn Thượng Hiền Street: Snails, boiled clams with lemongrass and salt topped with fish sauce, BBQ scallops with peanuts and fish sauce, grilled conch
- Bún bò Huế (vermicelli and beef soup native to the city of Huế)
- Dessert: Sinh tố bơ (avocado shake) and Chè ba màu (three bean drink)
- Each stop came with a drink (water, soda, or local beer)
There are so many delicious street foods to try in Ho Chi Minh City! I recommend going with a tour company that will really dive into the history and local culture. Check out this highly-rated tour (that includes a good time on a motorbike).
Here are some other foods that you must try in Ho Chi Minh City:
- Bánh Bao – Steamed meat bun with egg
- Chanh muối – Salty lemon drink. Here’s a great blog post about the drink.
- Phở – Aromatic noodle soup
- Seafood – Snails, clams, scallops, and conch
- Bánh Tráng Nướng – Vietnamese pizza
- Bun Bo Nam Bo – Vermicelli with grilled beef
- Ca Phe Sua Da – Sweet iced coffee with condensed milk
Bò lá lốt (Beef Wrapped in Betel Leaves)
After we learned a little background about Vietnamese cuisine, we picked up our chopsticks and started selecting the ingredients to make the perfect bo la lot.
These tasty little nuggets consist of ground or minced beef (bo) wrapped in betel leaves (la lot), then skewered and grilled.
There are many ways to eat this dish, but the way we ate it combines them all together.
On a sheet of rice paper, we layered and rolled up fresh herbs (mint, basil, and fish mint (which one of our guides called “stinky fish leaf” – a little of this goes a long way, trust me), lettuce, a little cold vermicelli, the bo la lot, and pickled veggies (radish and carrots). However you eat it, it should be accompanied by nuoc cham – a sweet chilli fish sauce.
What’s In It: Beef, betel leaves, fresh herbs, cold vermicelli, pickled veggies.
Price: Around 25,000 VND (about $1.10 USD)
» Getting Around Ho Chi Minh City
If you use a taxi, make sure they turn on the meter. You’ll get a cheaper fare than if you try to negotiate and there are quite a few scammers. Also, you can’t miss the Vietnamese version of Uber called Grab, which allows you to hop on the back of a scooter, rather than a car. The drivers wear bright green helmets and windbreakers as they scoot around the city. If you download the app, you’ll find it is a fast and cheap alternative to a cab.
Bánh mì
Our next stop was for a tasty banh mi sandwich. Chances are, you’ve probably already tried this classic Vietnamese staple where you live. Next to pho, I dare say it’s the most universally beloved culinary export of the country.
If you think the banh mi is as tasty as I do, you’re in luck! Vendors selling this delicious, portable, and cheap street food are everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City!
Banh mi, served on a crispy baguette, is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. And like all Vietnamese dishes it excels at hitting all five flavor senses: spicy, salty, sour, savory, and sweet. They are usually eaten for breakfast or as a snack.
What’s In It: Pickled vegetables, mayonnaise or butter, cilantro, and chilies.* For meats, you have many choices including (but definitely not limited to): pork belly, grilled chicken, shredded pork, pork floss, pâté, and pork sausage.
Price: One quick and tasty sandwich will run you about VND 10,000 to VND 15,000 (or about $0.44 – $0.66 USD).
* The little red chilies in Vietnam are not to be trifled with…geeze they’re spicy (but oh so good)!
Introduced by the French, the Vietnamese thought the baguette was too heavy for their intense climate (varying levels of hot and dripping humidity). So they made it their own by adding a few secret ingredients to make the bread lighter and crispier (a little bird told me that it’s baking soda and sugar).
Mr. and Mrs. Le are credited as the first people to put the ingredients inside the bread for better portability and the family still runs a small restaurant in District 3 called Banh Mi Hoa Ma.
Bánh xèo (Vietnamese Pancake)
Imagine an omelet. Now add some bean sprouts, pork or shrimp, rice flour, water, and turmeric powder. Congratulations! You have a banh xeo — and the next delicious stop on our Ho Chi Minh City street food tour.
The name literally means “sizzling cake” because of — you guessed it — the sound it makes when it’s poured into the hot skillet.
To eat, cut off a manageable slice and add some pickled veggies and aromatic herbs like basil and mint. Then, with your chopsticks, roll it up into rice paper or mustard leaves and dunk into some tasty sweet and sour fish sauce.
What’s In It: Eggs, bean sprouts, rice flour, pork or shrimp, turmeric powder, fresh herbs, rice paper, mustard leaves.
Price: 75,000 VND (about $3 USD)
Ốc (Snails)
Shellfish is plentiful in Ho Chi Minh City thanks to its proximity to the Mekong Delta. So, we hopped back onto our scooters and headed over to Nguyen Thuong Hien Street aka “Snail Street.” This area is famous for vendors cooking up fresh to order seafood.
We were lucky to catch the street on a Friday night when the area really starts to hop. The weekends are a prime time to see Saigon’s 20- and 30-somethings out on dates. Well-dressed guys are all around hoping to woo their loves with the taste of freshly grilled sea creatures. VietnamCoracle.com describes the scene the best:
It’s something between tapas and bar culture in the West, but neither of these do justice to the scale of indulgence and conviviality of Vietnamese nhậu (going out culture).
And, don’t worry. You will have no trouble locating a Quán Ốc (shellfish restaurant) because large boxes with every type of mollusk and crustacean are prominently displayed out front next to a smoking grill. And, even though you’re on Snail Street, you don’t have to eat snails (though you should!). Quan Ocs also have other delicious menu items like clams, scallops, oysters, and conch.
Don’t miss out on the muối tiêu chanh which is salt, pepper, and lime mixed together in a little dish for dipping shellfish.
Enjoy the scene and wash down the day’s catch with a local, light-tasting beer like Saigon Special or 333.
Here’s the buffet of treats we tried on Snail Street:
• Tiny Snails
• Boiled Clams (Nghêu hấp sả) steamed with lemongrass and salt. Top it with fish sauce before eating.
• BBQ Scallops (Sò điệp nướng mỡ hành) with scallion oil, scallions, chopped peanuts, and fish sauce.
• Grilled Conch was probably my favorite shellfish we tried (and that’s a tough call because everything was so delicious).
Price: Starting around 20,000 VND (about $.75 USD) for a small plate of seafood
Gỏi cuốn (Spring Rolls)
I can’t think of another food that epitomizes Vietnamese culinary culture more than goi cuon. Remember that emphasis on textures I mentioned earlier? This is such a great example of that. In one bite you’ll hit soft vermicelli noodles, the rubbery rice paper, and the crunchy lettuce and herbs.
And, hey, it’s not just me who loves it. This traditional appetizer or snack was rated as #30 on CNN’s list of the 50 most delicious foods in the world. It’s everything you want to eat on a hot, humid day in Ho Chi Minh City.
What’s In It: Cold vermicelli noodles; thinly sliced pork; shrimp; fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, and mint; and lettuce tightly wrapped in rice papers. Dip them in fish sauce or peanut sauce.
Price: 15,000-20,000 VND (about $.75 USD) per roll
Bún bò Huế
Our last stop before dessert was a bowl of bun bo hue, a beef noodle soup that is somewhat similar to Vietnam’s more well-known culinary export, pho. I was happy to branch out and try this new soup that hails not from Ho Chi Minh City, but from Hue. It’s chocked full of wonderful aromatics like cilantro, lemongrass, citrus, and chilis.
What’s In It: Beyond the aromatics, you’ll also find sliced brisket, crab balls, and, in some cases, cubes of congealed pig’s blood. We all have to draw the line somewhere and congealed pig’s blood is on the other side of mine. Our soup was also topped with stringy banana stem.
Price: About 20,000 VND or $.75 USD per bowl
Chè ba màu (3 Layers/Colors Bean Drink)
The final stop on our Ho Chi Minh City street food tour took us to a hopping corner spot full of locals cooling off with an icy cold dessert.
And, I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, but you said beans?!” I did! And while this drink might not be for you, you should definitely give it a try (I think it’s delicious!).
Che ba mau is super-popular and can easily be found at restaurants and dessert shops all around Vietnam.
You should stick to restaurants and not procure your drink from a street vendor. Purchasing one of these drinks will most likely make your tummy grumbly because the ice used to make them likely comes from tap water that a Western stomach isn’t trained to handle.
What’s In It: Three types of colored beans and jelly (yellow mung bean, red beans, and green gelatin) covered with slightly sweetened coconut milk.
Price: 8,000 – 10,000 VND (around $.25 – $.45 USD)
With our bellies full, we jumped back on the scooter to enjoy a nice cool breeze as we zipped through the neon-lit maze that is Ho Chi Minh City.
Final Thoughts
It was easy to fall in love with the city that night.
We met locals and together shared stories, delicious food, and refreshing beer. Best of all, we traveled deeper by getting off the beaten tourist path and into the alleyways and side streets that make up the real Ho Chi Minh City.
Our nighttime street food tour was definitely one of the best experiences of our whole Vietnam holiday!
>> Don’t miss this awesome tour of Ben Thanh Market & cooking class!
What You Can Expect to Pay in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:
> Lodging: $20 (wallet-friendly) vs $65+ (average) per night.
> Coffee: Around $.50
> Dinner: $20 (two people) Wine, Appetizers, and Seafood Main Courses
> Beer: $1.50
Recommended Lodging Options in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:
- Bright Apartment in a Great Location (from $18 / night)
- Cute Hotel Close to the Airport (from $30 / night)
- Hotel in District 1 (City Center) with Breakfast Included (from $55 / night)
- Just a 7-Minute Walk from Ben Thanh Market with Airport Shuttle (from $30 / night)
- Beautiful Property with Garden and Indoor Pool (from $150 / night)
What to Wear in Vietnam
With high heat and humidity every day, you really want to consider what you’re going to wear to Vietnam carefully. I really enjoyed wearing loose cotton dresses, sandals with thicker soles, and loose-fitting linen-type pants. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Resources to Help Your Travels
As always, everything on this site is completely free. If you found this post (or anything on YouFoundSarah.com) useful, I’d be grateful if you considered using the affiliate links below. I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. These are the services Drew and I love to use ourselves when we plan our travels. Thanks for your support!
— Sarah
Booking.com – For booking hotel rooms.
Tours by Locals and GetYourGuide.com – For finding high-quality tours around the world.
VRBO – For renting homes across the world.
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About Sarah
Sarah hails from the land of fried chicken, sweet tea, buttered biscuits, and the friendliest people you’ll ever meet…Alabama! She loves exploring undertouristed locations — places that you wouldn’t automatically think “I’ve always wanted to go there!” Of course, we’ll always have Paris, but what gets Sarah really jazzed is finding those diamond in the rough cities and sharing them with you. Read more…
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