 | Ho Chi Minh City Eat & Drink like the locals Reviews | 1 - 10 of 78 |  |
According to a Viet Kieu (that's overseas Vietnamese for you ) I spoke to, it takes an average of half an hour to drink the local coffee and 1 min to drink a cup of java in the US. Well, I don't know how many times he must have scalded his tongue in the process but he was right about the local coffee...
Over here, Vietnamese love to use a fancy coffee strainer that makes coffee drip out in an agonisingly slow fashion. So, too bad if you're a Type A. In any case, it's worth the wait . The coffee is thick but excellent .
Think Italian expresso. One shot of of this powerful drink is enough to propel you to the moon. Perhaps, this explains why all the motorists over here drive as though they're competing in the grand prix.
You can find coffee everywhere but tell them that you want VIETNAMESE COFFEE. They'll serve you instant coffee since they think we foreigners love this soot-tasting invention.
Tip: Take the coffee with condensed milk like the locals. Since the composition is about 40% milk and 60% coffee, this drink will make probably your eyeballs roll backwards. But heck, it just doesn't taste the same with fresh milk. Dilute it with hot water if you must.
Double Tip: If you want to buy back some of the delicious coffee, pop over to BenTanh Market and get freshly ground coffee that comes from "BUONMETHUOT". That's the premier coffee district and all coffee beans from there are roasted in butter! Needless to say, I'm addicted to this fragrant smelling joe
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If you have not eaten Goi Cuon, or the steamed spring roll, you have not been to Vietnam! What is it? Well, yummy pieces of pork, prawns, vemicelli are tightly wrapped around a delicate white skin known as 'rice paper'.
Spring rolls make an excellent light, late-night snack. Just pop over to Ben Tanh in the evening ( yes you read that correctly) , go to the right side of the market where you'll see a long row of stalls and order the rolls from anyone. It should cost less than a dollar.
To see more delicious picture of Vietnamese food, click on b'packer's hcmc page Leave a Comment Theme: LocalPrice: less than US$10 » Currency ConverterComparison: less expensive than averageDirections: The right side of Ben Tanh Market
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Other than Goi Cuon, the commonly seen cold spring rolls, you could also try Cha Gio Chay , the fried version. I had mine in the Mekong Delta region, along with the famed Delta rice which is supposedly very flavourful because of the good flood waters...
This spring roll is fried to a golden crisp and stuffed w/ tofu, cellophane noodles, black mushrooms, carrots, served w/ lettuce, mint, etc.
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The next you want beer in VN, try saying ba ba ba. It's not a booze for sheep but a local white beer ( pilsner ) that is commonly enjoyed by all. My new found French friend also commented that this beer can also be found in gay Paree but it's an abbreviated "33" over there. If any of you Parisians are reading this, could you let me know if this is true? I sure didn't see no "33" when I was there.
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The best thing about those trips out of HCMC is the opportunity to savour really fresh food from the rural areas. Well, thanks to really helpful tip from a VTer, I went to a Mekong Delta excursion organised by Sinh Cafe and had the opportunity to try a fish with a strange name.
It's called the "Fried Elephant Ear Fish" . Sounds really out of this world right? Well, before you expect a fish with two gigantic ear lobes, let me just say it's actually a normal fish with lots of protruding, spiky scales .
Well, this spiky bugger is fried to a golden crisp and made to stand upright on lots of greens and spring onions s.haped like flowers. That's not all though, a waitress with really deft hands will tear pieces of the fish out with chopsticks and wrapped the flaky flesh inside a delicate rice paper with lots of basil, mint and vemicelli.
This treat cost about USD6 and thanks to the new Japanese friends I made during the trip, I had a free taste. Best roll I've ever tried!
To see more delicious picture of Vietnamese food, click on b'packer's hcmc page Leave a Comment Theme: LocalPrice: less than US$10 » Currency ConverterComparison: about averageDirections: Out of the beaten path, contact your tour agent! I'll put sinh's cafe's contact as they were excellent.
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Believe it not, Bill Clinton once made an impromptu stop in one of the Pho shops in HCMC. Kinda like how he would make a pit stop at Mac's in the US. Well, since this wasn't the US, I'm quite sure that he gave all his agents instant cardiac arrests. Along with that, he also made the owner of the shop very, very happy. Snapshotos of the former United States president shaking hands with the owners take the pride of place on a wall, along with more than 7 press reviews.
I popped in here more out of curiousity. The pho here pales in comparison to Pho Hao. Not only was the soup msg-laden, the herb serving was paltry and the beef nonedescript. Maybe they should have called this place "MacPho" in honour of Clinton.
I staggered out of the shop after I finished my meal as my heart went hippity-hop, post-msg . So much for celebrity endorsement !
To see more delicious picture of Vietnamese food, click on b'packer's hcmc page Leave a Comment Theme: LocalPrice: less than US$10 » Currency ConverterComparison: less expensive than averageAddress: 1-3 Phan Chu TrinhDirections: Just beside Benh Tan Market
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Don't bother eating Chinese food the next time you're here in Vietnam, it just doesn't taste the same. I made this conclusion after I ate three Chinese restaurants here, one mid-priced eatery, the other near the War Remnants Musuem and yet another at a haute cuisine joint that came complete with a violinist..all were forgettable.
To see more delicious picture of Vietnamese food, click on b'packer's hcmc page Leave a Comment Theme: Chinese/Dim SumAddress: 73 - 75 Thai Ha
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this is a very refreshing drink, made with coconut juice and sea grass jelly and is common in vietnam, cambodia, laos and thailand. it cost 8,000 VND here in Benh Thanh Market.
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Jumbo Prawns are very cheap in Vietnam since they are using the pacific white shrimp (penneaus vannamaei), which grows in a shorter span than the tiger prawns (penneaus monodon) hence cheaper to produce. here in Benh Thanh Market, an order of grilled jumbo prawns is about 100,000 VND ($ 6.20).
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Lemnongrass is very plentiful in asia hence it is used as a falvaroing for food and drinks. Here in Vietnam, they also use it to flavor their grilled chicken which results in a very tasty chicken. It has similarity with the philipine chicken inasal (grilled lemongrass chicken too) but the dipping sauces are different. It cost 80,000 VND an Order. Theme: LocalPrice: less than US$10 » Currency ConverterComparison: less expensive than average
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on September 28, 2004
on July 29, 2008
