Joshua Zukas, a Vietnamese cuisine expert for the Michelin Guide, believes it’s hard to know exactly how many street food stalls there are in this city of over 10 million people—tens of thousands or more. He focuses on introducing places in District 1 and District 3 for tourists spending two days here.
Day 1: District 1
Breakfast
Skip the hotel buffet breakfast and start your day with a bowl of Minh’s pho, a restaurant listed in the Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 for its delicious and reasonably priced food.
Pho Minh
Lunch
Head to Xôi Gà Number One near Ben Thanh Market. The restaurant offers chicken sticky rice and sweet corn sticky rice. If you don’t want to miss out on anything, try the savory chicken sticky rice first and then the sweet one. Complete your lunch by visiting one of the nearby cafes to enjoy a traditional Vietnamese iced coffee, “cà phê nâu đá.”
Xôi Gà Number One
Dinner
While not exactly street food, Bếp Mẹ Ỉn is a small restaurant that has received a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide 2024. The restaurant offers affordable prices with many typical Vietnamese dishes such as bánh xèo, water spinach, braised chicken, and white rice.
Amazing Vietnamese food at Bếp Mẹ Ỉn
Day 2: District 3
After spending the first day in District 1, tourists should move to District 3, still in the city center, for the second day.
Breakfast
Having tried beef pho, on the second morning, tourists should switch to chicken pho. Phở Miến Gà Kỳ Đồng is open from early morning until late at night. Besides pho and vermicelli, you can also choose noodles, rice noodles, and order chicken salad as a side dish.
Chicken pho
If you don’t like chicken pho or are not full yet, a traditional Saigonese breakfast is a plate of broken rice at Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền. This is the only broken rice restaurant in the Bib Gourmand 2024 list. The restaurant is famous for its charcoal-grilled pork ribs, served with pork skin, pickled radish, and sweet and sour fish sauce.
Lunch
Cô Liêng, a restaurant located in a small townhouse that has been open since 1995, is where you should stop for lunch. The highlight here is the variety of rolls, especially minced beef wrapped in betel leaves. You should also try the grilled pork, crispy spring rolls, and boiled pig ears to change up the flavors.
Spring rolls at Cô Liêng restaurant
Dinner
When you’re ready for dinner, head to Hồng Phát, which specializes in Nam Vang noodles. The noodles are the signature dish of this family-run restaurant, which started from a small kitchen on the street but has now become a large restaurant. The fried rice here is also a good option.
Nam Vang noodles
Hồng Phát also serves pâté chaud. If you didn’t try this dish on the first morning, this is your chance not to miss it again.
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