For food lovers, Saigon offers a wide range of culinary delights, from simple street stalls to upscale restaurants, ensuring there’s something to satisfy every palate. BDATrip is excited to introduce a list of 10 must-try delicious and affordable dishes that you shouldn't miss when visiting Saigon.
Rice paper salad is a must-try Vietnamese food that captivates diners with its unique taste and perfect blend of ingredients: crispy dried rice paper, savory beef jerky, soft quail eggs, crunchy peanuts, fresh herbs, green onions, spicy chili sauce, savory fish sauce, sweet sugar, and sour lemon. This dish can be found all over the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, from sidewalk corners to well-known snack shops. Rice paper salad provides a rich culinary experience with a balance of flavors: crunchy, sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and aromatic. You can enjoy it with chopsticks or even by hand, depending on your personal preference. The price is very affordable, ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 VND per serving, making it a popular choice among locals and tourists alike.
For those looking to explore things to do in Ho Chi Minh, a Ho Chi Minh food tour wouldn’t be complete without trying this dish. To enjoy an authentic rice paper salad, don't miss these famous eateries in Saigon:
Beef jerky salad is a delightful fusion of traditional and modern ingredients. The dish features flavorful beef jerky soaked in savory marinade, mixed with crunchy cabbage, carrot strips, fresh herbs, roasted cashews, and crispy fried shallots. All the ingredients are marinated in a delicious blend of fish sauce, sweet sugar, sour lemon, and spicy chili, creating a perfect balance of sweet, sour, spicy, salty, crunchy, and buttery flavors.
This salad is often enjoyed with rice paper or rice crackers, offering a harmonious combination that appeals to all tastes. The price is affordable, ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 VND per plate, making beef jerky salad a popular choice for many. If you're exploring things to do in Ho Chi Minh, trying this dish on a Ho Chi Minh food tour is a must to experience a unique and irresistible taste of Vietnamese food.
If you want to enjoy beef jerky salad in Saigon, don’t miss the following eateries:
- Beef jerky salad Aunt Lieng on Dien Bien Phu street, district 3 - famous for its high-quality beef jerky salad, delicious and distinctive flavor.
- Beef jerky salad Aunt Tam in Phu Nhuan area - known for its rich and friendly service.
- Beef jerky salad Saigon Xua in district 1, bringing a classic culinary space and traditional beef jerky salad flavor.
Pha Lau is a unique and flavorful Vietnamese food that everyone should experience at least once. Made from a variety of pig or cow parts such as heart, liver, tongue, ear, eye, intestine, stomach, skin, fat, and bone, these ingredients are carefully selected, washed, boiled, chopped, and marinated with special spices before being stir-fried.
Pha Lau is typically served with crispy bread, soft noodles, cool rice vermicelli, fresh vegetables, crunchy cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, spicy chili, and a savory dipping sauce. The dish is known for its strong aroma, natural sweetness, and tender, fatty texture, offering a perfect blend of flavors. Whether you’re visiting a sophisticated restaurant or grabbing a bite from a street vendor, Pha Lau is available at affordable prices, ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 VND per plate.
For those seeking things to do in Ho Chi Minh, this dish is a must-try on any Ho Chi Minh food tour, providing a delicious taste of Ho Chi Minh City's vibrant street food scene.
If you are looking for some famous places to enjoy Pha Lau in Saigon, visit:
- Pha Lau Aunt Thao on Co Giang street, district 1 - one of the oldest and most popular Pha Lau shops, with a family recipe.
- Pha Lau Aunt Hanh in Phu Nhuan area, famous for its rich and friendly service.
Grilled banana sticky rice is made from ripe soft bananas, blended with fragrant sticky rice, the rich taste of coconut and the natural sweetness from sugar. The bananas are peeled and cut in half, then carefully wrapped with a layer of soaked sticky rice, then tightly rolled in green banana leaves. The highlight of this dish is the process of grilling over charcoal, creating a delicious flavor and attractive yellow color. When enjoying, grilled banana sticky rice creates a perfect combination of sweet, buttery, seductive aroma and soft texture. This dish is usually served with creamy coconut milk or sweet condensed milk, adding to the appeal. With a price of only from 5,000 to 10,000 dong per stick, grilled banana sticky rice is a great choice for anyone who loves traditional flavor.
If you want to enjoy grilled banana sticky rice in Saigon, don’t forget to visit the following places:
- Grilled banana sticky rice Aunt Cam in Tan Binh district - one of the oldest and famous shops with fragrant and attractive grilled banana sticky rice.
- Grilled banana sticky rice Aunt Huong in district 3, where grilled banana sticky rice is prepared and grilled to perfection with a distinctive flavor.
- Grilled banana sticky rice Saigon in district 1, not only serves delicious grilled banana sticky rice but also has a spacious and comfortable space.
Fried flour cake is a delicious dish made from high-quality flour, beaten eggs, chopped green onions, fragrant dried shrimp, oil, and savory fish sauce. The dish is known for its square pieces of fried flour cake, crispy on the outside and mixed with eggs, green onions, and dried shrimp, creating a tempting flavor.
When served, fried flour cake is accompanied by crunchy cucumber, juicy tomatoes, fresh vegetables, spicy chili, and a flavorful dipping sauce. This dish offers a wonderful blend of crunchy, sweet, salty, fragrant, and fatty flavors. It can be easily found at snack shops, street vendors, and markets at affordable prices, ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 VND per plate.
For those exploring things to do in Ho Chi Minh or seeking the best Vietnamese food, fried flour cake is a must-try dish on any Ho Chi Minh food tour.
If you want to enjoy fried flour cake in Saigon, don’t miss the following famous places:
- Fried flour cake Aunt Tu in district 5, famous for crispy fried flour cake, unforgettable characteristic flavor.
- Fried flour cake Phu Nhuan, an ideal place for those who love the combination of tradition and modernity in cooking.
- Fried flour cake Nguyen Tri Phuong street, district 10, attracts diners by fast service and rich flavor.
Spring rolls are an indispensable choice for those who love Vietnamese cuisine. This dish blends the flavor of soft rice paper, fresh shrimp, fragrant pork, smooth noodles, fresh herbs and crunchy peanuts. The rice paper after being dipped in water will be rolled with shrimp, pork, noodles, herbs and peanuts, creating a harmony in each spring roll. The indispensable highlight is the dipping sauce made from sugar, lemon, garlic, chili and peanuts, bringing a balance between sweet, sour, spicy, salty, crunchy and soft. Spring rolls can be easily found at restaurants, eateries, street vendors or markets, with reasonable prices only from 3,000 to 5,000 dong per roll.
To experience the best spring rolls in Saigon, you can refer to the following places:
- Spring rolls Aunt Lien in district 1 - this shop is famous for quality spring rolls, fresh ingredients and meticulous rolling.
- Spring rolls Ben Thanh in Ben Thanh market area, attracting diners by traditional flavor and attentive service.
- Spring rolls Pham Ngu Lao, district 1, provides spring rolls with distinctive flavor, fresh ingredients and airy space.
Crab soup is a flavorful dish made from fresh ingredients like firm crab meat, delicious mushrooms, smooth beaten eggs, starch for thickness, chopped green onions, fragrant pepper, and oil. The crab is boiled, shredded, and combined with chopped mushrooms, beaten eggs, and diluted starch to create a rich and flavorful soup. Green onions and pepper are added at the end, enhancing the aroma and taste of the dish.
This soup has a natural sweetness from the crab, a light creaminess, a tempting fragrance, and a smooth texture. You can enjoy it with crispy bread, fried dough sticks, or crispy shrimp crackers. At an affordable price, ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 VND per bowl, crab soup is a must-try dish when you visit Ho Chi Minh City. Whether you're on a Ho Chi Minh food tour or just exploring things to do in Ho Chi Minh, this comforting soup should definitely be on your list.
If you want to enjoy authentic crab soup in Saigon, you can visit the following places:
- Crab soup Old Man on Nguyen Tri Phuong street, district 10, famous for high-quality crab soup, delicious and rich flavor.
- Crab soup Aunt Thao in district 3, brings fresh crab soup to diners with carefully selected ingredients.
- Crab soup Ben Thanh near Ben Thanh market, district 1, attracts visitors by the characteristic taste of crab soup and cozy space.
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Rice noodle cake is made from rice flour forming thick and soft strands, combined with delicious broth cooked from pork bones, shrimp, fish cakes and spices. In addition, pork, shrimp, fish cakes, and pork hock are washed and boiled, sliced, creating a variety of ingredients. Raw vegetables, green onions, pepper and chili are washed, chopped, added to the bowl of rice noodle cake, increasing the fresh flavor. Rice noodle cake attracts diners by the natural sweetness, fattiness of the broth, fragrant of the herbs and chewy of the rice noodle cake. Popular in eateries, restaurants, street vendors and markets, rice noodle cake costs from 20,000 to 40,000 dong per bowl.
If you want to enjoy the traditional taste of rice noodle cake in Saigon, try visiting the following places:
- Rice noodle cake Aunt Thao in district 3, famous for delicious fish cake rice noodle cake and rich broth.
- Rice noodle cake Ben Thanh near Ben Thanh market, district 1, attracts diners by attentive service and fresh ingredients.
- Rice noodle cake Pham Ngu Lao in district 1, brings a unique taste of rice noodle cake to diners with smooth broth and high-quality ingredients.
Saigon snails come in many varieties, such as fragrant snails, mud snails, fat snails, apple snails, and moon snails, each offering a unique flavor. The snails are carefully cleaned, boiled, and then prepared in various ways, such as stir-fried with butter and garlic, grilled with green onions and fat, steamed with lemongrass and chili, braised with banana and beans, or sautéed with tamarind, offering a rich diversity of tastes.
Saigon snails are known for their natural sweetness, fattiness, fragrance, and crunchiness. This dish is typically enjoyed with crispy bread, soft noodles, fresh vegetables, spicy chili, and a savory dipping sauce. With affordable prices ranging from 30,000 to 70,000 VND per plate, Saigon snails are an excellent choice for anyone looking for a delicious and satisfying meal.
For those looking for things to do in Ho Chi Minh or exploring the best of Vietnamese food, trying Saigon snails is a must on your Ho Chi Minh food tour.
To experience the best snails in Saigon, you should not miss the following places:
- Oc Dao Nguyen Trai, district 1, famous for the variety of snails and unique cooking methods.
- Snail shop Aunt Lieng in Phu Nhuan district, attracting diners by the original flavor of snails and airy space.
- Saigon Xua snails in district 3, bringing a diverse culinary experience of snails with traditional and distinctive flavor.
Hu Tieu Go, a culinary symbol that cannot be missed in Saigon, is a great choice for anyone who wants to explore the local flavor. This dish is made from hue tieu, a type of noodle made from rice flour, soft and smooth, combined with rich broth cooked from pork bones, shrimp, fish cakes and spices. Pork, shrimp, fish cakes and pork hock are washed and boiled, sliced, along with raw vegetables, green onions, pepper and chili, creating a harmony in each bowl of hue tieu. This dish stands out with the natural sweetness, light creaminess, deliciousness and soft texture of hue tieu. You can easily find hue tieu go at many eateries, restaurants, street vendors and markets with reasonable prices, ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 dong per bowl.
To enjoy the best hue tieu go in Saigon, you can visit the following places:
- Hue Tieu Go Aunt Lieng in district 1, known for delicious hue tieu go and fast service.
- Hue Tieu Go Ben Thanh near Ben Thanh market, where the traditional flavor of hue tieu is preserved and promoted.
Saigon is a vibrant city, where you can explore many delicious and diverse dishes. Come and enjoy the 10 delicious dishes in Saigon to experience the unique cuisine of this place!
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