Nam Giao, first restaurant we went to after check-into hotel near Ben Thanh market

beef noodle with strong hint of basil, refreshingly nice.

Address: Nam Giao

136/15, Le Thanh Ton, Quan 1

Our hotel on first night in Thanh Thu Hotel, just 1 minute walk to Ben Thanh market, booked in Agoda for approx USD24

View of ben thanh market from front of our hotel

Ben Thanh market

drink stall in market

crab meat in market

bought lotus seed as souvenir, VND300,000 for 1kg (ie around RM45 for 1kg)

it is cheapest bought in Benh Thanh Market, supermarket will be more expensive (at least 400k VND per 100g)

Lunch lady popularized by Anthony bourdain, near Hoang Sa street

11AM-3PM. (sells out before 1 pm)

dish on wednesday is chicken noodle soup, nothing spectacular, but it is a big portion homely satisfying dish

Quan 94 crab restaurant, there is 2 restaurant of this same name, the original one is located on 84 Dinh Tien Hoang street

dirty oil 🙁

our soft-shell crabs with tamarind(cua lot xao me), the sauce is very unappetizingly sweet, not good at all, very expensive at 200,000 VND, around USD10/RM30

Le Van Tam Park

Green papaya salad

love the crunchy prawn cracker, not so fond of the dried beef liver though, just ok i find

From noon to night

Walking toward Banh Xeo 46A

46 Dinh Cong Trang, Tan Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City (a small alley)
Opens from 10am to 9pm daily

The pancake is very crispy and nice on the edges, but it get oiler towards the middle, quite a nice dish actually, good for sharing as it is very big portion

Banh canh Stall in 12C Nguyen Phi Kanh, be there at 2:50pm and you will see the above open the shop and start setting up the stall

banh canh gio heo (tapioca noodle and pig foot soup)

big pot of noodle with pork

slightly sourish and nice, big piece of yummy pork

Fanny ice cream quite popular in Vietnam

Tôn Thất Thiệp road (8am – 11pm)

My favourite ice cream is here in Kem Bach Dang, went there twice for their yummy durian ice cream

in Le Loi Street

VND70,000 (around USD3 or RM10) for this yummy durian ice cream, very nice!

yummy Che Thai with some durian pulp on top

Sam Bo Luong, weird drink with barley, seaweed, lotus root etc, too sweet and not nice

Pho Khoa Thu in District 4

Directions: Head down Ben Van Dong Street in District 4 and make a left onto Nguyen Khoai Street. The stall is located 300 meters down the road on the left hand side and is open from 5 to 10 PM.

homemade chilli sauce

beef noodle soup, i not so fond of the soup, could there be some msg in it? It is piping hot and fresh tasting nonethelss, can’t decide i like this or not

a popular shop in District 4, Oc Oanh

534 Vinh Khanh, District 4
from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m

Cang Ghe Rang Muoi Ot (crab claws fried with chili salt), the chilli salt is just ok i guess(msg in it i think), the crab is very fresh though (VND80,000, around RM12)

Mong tay xao rau muong (fried bamboo clam with morning glory and garlic), the sauce is very sweet, not nice at all! (VND 50,000, around RM9) I have to ‘wash’ the bamboo clam with water to remove the overly sweet sauce

sugar cane

Pho Bo in Phu Gia, my most favourite beef noodle in around 4 tried in Vietnam

(6am – 8:30 pm)
Pho Dac Biet (Special for) 55,000 vnd
146E Ly Chinh Thang St, P.7 District 3, HCMC

With loads of spring onion, yummy, the soup is clear and fresh tasting

railway station in District 3

Truong Dinh, The goat inn

Sunday to Saturday from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Address: 105 Truong Dinh Ngo (District 3)

 

110,000 VND (around 5USD, RM16) for this

the meat is tough and the rice paper is tough as well, not good

Reunification Palace or Independence Palace

The ticket hours – 07:30 am to 11:00 am and 1:00pm to 4:00 pm
Adults: 30.000d/nguoi/lan

Nam Loi where i had the most expensive bowl of noodle in Ho chi minh

43 Ton That Dam Street near corner of Nguen Cong Tra. Morning: 6am-noon, afternoon from 2-7pm.

Pate Pastry

1 bowl of fish with yellow egg noodles + 1 pate pastry for VND 82,000 , around RM13

The soup is quite good!

Bitexco Financial Tower (Can go on afternoon, and stay there to watch the city turn dark)

Mon-Fri: 1pm-9pm; Sat/Sun/Public: 10am-10pm, 8:45pm last entry
49th floor sky deck
Address: 36 Ho Tung Mau Street, District 1. VND 200,000 (equivalent 10 USD) for the sky deck

Free water on top of sky deck

restaurant in skydeck

yummy chocolate souffle in  a french restaurant – Augustin Restaurant, they also have grand marnier souffle which we didn’t try

Pho Ngan, just few shops away from the famous Pho Hoa in Pasteur street

Phở Ngân
258B Pasteur St., District 3, HCMC
Business Hour around 0600 – 0000

Post office built by same person who built Eiffel Tower

Saigon Central Post Office  7:00AM-7:00PM,Sat/Sun 7:00AM-6:30PM

Shri restaurant on top of Centec Tower

We order the cheapest item on the menu, surprisingly very nice bread, yumm!

first night’s hotel:

Thanh Thu Hotel (USD 24 booked in Agoda)
34 Nguyen An Ninh Street | Ben Thanh, Quan 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon River Boutique Hotel (USD 35 booked in Agoda)

58 Mac Thi Buoi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam

Breakfast in included in this Saigon Boutique hotel

Note: In this trip to Vietnam, we brought only USD, and exchange our USD to VND at vietnam airport for a pretty good rate, VND21099 for 1 USD

A link on Pho restaurants in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi : www.thanislim.com