If you're a first-time traveler to Ho Chi Minh city, you won't want to miss best foods in Ho Chi Minh city. From Goby fish hotpot and Xeo cake to braised fried rice and fish sauce hotpot, the city offers a wide variety of unique and flavorful dishes that are sure to satisfy your taste buds. Southern Vietnam's cuisine is known for its distinctive processing methods and ingredients, and Ho Chi Minh city is no exception. So be sure to try these must-try dishes in Ho Chi Minh city during your visit to the city.

Grilled snakehead fish

Best foods in Ho Chi Minh city, Grill snakehead fish

Grill snakehead fish is one of best foods in Ho Chi Minh city. It is famous for its unique flavour and simple processing. The fish just needs to be cleaned and skewered with a bamboo stick, to cook on the grill, without seasoning.

The uniqueness of this local dish from Ho Chi Minh city derives from its tender and sweet fish meat, with the taste of peanuts and onion fat. When eating, just peel off the burnt skin, serve the fish rolled in rice paper, with vermicelli and raw vegetables, such as lettuce, cucumber, star fruit, pineapple, raw banana, herbs such as basil, laksa leaves, fish lettuce, celery tubers, bean sprouts and chives ... then dip in fish sauce seasoning, tamarind sauce or ginger sauce...

Reference addresses:

• 109 Tan Ky Tan Quy, Tan Son Nhat ward, Tan Phudistrict
• 68/12 Tran Quang Khai , Tan Dinh Ward, 1 district
• 20 Lu Gia , 15 Ward, 11 district

Vietnam’s West cake

Best foods in Ho Chi Minh city, Banh xeo

This is a must-try food in Ho Chi Minh city. To make Xeo cake we need rice flour, turmeric powder, coconut milk and green onions. Depending on the preferences of the diners and the available ingredients, the cook can be flexible with the filling, so the filling is often varied. The commonly used fillings are bacon, shrimp, chicken, duck, mushroom, bean sprouts, etc.

The dish tastes delicious. The rim of the cake is round and crispy and the filling is spread evenly after being folded. To make it interesting, diners can eat it with some vegetables such as lettuce, basil, lettuce, broccoli, perilla, mango buds, Lagerstroemia bud, and Piper lolot. Diners should make vegetable rolls with the cake and dip it in sweet and sour fish sauce, to enjoy the dish in the most delicious way.

Reference addresses:

• 204 Nguyen Trai street, Pham Ngu Lao ward, 1 district
• 11A Tu Xuong, Vo Thi Sau, 3 district

Related Vietnam tours for you:

• 4 days Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong Delta
• Vietnam Gourmet Express
• Ho Chi Minh City & Phu Quoc getaway (6 days)

Goby fish hotpot with Giang leaves

Best foods in Ho Chi Minh city, Goby fish hotpot

Goby fish hotpot is a typical and rustic food of the Southern Vietnamese and one of best foods in Ho Chi Minh city that you should try. The ingredients are very simple with goby fish, Giang leaves, bitter vegetables, tomatoes, garlic, onions, chili, pineapple, and so on, creating a fragrant hot pot with its own unique flavour.

A special feature of the goby hotpot is that the raw fish will be placed into the boiling hot pot right at the table. This may surprise many diners enjoying this dish for the first time. But that's just a first impression. Diners will completely change their mind after eating this dish. The hotpot combines fatty fish meat with a mild sweet and sour taste. The hotpot sauce is poured over the vermicelli and the fish and vegetables are dipped in garlic, chili fish sauce or tamarind sauce, to serve.

Reference address:

• 87 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan street, 7 Ward, 3 District
• 10A Su Thien Chieu , 3 Ward
• 14-16 Pham Ngu Lao, 3 Ward

Braised fried rice

Best foods in Ho Chi Minh city, Braised fried rice

This is a very must-try food in Ho Chi Minh city that is both rustic, cheap, easy to make and very delicious, when eaten with rice. The indispensable ingredients of the dish are fish sauce, pork belly, dried shrimp, a little sugar and pepper. The dish meets the standards when it has a golden brown color and a rich sweet taste.

Just break a piece of burnt rice, dip it in the stock to fully enjoy the taste of the dish. Besides burnt rice, diners can use braised pork with boiled vegetables.

Reference address:

• 695 Tran Xuan Soan , Tan Hung, 7 District
• 28 Pham Ngoc Thach , 3 District
• 19 Pham Van Dong, 3 Ward, Go Vap District

Hot pot with fish sauce

Best foods in Ho Chi Minh city, hot poy with fish sauce

Fish sauce hot pot is a symbol of the river region, one of best foods in Ho Chi Minh city served in many delicious restaurant. The dish is a complete synthesis of ingredients from the sea, ponds, fields and rivers, with ingredients including fish, shrimp, crab, squid, beef, pork, etc. The characteristic of fish sauce hot pot is the broth from Vietnamese meatloaf, usually choke fish sauce, snakehead fish or Linh fish, etc.

Many vegetables are the primary feature of the hotpot. Vegetables eaten with fish sauce hotpot are all types that grow under water such as water mimosa, bitter vegetables, Common sesban, water lily, water hyacinth, yellow-burrhead, basil, sesbania, etc to create a unique flavor for the hotpot.

Reference address:

• 19 Tran Khac Chan, Tan Dinh Ward, 1 district
• 40 Vinh Khanh street, 8 Ward, 4 District
• 410 Nguyen Xi street, 13 Ward, Binh Thanh District

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• Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam's Cosmopolitan Metropolis

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