I am adding this review more to showcase an interesting business than to praise the food. The food in this restaurant is pretty mediocre. Yet, it is an extremely popular restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City (and now also in Hanoi and even Berlin and Phnom Penh).
The idea is very simple: a restaurant serving traditional Vietnamese street food in a sanitized environment, with the possibility to see how the food is prepared. Tourists love it. This is the basic concept behind Nha Hang Ngon.
The visit
The restaurant is located in a colonial style villa with high ceilings on a very busy street (Pasteur). This review is based on a visit during Tet 2019 (at the beginning of February).
The menu is now amazingly extensive. They also have Korean, Thai, Japanese food (and I am probably forgetting a few cuisines).
Around the perimeter of the restaurant you can observer various “stations” where the dishes are prepared. However the order is taken at the table and many people do not even notice this feature of the restaurant.
I had a canh bun, a type of noodle soup with pork and shrimp paste, fried tofu puffs, and congealed blood (huyet). It comes with rice vermicelli. It was ok.
A friend of mine had a bowl of pho with beef.
Another friend had rice with chicken and a version of the canh chua, a soup with vegetables and fish originally from the Mekong region.
The check
The final check was around 500,000 VND (or 22 USD). For three people including iced teas and a juice, that’s a good price. Still three or four times the cost of these dishes from a bona fide street vendor.
I guess the price point is what keeps everyone happy: the owners have a large margin and the customers still feel that they have made a bargain. The food is mediocre, but not bad by any means. They know what they are doing. Up to you if this is the place for you.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 160 Pasteur Street, District 1
The Cajun Cua (“cua” means crab in Vietnamese) was probably the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City to offer cajun seafood. Cajun is both the name of a rustic cuisine in Louisiana and a spicy seasoning widely used in that cuisine. The Cajun Cua, like many similar restaurants, specializes in a specific aspect of this cuisine: serving boiled seafood (and other ingredients) in bags where it is mixed with certain seasonings.
The Cajun Cua has been around for at least a decade and in 2015-16 became very popular. As it happens in Vietnam, popularity was followed by imitation and other similar themed restaurants mushroomed in Ho Chi Minh City. In my visit in the summer 2019 the fad seemed to have faded away.
The visit
The restaurant is relatively small with a storefront squeezed among the shops of Ly Tu Trong street.
Ordering the main dish – the seafood by the bag – involved two steps: first I made my choices of seafood, then I chose the seasoning; I chose cajun, but other flavors were possible: garlic butter, lemon garlic, basil, juicy. I tried a few of these seasonings in the past and they are all good, full of flavor, but not to the point to kill the seafood taste entirely.
I was also provided a slice of lime to squeeze on a tablespoon of salt and pepper. This is a typical Vietnamese condiment, not related to Cajun cooking.
The preparation can take quite a while. I think I waited half an hour (that is a lot for a restaurant in Asia). But if you are smart, you can do like a group that arrived shortly after me and was served immediately: they had booked their food on the phone beforehand. The chalkboard above illustrates the waiting times.
Above you can see how my bag looked like: it included 250 grams of swimmer crab, 250 grams of green mussels, and 250 grams of prawns.
All the seafood was very good. The bag also came with a piece of corn and a mini slice of sausage (it would have been nice to have more, you can order extra though). I also had a baguette to dip in the leftover sauce after finishing the seafood.
Finally, I had a portion of chicken wings with cajun seasoning. Quite nice if you like spicy food.
The check
Final check was a little over 1,000,000 VND (or 44 USD). Probably there was enough food for two people with a normal appetite. While it is pricey as compared to standard Vietnamese food, you can enjoy some good seafood without breaking the bank.
I have never been in Louisiana and I cannot speak about the authenticity, but overall the experience and the quality of the food is good and it is a nice option for seafood-lovers.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 267 Lý Tự Trọng – District 1 (They also have a location in District 7, in Sunrice City, where I have never been.)
KOTO stands for “know one, teach one” and is the slogan of an Australian charity, founded by an Australian-Vietnamese, aimed at developing the skills of underprivileged and marginalized young individuals in Vietnam. They provide care and training programs for these individuals to make them employable in the hospitality sector. The centerpiece of this strategy is represented by two training restaurants, one in Hanoi and another in Ho Chi Minh City. Dining in these restaurants effectively supports this mission.
The visit
During Tet 2019 (the Vietnamese lunar new year and the following days) I had a dinner in their latest Ho Chi Minh City location, a nice old-style residential building at the margins of District 1.
The dinner started with a complimentary canape: a Chinese style fried wonton. The menu is based on Vietnamese food, but they also have some other Asian and Western classics.
I had their appetizer tasting platter that included deep fried Spring rolls, smoked eggplant salad on a rice and sesame cracker, steamed pork and snails, beef wrapped in betel leaves. It was a very tasty selection, easy to be shared between two people.
My main was a departure from Vietnamese food: a pan-fried barramundi on a bed of white beans and chorizo, plus fennel and orange salad. A very well executed dish that could have been in the menu of a five star restaurant.
Finally, I had space for a dessert: a pandan coconut brûlée, garnished with shortbread and grated coconut. It was a very good dessert.
The check
I spent 634,000 VND (or 27.5 USD) that I consider a very reasonable price. Especially the fish was very honestly priced.
The food was good, the environment was nice and the service friendly and attentive (as usual in Vietnam staff speaks at least a little bit of English). It is definitely a place that I would recommend for the food, even without mentioning their charitable mission.
You cannot splurge every day. In Saigon Center, Ho Chi Minh City, there is a sushi restaurant to keep in mind for a cheap but yet quality sushi meal.
The visit
The restaurant is located in the second basement of Saigon Centre, in the heart of Saigon and its full name is Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru. It is a conveyor belt sushi restaurant (I reviewed a similar restaurant in Tokyo). From what I understand it is originally from Singapore.
They have two types of seating arrangements: counter and booths for groups.
Rules of the house.
What is notable is that they serve a lot of different types if sushi, like this gizzard shard known for its strong flavor.
Another very unusual sushi in Saigon, with a fluffy egg custard.
A shrimp croquette.
Another sushi with a strong flavor: mackerel, seared with vinegar.
I also ordered from the menu (they have reduced the number of dishes on the conveyor belt, but the number is still significant). The menu, by the way, comprises also many other Japanese food classics, such as ramen.
The first trio of sushi included tuna, tuna belly and negitoro (minced tuna). The second one included snapper, hamachi, and tuna again.
Finally I had some tuna sashimi. Not the best tuna in town, but very good value.
They serve over 100 types of sushi.
The check
Total check was 376,300 VND (or 16.20 USD). A single sushi dish from the conveyor belt was 27,500 VND (1.18 USD).
Ikeikemaru is good value for money and at the same time it provides a nice assortment of sushi that is difficult to come by even in higher end restaurants in Saigon.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 65 Le Loi, B2 Floor, Saigon Center.
Update 2020: After the March lockdown the restaurant did not re-open. Keep an eye on their FB page to see if they re-open.
Gourmet Spanish food definitely has come to Ho Chi Minh City. One of the best exemplars of this new wave of Spanish restaurants in town is Octo Tapas Restobar that I visited twice during the initial days of the lunar new year 2019.
The visit(s)
The “restobar” is located on the second floor of a building also hosting other restaurants. It is a very modern environment, but only with high chairs. It is a stone’s throw away from the iconic Bitexco Tower.
You need to climb two flight of stairs to get to the venue, but the effort will be rewarded.
Complimentary chips.
They have quite an extensive menu of tapas. The first time I settled for some classics. My first dish was ham croquettes.
The second dish came from the list of their signature tapas and was a bowl of mussels with chorizo in a creamy sauce. Maybe too creamy for my taste, but a memorable dish.
I also tried their huevos rotos that were effectively a creamy egg custard with ham.
I also tried one of their specials off the menu (tip: look at the board above the bar): sourdough bread with tomatoes and smoked anchovies. Sometimes you can find bliss in simplicity or maybe it is just my particular taste, but this dish was just so good.
Finally I had churros with an excellent chocolate mousse.
But I wanted to try more. So I went back the day after for a second visit.
I had the non-alcoholic version of a Moscow mule.
Then I tried their version of a katsu sando (the Japanese cutlet sandwich). The white bread cuddled a chunk of pinkish iberico pork. A great dish that met my expectations completely.
And, grand finale, I had their ox cheek with scallops. This was a superb dish. The ox cheek was very tender and it was nice to have the scallops to counterbalance the flavor.
The check(s)
Regarding the checks, I must specify that there was an additional 10% surcharge that was added because of the time of the year. Many restaurants in Vietnam have some extra charge in the days following Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year, as it is usually difficult to have staff available on those days.
The first check was 1,056,275 VND or 44 USD for five dishes and a coke.
The second check was 784,300 VND or 33.75 USD for two substantial tapas and the mocktail.
Most tapas dishes were priced between 6 and 10 USD and could have been reasonably shared between two people.
While I understand that the environment caters to people indulging in drinks as well, I totally recommend Octo Tapas for its food. I am sure that everyone could find, as I did, some memorable tapas in their extensive menu. Personally I hope to go back in my next trip to Saigon to try even more options.
While not artisan gelato, Osterberg is an interesting departure from the international ice cream chains that dominate Ho Chi Minh City: it hails from Denmark and it is a family business. In Vietnam the business is managed by Cathrine, who makes all the recipes herself and has a background in Food Science from the University of Copenhagen. The ice cream is freshly made in Ho Chi Minh City with modern equipment.
The visit
In Ho Chi Minh City they have a small ice cream shop in District 2.
They offer a nice assortment of flavors inspired both by their Nordic origins and by the fresh ingredients available in Vietnam. This means flavors such as liquorice, elderflower, buckthorn and blackcurrant (recommended!) on the one side and red dragonfruit, soursop, jackfruit, and lychee on the other.
My personal favorite is their chocolate sorbet (in general I find their sorbets – basically ice cream without the milk – better than regular ice cream flavors). The chocolate flavor emerges so neatly.
I particularly like their ice-blended option: around two scoops of ice cream are blended with milk and ice: the resulting beverage has the right density for me and retains the original flavor.
UPDATE (July 2019): They discontinued the ice blend option for lack of demand. Travesty!
The check
A single scoop, like in the cup pictured in the previous section, is 55,000 VND (2,4 USD). The ice blend was 75,000 VND (3,2 USD).
If you are in district 2, Osterberg is an ice cream experience that I recommend (well, a lot less now that they discontinued the ice blend).
My assessment is that Ho Chi Minh City is full of Italian restaurants, but Italian food is very scarce. In my February 2019 trip I noticed that places serving questionable pasta mushroomed around the city. A new trend maybe? What is certain is that authentic Italian food is still hard to come by. On the luxury side I keep recommending R&J, but you cannot splurge every day. Hence, finding a mid-range restaurant serving authentic Italian food warrants a review.
The visit
The restaurant is called La Forchetta and is located in Phu My Hung, in the Southern part of Saigon. It is run by an experienced Italian chef and his son. It could be best described as a one-man show.
The restaurant occupies part of the ground floor of a Phy My Hung hotel. Most of the tables are on an open veranda and an air-conditioned dining room is also available. I personally prefer dining in the veranda, even if sometimes mosquitoes can be a bit annoying.
For a small restaurant, the menu is impressively extensive. All Italian classics are there and much more: a long list of pastas, pizzas, meat and seafood mains.
A bread basket is always included in the price.
In one visit I had squid ink raviolis filled with sea bass and coming with a dressing of crab meat. They were handmade by the chef. It was a delicious pasta dish, difficult to find in Italian restaurants abroad.
Then I had an Italian cutlet. While the original Italian cutlet is made with veal as this kind of meat is difficult to come by in Vietnam, this was a generous portion of chicken cutlet.
On a second visit I had a cold meat platter. Very large, it had two types of salamis, hams, bacon, baloney.
Finally I had a dish of spaghetti with sausage, sprouts (usually is nuts, but they were finished on that day, during lunar new year), and cheese.
All the dishes were absolutely authentic and very tasty.
The check
My first meal cost me 370,000 VND (16 USD). The second one cost a little bit more (around 20 USD because of the cold meat platter, check not pictured). I see these prices as very reasonable considering the generous portions and the quality of the offering.
If you are after authentic homemade Italian food in Ho Chi Minh City, La Forchetta is worth a detour.
The term “hidden gem” is fairly abused in reviews (all kind of reviews). I used it elsewhere too! But in this case it is very fitting. We are speaking of a gem and it is off the beaten path. You would never imagine to encounter a hot spot for Western high cuisine in one of the alleys of Phu My Hung, the Southern district of Saigon mostly known for its shopping malls and the large Korean community.
This nice anomaly in a food scene mainly catering to the Korean community was made possible by Jane and her husband Michael that set up shop in one of the many hotels/serviced apartments complexes in the neighborhood bringing their experience from Portland, USA.
The restaurant is located on the ground floor of one of these non-descript buildings. The dining room only allows a dozen of people or so to dine at the same time. For this reason they operate on a reservation basis only, but I saw online that the owners claim that they would not refuse a walk-in if space allowed. The dining room is very comfortable, but it should be noted that it is not designed to be a fancy lounge. The focus is on the food and the service. (The visits took place in the original location. In April 2019 the bistro moved to a new location that I have not visited yet.)
The visit
I visited the bistro twice to write this review, once in the summer of 2018 and once right after Vietnamese Lunar new year (February 2019). The bistro has been around since 2015, but I learnt about it only in 2018.
The first time I ordered one of their set menus. It was a perfect way to get an introduction to their cuisine.
I was welcomed with an healthy carrot drink. I need to note that they went above and beyond as they replaced the original drink when they heard that I was not a big fan of pineapple (just a preference, I am not allergic by the way).
The lunch began with a bang, with a delicious Australian King Crab cake with orange dressing and orange gel.
The second appetizer was a veal empanada coming with smoked creamy tomato sauce. It is nice how the chef pays homage to a number of cuisines.
The first main was a piece of chicken with a unique garlic and passion fruit sauce.
The second main was absolutely fantastic: a lamb rack perfectly cooked and made even tastier by handpicked condiments: roasted white beans, cured carrots, and Mediterranean dukkah.
This feast was completed by a dessert: a home made apple mulberry cobbler topped by a scoop of vanilla ice cream by our favorite Saigon’s mastro gelataio, Ralf.
I went back on another occasion for a dinner.
I had a dish of shrimp scampi as an appetizer. As always, both the main ingredient and the condiments were perfectly amalgamated in the dish and led to great flavor.
I equally enjoyed a creamy pumpkin soup.
Then I had a fish fillet (grouper) that was a little masterpiece with layers of different elements beginning with a base of quinoa. This dish, again, illustrated very well the philosophy of Jane’s Bistro: high quality and healthy ingredients amalgamated in creative ways but never for creativity’s sake.
I completed my meal with a layered chocolate cake. This was so beautiful (maybe to the level of Trump’s cake?) and satisfying. They make their own cakes.
The check
The first meal was 1,035,000 VND (around 45 USD at that time). For a feast of this quality this sum was an absolute bargain.
The second check was 851,000 VND (36.70 USD). I noticed later that they did not charge me for the cake.
Is Jane’s bistro worth the 30-minute trip from downtown Saigon (District 1)? Absolutely it is. Excluding the five-star hotels (and they are a mixed bag to say the least), it may be very hard to find a similar experience in Saigon, combining skillful execution, quality and healthy ingredients and a nice touch of creativity. Maybe a place like Quince could be comparable (with a nicer location, but also a way higher price point).
In conclusion Jane’s Bistro brought something new in Saigon’s food scene and I am very jealous of the resident of Phu My Hung that have this restaurant just around the corner.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 19 Hung Gia 4, Phu My Hung, District 7, Ho Chi Minh The review refers to the old location. New location in 96 Le Van Thiem, District 7, just a couple hundred meters from the original location. Tel: 09 0909 6505 (reservations preferred) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janebistro/
I have already reviewed Le Corto, a fine French restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City and I have praised the creativity and substance of its dishes. The weekend brunch warrants a separate review.
The visit
I had booked my spot for the brunch a couple of weeks in advance (exchanging a couple of messages through the restaurant’s Facebook page). Since the main dining room is not huge, spots are limited.
The brunch included a spread of appetizers, cold meats, cheese, seafood and the possibility to order a selection of dishes. In a nice contrast to other buffets following this format, guests are allowed to order as many mains as they wish.
Oysters and prawns.
Boiled vegetables and slow-cooked chicken breast.
Some salads.
Cheese and smoked salmon.
The cold meat section including Serrano ham.
Some of the desserts,
Above pictures some of the dishes I enjoyed from the buffet.
From the dishes on demand, I had the gratinated lobster.
The poached egg.
The check
The price of the brunch is 650,000 VND net. Since drinks are not included, the real price is a little bit higher. My check was 720,000 VND (31 USD) that was an absolute bargain.
I really appreciated the balance between the buffet quality selection and the hot dishes on demand. Service was good and the atmosphere was pleasant. This may well be the best brunch deal in Ho Chi Minh City at the moment.
Le Corto opened in 2016 and has made a name for itself as a premium French restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. The name is an homage to Corto Maltese, the fictional adventurer coined by Hugo Pratt (Corto Maltese is from Malta and Pratt was Italian, not sure the link to a French restaurant, but it does not really matter). I also reviewed their weekend brunch deal.
The visit
They have a great deal for lunch, but I ordered a la carte (the full menu was available).
The bread basket was promptly served.
A particularly striking dish was a mille-feuille with marinated salmon heart, foie gras, and raw sea Scallops, sliced with avocado and guacamole and presented with wasabi espuma. This is a good epitome of what I like about Le Corto: creativity but not for creativity’s sake, the dishes are delicious and substantial. The wasabi espuma was quite spicy, I did not find it necessary to enjoy this great dish.
Foie gras ravioli were very well executed.
Finally, I had a tuna steak with kampot pepper, warm vegetable tabbouleh, citrus and coriander jus.
The check
Final check was 1,110,000 VND (around 58 USD). For a trio of high cuisine dishes like these was a very good deal. Le Corto is one of the best French restaurants in Saigon in my opinion.
