Category: Cuisine: Vietnamese

Spectacular modern Vietnamese cuisine at Nén in Da Nang

In January 2020 I started my Asian Spring Festival travels landing in Da Nang, in central Vietnam. I had a specific goal: dining at Nén. This was a detour from my usual itinerary including Ho Chi Minh City and Chiang Mai and I am really glad I took it. The restaurant offers a modern take on Central Vietnamese cuisine and is helmed by chef Summer Le, a native of Da Nang. The name in Vietnamese indicates an obscure edible bulb from the region that can be described as a hybrid between garlic and shallot. Chef Le aims at highlighting underrated if not unpopular local ingredients and turns them into high cuisine.

The visit

I had a reservation made through their website. The restaurant is housed in a modern villa in a quiet residential district of Da Nang. They only served two set menus, Excursion and Journey. I chose the shorter one, Excursion (I wish I could have mixed the dishes of the two menus).

My “work station” was very comfortable and the staff was professional and happy to answer my questions about the dishes in English.

The service began with what they called an aperitif: amberella (a local fruit) and apple juice drink. Normally they serve liquor, but since I mentioned that I do not drink alcohol, they thoughtfully made a substitution. This happens to me in the best places.

Then there was trio of appetizers. The first was a cracker filled with eggplant topped by fermented grilled pork and coriander. Very nice taste all around.

Then there was a piece of squid with mango mousse and ginger (very tender and the final kick of the ginger was nice).

Finally, the third appetizer was fermented pig ears on a sesame cracker with some mayonnaise (a bit spicy).

The first dish was a pumpkin and carrot soup with crab paste from a small freshwater crab found in Da Nang countryside, hidden beneath a shrimp. The sophistication of the dish did not betray the authenticity of the single ingredients.

The dish was followed by its palate cleanser… yes, every dish was paired with a different palate cleanser. This was jack fruit ice cream.

The second dish was thinly cut curated veal with herbs and sauces. I like cold cuts and I enjoyed this dish.

The palate cleanser was a nice passion fruit granita with jelly.

The third dish was duck breast cooked sous-vide and later lightly pan fried with mango jelly, dried apricot powder, topped by Vietnamese basil and Vietnamese chili satay sauce with cashew nuts. I wish the meat had been a bit more tender, but was another great dish with unexpectedly satisfying flavor pairings.

The new cleanser was coconut milk with black jelly, fresh jack fruit, and shredded coconut. Clearly inspired by local desserts, it could have been a dish by its own.

The fourth dish was sticky rice and fish, soft boiled quail egg, gac fruit (a type of melon) used to color the rice.

It came with a trio of homemade pickles: cabbage, mango, mungbean sprouts.

The dessert: was a dish with sun-dried banana and banana ice cream, complemented by kumquat granita.

Finally I was offered Nén’s version of the local egg coffee. While I am not a coffee drinker, I enjoyed this conclusion of the meal.

The check

The check after tax and service charge was 1,263,000 VND or 54 USD, an absolute bargain for this kind of menu.

The goal of the chef was to offer a modern take on local ingredients and I think it succeeded. The attention to details was admirable (having several palate cleaner between dishes was impressive) and there was a lot of thinking behind every dish (some of this was shared through a page of chef notes that was handed at the end of the dinner, but could have been provided at the beginning). For example, duck is an overlooked meat in Vietnamese fine dining, but chef Le with the use of modern techniques (sous-vide) brough it to the next level. The use of sun-dried banana was very meaninful as sunshine is an integral component of life in Da Nang and it has always been exploited by the locals to cure their food.

I place Nén on par with other great restaurants I enjoyed in Asia such as Anan Saigon, Labyrinth in Singapore, Paste in Bangkok, and even, to some extent, Nabeno-Ism. They all revolve around the theme of reviving traditional cuisine with the use of modern techniques. And I think it is a great way for chefs to play their creativity and pay homage to their heritage.

Where in Da Nang:
16 đường Mỹ Đa Tây 2, Khuê Mỹ, Ngũ Hành Sơn.
Website: https://restaurantnen.com/.

Homemade Vietnamese lunch at Cuc Gach Cafe

The owner of Cuc Gach Quan restaurant also operates two cafes in the outskirts of District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. They are called, confusingly, Cuc Gach Quan Cafe (92 Thạch Thị Thanh, closer to the restaurant) and Cuc Gach Cafe (larger, the one I visited for this review). In both locations, throughout the day the offer a single lunch set with homemade Vietnamese food.

The visit

The entrance is nicely hidden by trees.

Similarly to the restaurant, the interior is smartly furnished with a decor mixing rustic and hipster elements. It has character. After all the owner is an architect. And I would say that it is proudly Vietnamese.

Ordering is not overly complicated since they only have a set menu changing daily. I guess there must be a menu with drinks and snacks, but I never got hold of it. English is not much spoken by the staff that is friendly and welcoming.

The food comes in a round tray and on my visit it included a soup, pork, vegetables, rice, and an iced tea.

The food was good. Simpler than the one I had in the restaurant, but made with the same philosophy to provide good homemade dishes. I ate (or I saw it eaten) in Vietnamese households.

The check

I do not have a check, but the lunch set was priced 80,000 VND (less than 4 USD) at the time of my visit. I think it is difficult to find such a beautiful place in Saigon where to have lunch at this price point. Sure, someone will say that you can find this food for even less, but you will seat on the street on a plastic stool.

Vietnam House’s modern Vietnamese cuisine

Vietnam House is a collaboration between a large hospitality and real estate group (WMC) and Luke Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Australian chef with a good deal of television exposure. It is located in the central Dong Khoi street in Ho Chi Minh City. I have passed by the restaurant so many times, but the combination of the touristy location and a celebrity chef always discouraged me to try it. I must admit that I was mistaken.

The visit

I visited the restaurant for an early dinner during my summer 2019 trip to Saigon.

The interior is finely appointed. Some art deco touches, but to the point to be a bit gaudy.

At the entrance they have Luke Nguyen’s books for sale.

The a la carte menu carries Vietnamese classics enriched by the use of top quality ingredients. My first dish was shishamo fish, crusted in sticky rice with a tamarind dipping sauce. Not sure if the fish was imported. It was quite good, but not exceptional in terms of flavor. The dipping sauce was very good though.

My next dish was much better. It was a garoupa fillet char-grilled in banana leaf, with the house XO sauce and dragon beans. It was a very good garoupa fillet, everything about the dish was perfectly executed.

Then I could not resist ordering a beef cheek dish. It was braised wagyu beef cheek in coconut juice with Phu Quoc green pepper, carrot, shallot served with a Vietnamese baguette. This was the luxury version of the traditional Vietnamese beef stew (bò kho) and it was a surprisingly good dish. The first thing that struck me was the herbal aroma emanating from the pot. The baguette was really useful because I did not want to sacrifice a single drip of the flavorful broth. The meat was really tender.

The dessert was a black sesame flan from the list of seasonal dishes. It was fantastic.

The check

Final check was around 1,489,000 VND (around 64 USD). I think two people could have shared the dishes. Considered the quality of the dishes I think it was good value for money (I am comparing it to fine dining venues around Asia, of course if you compare it with a traditional Vietnamese restaurant is pricey, but I do not think would be a fair comparison).

The menu is quite rich and I would not mind going back trying more dishes.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
93-95, 97 Đồng Khởi, Street:
Website: vietnamhousesaigon.com.

The incredible Anan’s chef’s tasting menu in Saigon

I have already described Anan Saigon, the brainchild of chef Peter Cuong Franklin in Ho Chi Minh City, in another review. My first experience was a bit atypical as I ate their famous 100-USD banh mi. I do not think the extravagant banh mi was a good representation of what the restaurant has to offer so I was keen to go back and I was not disappointed.

The visit

I booked using the form on their website and they were quick to answer. When I showed up they offered me a bar seat on the third floor. This was not suitable for me and luckily they found a table on the ground/first floor for me. Remember that they have normal tables on the ground floor and on the second floor. Next time I will make sure to specify my preference.

I decided to order the chef’s tasting menu. Normally set menus are for at least two people, but they were kind enough to let me have the menu as a solo diner.

The first dish was an amuse bouche. Specifically a quail egg topped by salmon roe. While I am not the kind of diner easily impressed by some smoke, I must acknowledge that it was beautifully presented. Much better than your run-of-the-mill amuse bouche.

The next dish featured Vietnamese caviar (I believe Caviar de Duc, it was indicated just as Da Lat caviar on the menu) in a sort of congee with an onsen egg, rice foam and smoked sturgeon. It was a nice fusion dish that highlighted what was believed to be impossible: Caviar made in Vietnam.

Then there was a crab dish enriched with salmon roe, pomelo, and local herbs (not to mention the rice cracker). Again, all amazingly presented and combined together.

Next was an homage to the Vietnamese pancake, the banh xeo, a very popular street food. However the banh xeo was crispier than usual and was actually a fusion between a banh and a taco. Quality ingredients were chosen for the filling, but quite close to the original: pork, peanut sauce, herbs.

Then there was a very interesting water buffalo carpaccio combined with many herbs, lemongrass, lime, peanuts, and a quail egg. I am quite a fan of raw meat and I enjoyed the dish. I believe this was an homage to bò tái chanh (rare beef in lime juice salad), a dish from Da Nang, but the meat was thinly sliced (like in carpaccio) instead of being minced. Raw buffalo meat is common in Northern Thailand (laap), by the way.

Then there was what on the menu was called foie gras imperial roll with pork meat, foie gras, topped with black truffle. This was clearly a homage to Vietnamese rolls in the shape of a suoi mai dumpling. It came with nuoc cham, a dipping sauce mixing fish sauce, lime, pepper, and garlic.

In this tour de force across Vietnamese cuisine, beef in betel leaves was to be there and it was. The beef was delicious brisket.

The next dish was a small masterpiece. A bite of deconstructed pho. The small jelly-like ball in the spoon did taste like pho. It was clearly an homage to Bo Innovation’s molecular xia long bao. And a successful one.

By this time I was already full, but there was still a big ticket item to go: a bowl of pho (and not a small bowl…). It was pho dac biet, that indicates a combination of beef parts. This bountiful bowl had slices of wagyu beef, a 24-hour slowly cooked beef rib, marrow, tendon, a quail egg, and of course noodles. It was a perfect example of modern cuisine, revitalizing a classic dish with top-shelf ingredients.

Now time for dessert. The beautiful lime in the picture above was actually a sweet, with lime vanilla mousse inside.

Finally there was a stick with cotton candy. I guess the chef wanted to be sure to satisfy the guest’s inner child.

The check

The tasting menu was 1,200,000 VND before service charge and taxes. With a coconut drink, I spent 1,437,500 VND (62 USD). By the way, this was the most expensive tasting menu, you can dine in this world-class restaurant for much less.

I am so glad that I went for this tasting menu. It was absolutely amazing. Every dish was not only delicious, but also well presented and, most importantly, well-designed on the basis of a philosophy aimed at elevating traditional dishes to creative high cuisine. The experience was on par with some of the best restaurants in Asia where I dined like Bo Innovation in Hong Kong, Labyrinth in Singapore, Blackitch in Chiang Mai, all restaurants that share the same commitment to their respective homeland cuisines while pushing the envelope in terms of creativity and flavor (but never for just creativity’s sake, like in celebrated places like the now-gone Gaggan).

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
89 Tôn Thất Đạm (inside Cho Cu market, a taxi won’t be able to leave you in front of the restaurant, but around 100 meters on the main street).  
Website: http://anansaigon.com/
Tip: make a reservation using the website form.

A Pho for pilots: Pho Tau Bay

Pho (or more precisely phở) is the quintessential Vietnamese noodle soup that you can find everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City (and now even outside Vietnam). I am dedicating a review to Pho Tau Bay because it has been one of the best I ever had in Vietnam.

Pho Tau Bay literally means “airplane pho” and there is a backstory. The restaurant was originally named as Pho Nhan (after the owner’s name), however, Mr.m Nhan was always wearing a pilot hat back then, hence, people started to call him tau bay (airplane). Soon it became the official name of the joint. I also found evidence that back in the day in Saigon mthere was a small chain of Vietnamese restaurants called with the same name. Difficult to say which came first.

The visit

I went to district 10 using Grabcar. It was a 20-minute ride from district 1 with normal traffic. The restaurant occupies a classic commercial space on the ground floor of a residential building with metal stools. At the address there area actually two separate restaurants with the same name. Apparently they all originated from Mr Nhan’s family. The one that I went had the staff wearing yellow shirts. The other one has red shirts and the pho is a bit different.

Ingredients were neatly arranged on the kitchen table next to the entrance. Everything was really tidy and in a restaurant this is a good sign.

Here’s my bowl. They have pho with beef (pho bo). The beef slices were quite line and they also add some minced beef on top. I have not seen doing this in any other joint, it must be their signature touch.

On the table I was also provided with the usual “add-ons”: lime, chili, herbs, and some sauces. The broth was clear but full of flavor and so was the meat. It was an excellent pho.

I was also offered their customized wet tissue but, as usual, it was not complimentary.

The check

I spent 62,000 VND, 60,000 for the bowl of pho (normal size) and 2,000 for the wet tissue. It is 2.70 USD. And it was delicious. Price were posted on the wall: 70,000 VND for a big bowl and 60,000 for a normal-sized one.

Where in Saigon:
433-435 Ly Thai To Street, Ward 9, District 10, opposite to Nhi Dong Hospital.

The 100 USD banh mi from Anan Saigon

“A Vietnamese snack consisting of a baguette (traditionally baked with both rice and wheat flour) filled with a variety of ingredients, typically including meat, pickled vegetables, and chilli.”

This is the definition of banh mi from the Oxford English Dictionary that in 2011 included the word in the English canon. A powerful indication of the popularity of this Vietnamese sandwich.

In Vietnam, you can find it everywhere and won’t cost you more than 1 USD. In Ho Chi Minh City there is a restaurant now serving a 100 USD banh mi: it is Anan Saigon, the braichild of chef Peter Cuong Franklin.

The visit

To get to Anan you will need to walk through a traditional Saigon’s market, Cho Cu Old Market, where a little bit of everything, from t-shirts to imported biscuits, is for sale. It is not a large market, but a mostly authentic one. It is worth a quick tour.

In the middle of the market you will notice the Anan sign on a traditional narrow building. This is where the eatery is located with the main dining room downstairs.

They also have some tables on the terrace upstairs.

Finally they have an area for cocktails on the roof top. The banh mi show took place on the ground floor.

I had made a reservation via email and pre-ordered the special banh mi. No deposit was required.

They were pretty quick in delivering the gargantuan sandwich that came cut in four parts with truffle fries, truffle oil mayonnaise, and a portion of caviar. Also a glass of prosecco was included, but I opted for a bottle of water that was not charged.

So, what is special about this banh mi? According to an interview to Franklin published on the website Munchies, this is how they go about:

We start out with a mayonnaise that has truffle inside of it and spread a layer on both sides of the bread and plop it on the grill… Then, we add a layer of pâté. We’re using pâté made by a French charcuterie guy based in Da Lat… We use a cut [of pork belly] that has a good amount of fat-to-meat ratio… It’s almost a whole pork chop inside [that has been slowly cooked and finally char grilled]… For this sandwich, we do about four pieces [of fois gras]. Each one is about 40 grams… We sauté it so when the fat comes out as it’s cooked… we’ll then use it to make the sauce. We season it and drip it on all of the sandwich afterwards.

Definitely, it not your regular banh mi where the ingredients are sliced inside the baguette in a few seconds…

Apart from the pork, the fois gras, etc, the Anan’s banh mi also has its share of vegetables.

How is it? Eating it was a nice sensation as each bite revealed a crunchy texture, both from the bread and from the pork. It held itself pretty well bite after bite. I finished it alone. But this should really be shared among a group of 2-4 people.

The caviar was a nice touch especially because it is a local brand: Caviar de Duc. The story of this caviar is quite remarkable as nobody believed that sturgeons could be farmed in the warm waters of Vietnam. It is also an affordable caviar. 10 grams should be around 15 USD.

The check

The final check was, as expected, exactly 100 USD at the exchange rate of 23,000 VND for 1 USD.

What to say? This was clearly a splurge. In a way I do not think it is a good illustration of Anan Saigon’s menu that actually seems to offer a lot of reasonably priced and interesting dishes which I shall try next time I am in town.

Is this decadence or a metaphor of modern Vietnam? Probably just a good marketing gimmick for the restaurant (that also has a 100 USD pho, the Vietnamese noodles).

I would recommend it only if you are in a group of four people and very hungry. Or if you are a food blogger/vlogger.

Where in Saigon:
89 Tôn Thất Đạm
Website: http://anansaigon.com/
Tip: make a reservation.

All the Vietnamese food under one roof: Nha Hang Ngon

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

Dining with a cause: KOTO in Ho Chi Minh City

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.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
19 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu
Website: https://www.koto.com.au/koto-training-restaurants

All the flavor of Vietnamese food at Cuc Gach Quan in Ho Chi Minh City

I kind of forgot how good and tasty Vietnamese food can be until I recently came back to Cuc Gach Quan. I discovered the restaurant I believe back in 2011 and it was already very popular, one of the few restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, along with Pizza 4P’s, where a reservation is in order. Shortly after, Hollywood celebrity couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had lunch in the restaurant during one of their humanitarian trips to Vietnam. At that point securing a table became very difficult! For this reason I stopped going (I hate competition when it comes to eating).

The restaurant was started by architect Tràn Bình in 2009 with the aim to recreate a family environment, like at his grandmother’s house, where guests could enjoy traditional Southern “countryside” food.

The visit

My most recent visit took place on a weekend in July 2018. I booked over the phone the night before. The receptionist spoke English and booking was not a problem.

The restaurant is located in a residential area called Tan Dinh at the margins of District 1. It is a nice area not yet gentrified (no Family Marts or Circle K there!). If you have a chance, take a walk.

A view of the entrance.

Across the street they have another facility that they call “Party” mainly used to host corporate events or large groups.

As you can see from the pictures above, the interior is very nicely decorated with vintage furniture and objects. The feeling is very intimate. Each table has its own character.

The ritual began as always with the massive menu (they have both a Vietnamese and an English version). Vegetables, meat, seafood, you name it… they have so many choices. Be aware that usually their bring only one menu since in Vietnam it is customary to have one person to order for all the party.

The sight of the table full of food was a bit moving. I felt like being in someone’s home and not in a restaurant.

This fried tofu was super delicious. We finished it in a second.

The prawns in coconut juice broth were a simple dish, but again so tasty. I even ate the onion as the sauce was irresistible.

Anther simple dish, squid, made delicious by the sauce, this time based on tamarind.

The deep fried fish with fish sauce cannot be missed in a Vietnamese family meal. This is river fish. Not that meaty, but again, the flavor was remarkable.

Another must-eat: a soup with clams, dill and tomato.

Somebody wanted some beef!

My friend ordered these soft shell crabs specifically for me. She knew I crazy about them. These are the best I had in Vietnam for a long time. The key is that they are only lightly fried, as opposed to those I had at TIB Restaurant for example.

The check

The feast cost us 1,115,000 VND (prices displayed on the menu are inclusive of 10% VAT and no service charge is added, thanks!). That’s around 48 USD for a meal that satisfied four people. That’s an incredible value for money considered the quality of the food, in my opinion much better than the food at TIB Restaurant for example. Just to make a comparison: at TIB one soft shell crab cost me around 270,000 VND, here I spent 250,000 for two.

For once, this was a restaurant that lived up to its reputation and the success did not mess things up. That they are popular is hardly surprising: the food is incredibly delicious and the able use of tamarind, coconut, passion fruit and other Vietnamese “countryside” condiments turn even the simpler food into a mouth-watering dish; the location has character and it is intimate; the price point is very honest. I must add that the service was good; I had some bad experiences in my first visits, I guess they improved this department.

These reasons make Cuc Gach Quan one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
10 Dang Tat, Ward Tan Dinh, District 1
Pro-tip I: check their website to get an idea of the different seating arrangements available and when you book try to specify where you wish to seat. Warning: the stairs to the second floor are very steep, if you have mobility issues, ask for a seat downstairs.
Pro-tip II: they also opened a Cafe located in 92 Thạch Thị Thanh. Be sure to go the right address! In the cafe they serve a very enticing set lunch (no menu, only the set lunch available). Staff in the cafe does not speak English.

Vietnamese fine dining with a backstory of unfulfilled love: TIB in Ho Chi Minh City

There is an interesting backstory to this restaurant. It has been repeatedly told by a Vietnamese friend that seems to be super sure about its accuracy. Admittedly, I did not find any corroboration online (but also nothing to falsify it). So maybe I am uncovering something new for the English-speaking web, or maybe not.

It goes like this. The restaurant was opened in 1993 by a very famous Vietnamese composer and song writer named Trịnh Công Sơn (deceased in 2001) and now run by his younger sister Tam. With the name of the venue, he meant to hint his love for singer Lê Hồng Nhung (born 1970), nicknamed Bong. Tib should stand for “toi ieu Bong” or “I love Bong”, where “ieu” is a variation of the most common “yeu”, “to love”. It was probably a love not meant to happen given the huge age gap between the two. Certainly, Nhung/Bong was regarded as a powerful interpreter of Son’s love songs so the two of them were in some kind of relation.

The restaurant quickly gained notoriety as a luxury interpretation of Hue food (Trịnh Công Sơn grew up in Hue, a historic city and former Vietnam’s capital). That was something relatively new a that time. In 2007 Tib was chosen by George W. Bush, then president of the United States, to host a dinner with the Australian Prime Minister during a visit to Vietnam.

The visit

Tib restaurant is tucked away in an alley of Hai Ba Trung Street and occupies what could have been an old Saigon patrician house. The decor, characterized by massive wooden furniture and old paintings hanged on the wall, is both classy and decadent. You are usually welcomed by a Vietnamese gentleman dressed like a butler and of course old Vietnamese love songs play in the background.

This review is based on their original location in Hai Ba Trung. They also operate a vegetarian restaurant in District 1 called Tib Chay (170 Tran Quang Khai Street) and a more informal eatery in Phu My Hung (100 Nguyen Luong Bang Street, Dist 7).

I recommend you to eat at Tib in a large group so you can share multiple dishes that are usually designed for sharing. This is what I had with two friends.

As an appetizer we had banh beo, that is some tiny rice pancakes with ground shrimp. They are supposed to be dipped in fish sauce and you can add some chilies. Honestly I would not recommend this appetizer, there are better choices in the menu. It is just not that tasty.


Then I could not avoid ordering a soft shell crab fried with garlic. These soft shell crabs are one of my favorite dishes in Vietnam, as you can eat everything of the crab. Sometimes the frying is overdone, but not in this case.

As customary for seafood dishes, you can dip them in a sauce of lime, salt and pepper (see picture above; they leave you the pleasure to squeeze the lime).

Another classic Vietnamese dish: a fish soup with tomato, herbs and a good quantity of white fish. There were no bones. It is an excellent dish to share and have with rice.

Somebody in the party really wanted a beef steak. Please do not order a beef steak in this kind of restaurant, really a waste when so many more interesting items are available!

We also ordered some pork ribs glazed in sweet (and sticky) fish sauce. A bit messy to eat, but a nice flavor combining different tastes.

The check

The dishes my small party had represent just a tiny selection from a very vast menu. Soups, fish, meat, vegetables, you name it. Tib has a lot of choices. Still, I hope that this review can give you an idea of how Vietnamese find dining can look like.

The check (handwritten…) reflects the fine dining concept. We spent a total of 1,298,000 VND (or 56 USD, that is less than 20 USD per person) that may seem extreme for Vietnamese food, but it seems reasonable for a fine dining venue.

Evidently, Tib suffers from a lot of competition nowadays in Ho Chi Minh City and they seem happy to continue to provide their traditional menu. If you want to jump back in time and have a “vintage” fine dining experience with classic Vietnamese dishes, Tib may just be the right place. But if you fancy a hipster decor and innovative dishes, you may want to look elsewhere.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
187 ter Hai Ba Trung, District 3.
They have a website, even if not necessarily up to date.