Ho Chi Minh Vietnam Food Journey

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon hits you with a scattering of mopeds, taxis, small shops, eateries,  and simple people, with a huge language barrier. You would think that English would be their first language, however apart from being left hand drive, and a coffee drinking nation: there are no traces of being ruled by an English speaking country, or they have consciously eliminated any traces of ghoulish American invasion. 

However, despite the chaos, and communication barrier, the city makes you feel at home!

My food journey in this capital city of Vietnam, left my taste buds ever so refreshed, and wanting more. Here's a very quick tour of where we ate and what we ate. But before we begin let me tell you that Ban Minh, and the Bun are not the only things this country has to offer. Before I went I read a lot of blogs, and all they mentioned were the buns. To tell you the truth, we didn't even have the Bun as our first meal, as there are loads of other better, healthier, options, if you don't mind spending a few extra $$. 

After we checked into our lavish hotel suite, we were famished and headed straight to the streets in search of some local food. TripAdvisor, and Google Maps were our goto guides for restaurant ratings, and they did not disappoint. 

First stop was this place a block or two away from the absolutely amazing Sherwood Suites Hotel, where we stayed. 

Here we tried some local beer, vegetarian fried rice, and egg fried rice. This is when we noticed, Vietnamese cuisine uses a lot of fresh herbs, veggies, with simple dressings and, very little spices. This allows each vegetable and herb, to standout with the spice overpowering it. 

Another thing which you notice straight away is the dominance of plastic bags, straws, and cups. There is really no consciousness of how much plastic is used throughout the city, and its quite alarming, how oblivious they are to its impact on the environment. The people here live in their own peaceful world, still recovering from the damages of World War II.

There is art everywhere you look, on the streets, at restaurants, cafes, spas. The paintings are done by locals you can tell, as each one tells a story about the place or what it used to look like, or will look like in the future. It's a perfect blend of retro, and contemporary, making it interesting for everyone (even if you are not an art lover), and a great marketing strategy as  one can't help but stop and pose in front of them to take some Instagram worthy pictures.

As we continued to explore the city walking, taking a cab at times, we ended up in: what I would like to call the party district! Its lined with pubs, and discos; man these Asians know how to party!! Food and beer was flowing, party girls and boys were setting the stage on fire, and I enjoyed a cold beer with some chips and prawns fried rice, which was delicious.

Next day we set out to explore the city some more. the plan was to have breaky at this garden cafe, which doubles as a bird cafe, a concept similar to dog/pet friendly cafes, we now have in the cities. I knew about this place as I had watched the documentary by the king of places unknown the late Anthony Bourdain. I was so happy to be there, as it was just what I had imagined it to be. A friendly, inviting place, surrounded by a well manicured garden, it's the Hyde park of Saigon.

The cafe however was nothing more than a lot of plastic tables and chairs, scattered under the shadow fo the trees, a two food carts, one for the coffee, and one for their standard menu of egg dishes, with noodles and their famous, locally baked bread or bun as they call it.

It was a real delight to watch this lady make individual drip coffees, with our without the condensed milk, and a variety of cold coffee. A jug of flavoured water is placed on all tables, along with an assortment of sauces and a basket full of bread.

The very cheap, and effective coffee maker I've ever seen. I had mine with a dash of condensed milk and it does taste good. 

Moving onto the egg making station, first look at it and you wouldn't think they would serve anything more than an omelette but they have mastered the art of making a variety of dishes with a handful of ingredients. Being a vegetarian, I had to point at each ingredient that I wanted in my noodle bowl, which she happily prepared for me. 

There's absolutely no way to communicate with the locals, unless they know English, which is rare, yet you manage to get around the city no problem; using nothing but sign language, eye contact, smiles, and a few hand gestures. That's the beauty of a place like Saigon, their strength lies in them preserving their culture, their language, and unlike China; they are not forced to do that, but because it brings them brings them happiness; and well deserved peace.

I was so intrigued by this Pappdum like thing, and turns our it was similar to the Indian papadum which is made with different pulses, rice, and flour varieties, and served roasted or fried.

We went to the local market which is jam packed with coffee sellers, high end brand dupes; from Gucci, to Louis Vuitton, Chanel to Prada and everything in between. Then there are stalls of bamboo and plastic products, clothes, food, dried fruits, fish, etc. I would not recommend buying local coffee from here, as I didn't really enjoy its flavour, however the packet comes with their aluminium coffee apparatus, which I use all the time.

After spending the day exploring street, and local food, it was time for a proper sit down dinner, and why not, the city is full of gourmet restaurants, and the menus are exotic, full of fresh ingredients, vey little spice, and packed with flavours. 

We ordered some sangria, and although it wasn't authentic, it had the right amount of buzz to get us going. 

Best and cheapest way to explore and travel in Saigon, is to hire a two wheeler. It comes with helmets and is pretty safe to ride around, as people rarely honk, have no road rage, but drive haphazardly as is common in most of the asian countries. 

Di Mai- we ate here twice, the second time they were out of the Banh, which was a bit disappointing, but it gave me a chance to explore some other items on the menu. 

For all you chocolate lovers, you must visit the world famous Maison Marou chocolate cafe. They use cocoa beans sourced from the Southern belt, roast, and extract chocolate at the cafe, and if that wasn't enough; they serve all their desserts, as if it was a piece of art, and they are to die for.

As much as this place is a tourist attraction, it was a very popular local hangout, one could tell, by the youngsters flocking the tables, clicking selfies and giggling away. 

They do have a wide variety of chocolates to sell, along with cocoa powder, and some merchandise, which makes it a chocolate lovers paradise.