The culinary delights of Ho Chi Minh City !!!

Posted in Asia, Food and Wine, France

Ok so this one have several posts in my blog, just redoing some older text and some new photos for HCMC or Ho Chi Minh City ,Vietnam. I would spare you the history of the city and just go right into the text and photos. Always amazed on how a war torn country can come back and be so alive and working. Vietnam is spoken less than other Asian countries when it comes to infrastructure and tourism but its a sleeping giant awaiting to catch the Asian boom. Let me tell you about the culinary delights of Ho Chi Minh City !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

I tasted the nightlife best for action, and the best looking women of Vietnam locals or expats try the Beirut Gardens with belly dancing shows after 20h.  Just be there and you will see ,enough said! More info here: http://beirut.com.vn/

hcmc-beirut-garden-resto-inside-feb14

I was surprise to be invited to a restaurant where President Bush (USA) even visited while there,and his pictures still hang on the walls lol!!  TIB restaurant , at Hai Bà Trưng. You go at the end of a narrow passage street. This has great dishes in a colonial setting even with pictures of Vietnam last queen and king(1945). I guess the decoration was done for me lol!!! More info here in Vietnamese, sorry but the real thing: https://www.tibrestaurant.com/about

hcmc-tib-resto-entrance-feb14
hcmc-tib-resto-wall-deco-feb14

However, here is the translation from the premise I visited taken from their site: TIB Restaurant, established in 1993 in Ho Chi Minh City, is the first restaurant in Vietnam to revive vinegar, shrimp rolls, lettuce rolls, Hue rolls , methodically and systematic. The TIB brand has lived a strong life for more than 14 years thanks to always maintaining the authentic quality of the food and thus has kept customers from the very beginning.  November 2007 US President George Bush chose TIB restaurant to invite Australian Prime Minister Howard to dinner as a proof of brand value.

For lunch, on another day locals took me to 94 Quan Thuy crab seafood restaurant and it was a full meal with fried rice and shredded crab that was delicious and true local food. More on Foody VN here: https://www.foody.vn/ho-chi-minh/mien-cua-94

At night went to the Barbecue Garden, a wonderful terrace garden where each table has an oven to cook your meals, nice fish and shrimp dishes with local saigon special beers.  More on their site here: http://barbecuegarden.vn/address

I came back for lunch to Rosa Palace, this is rented out for wedding and events with a big event of models parading that was awesome, but it is a restaurant too, very nice. Once again seafood is great here and fried rice with some good Saigon Special beers.  Very special places I have come like 3 times! The food is good and the service is great so seek it out when in town. The
Foody VN reviews on Rosa Palace:  https://www.foody.vn/binh-duong/trung-tam-hoi-nghi-tiec-cuoi-rosa-palace-tinh-lo-743 

For dinner we went to Vietnam House resto, again great seafood and nice service.  This is a gourmet place and very refine, a great for an evening with company too. More info on their site here: http://vietnamhousesaigon.com/

Almost every day here came to the The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf  for a nice cup of coffee as it was near the place I was doing work, yes did work too ::)  They have other branches but this one in District 1 was great. See them all at official webpage here: https://coffeebean.com.vn/en

Before leaving on way to the airport ,I had lunch at a wonderful place taken by a local.  Com Nieu Sai Gon, at 59 Ho Xuan Huong Street, where the dishes are done with playing servers on the rice paddies thrown at a distance plate to plate, and the shrimp dish with fish in sauce and saigon special beers were the delight in a nice ambiance and great decoration. More in Foody VN: https://www.foody.vn/ho-chi-minh/nha-hang-com-nieu-sai-gon-ho-xuan-huong

I, also, tried comga Van Xuong at 74 Hàm Nghi, Dist 1 (gần bánh mì Như Lan), famous for its Hunan chicken style food of China. just ask for it. They now have a Facebook page in Vietnamese here:  https://www.facebook.com/comgahainamvanxuong/

As I came during the southeast Asia Suzuki Cup football.soccer competition and Vietnam was playing first the Philippines (was there last month) then advance to the final vs Malaysia, the away game ended 2X2 with many good plays by Vietnam, the crowds in the area were huge with many congregating near the hotel on an endless rows of motos and scooters and even cars flag waving.
While this was going on downstairs, I was upstairs at a nice bar with some friends from Hanoi staying there about. We saw the game and the celebration from the Gartenstadt Restaurant 34 Dong Khoi Street, drinking my favorite Krombacher pilsner German beer I drink at home!!! We had not only the beers but an assortment of sausages and meat dishes as usual there too numerous to recall lol! I did came back on later trips a couple times more here, always superbe !! The Facebook page of Gartenstadt Restaurant : https://www.facebook.com/GartenstadtRestaurant/

My treat was coming here with friends to Wayne’s Coffee shop near our office which is always a gathering point for us there. The Swedish chain is a bit behind posting on their site as this was open already right lol! The Facebook page of Wayne’s Coffee Ho Chi Minh City : https://www.facebook.com/WaynesCoffeeNguyenDu

I continue my culinary search into HCMC =Saigon, at Ngọc Sương  106 Sương Nguyệt Ánh,district 1. Here we had a nice fireup shrimp dish that was superb. And it has a webpage in English now!! I must have given it fame lol!! http://www.ngocsuong.co/

I sadly saw no pictures but was taken to the Hogs Breath Cafe, was located at  Bitexco Financial Tower, 2D, Hai Trie u Sai Gon, sadly it has closed here for the memories of always . I went there for an apero introduction with a nice tiger beer in the terrace outside, with the world passing by, and good friends.  We move on for dinner at the colonial very nice and friendly (they serve all for us on the plate) at  Qua nhà hàng ngon restaurant, with an array of noodle dishes very hard to remember their names lol! Again, found no pictures of them!  The official Qua Nhà hàng resto:  https://www.nhahangquangon.com/home-page/

The official Vietnam tourist office on Ho Chi Minh City: https://vietnam.travel/places-to-go/southern-vietnam/ho-chi-minh-city

So there you go a culinary trip to exotic Ho Chi Minh City in up and coming Vietnam, a destination worth trying it out. I know would love to be back, waiting for the virus…. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the culinary delights of Ho Chi Minh City !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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