Dining on 'Homemade' Meals: A Must-Try When Visiting Saigon

When 'Homemade' Meals Turn into a Lovely, Heartwarming Experience Everyone Wants to Try When Visiting Saigon.

Eating 'Homemade' Meals at Restaurants: A Must-Try When Touring Saigon

Family meals are at their best when all members gather around, chatting happily and serving each other hearty dishes. Sometimes, it's not about what's on the table, but a bowl of soup, a plate of boiled vegetables paired with a pot of freshly simmered stew, or rustic dishes with the aroma of the countryside, complemented by a few fresh garden vegetables, is enough to satisfy.

However, the increasingly busy pace of life has made family meals seem distant and unattainable. Sometimes, there isn't even enough time to grab a sandwich, let alone go home, shop at the market, wash every vegetable, peel every shrimp, and stir-fry everything, especially waiting for everyone to come home to eat together.

But it's only in those moments that you realize the true value of a family meal. Especially for those far from home, a genuine family meal can bring tears to their eyes with nostalgia. They miss the atmosphere, they miss the distinctive flavors of each dish that cannot be found anywhere else.

Discover the Fascination of Vietnamese Family Meals in Saigon

The Brick

Curious where Hollywood celebrities have been? It's The Brick restaurant, one of the pioneering places serving Vietnamese family meals in Saigon.

When The Brick first opened, some people in Saigon buzzed about a vintage-style eatery on Đặng Tất Street (where you never knew what they... were selling. Because every day they would serve completely different dishes without any prior notice).

Many initially thought this was to create surprise or differentiate in business, as the stranger, the better, to attract customers. However, only when you come here and try it once, you'll understand why people are willing to seek out and pay for a meal they knew nothing about before. It's simply the feeling that every time you come home, without any worries or calculations beforehand, you sit down to dinner and only then know what's on the table and what mom cooked. And the way of “elder sibling leaving rice for younger sibling to clean up” instead of inviting with “here's the menu, just order” has created a truly different, intimate feeling, just like coming home.

To this day, this is still one of the things that makes The Brick famous and attracts more and more people to come and experience the warmth of a family meal every time they return...

Enchanted Garden

Each dining establishment has its own unique style and ambiance. If The Brick evokes nostalgia for family with its service style, then at Enchanted Garden, it's all about the atmosphere.

True to its name, like a mysterious garden, you'll never believe that in the bustling city center there's an old, but significant, apartment building, and after trekking up five floors, suddenly you're greeted by a cool, green garden, a village with banana trees, other plants, a flock of chickens, and a few well-behaved cats lounging around the kitchen area.

It feels like being back in the countryside, being treated to the best, hearty dishes with the aroma of the countryside, cozy and extremely attentive.

The food here needs no debate, whether it's crispy fried catfish with sweet and sour fish sauce, boiled vegetables with fermented fish paste, boiled meat with minced shrimp and chili sauce, stir-fried bitter melon with eggs, or a bowl of sour fish soup,... these are dishes you absolutely must try when you come here.

Dust Cafe

A Family Meal with a Twist

At Bụi, everything from the service, dishes to the presentation, is meticulously instructed and selected. That's why dining at Bụi gives you the feeling of a simple family meal elevated to another level by the utmost attention to detail. So, it's no wonder people joke that eating at Bụi is like stepping back into the old days, being treated in a mansion of some wealthy family with exquisitely presented delicious dishes. That's why during meal times, whether it's lunch or dinner, Bụi is always bustling, busy serving guests who come to 'visit' the family.

As per Young Intellectuals

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Reference: Mytour Travel Handbook