Buzz
Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, is heating up under the blazing sun, ready to scorch anyone in its path. But fear not, for amidst this heat, there are oasis-like havens serving up the most delightful and chilled treats. Here's a curated list of the most renowned dessert spots in Saigon. Treat yourself and indulge in the sweetness.
1. Coconut & Pumpkin's White Chocolate Bliss
Since its humble beginnings in the quiet streets of Saigon, Coconut & Pumpkin has been delighting patrons with its famous coconut jelly, pumpkin coconut jelly, and pumpkin flan. Recently, their white chocolate bliss has taken the spotlight, featuring flavors like strawberry, tiramisu, matcha, and classic.
Address: 85 Chau Van Liem, District 5. Phone: 08 6686 1268; Free delivery in District 1, 3, and 5 for orders over 200,000 VND; Delivery hours: 10am-3pm daily
2. The Extravagant 12-Dish Dessert Feast
Indulge in a delightful collection of 12 sweet treats at this charming establishment. From grandma's special tea to creamy taro delight, every bowl is a tantalizing sight. You can opt for the full 12-dish dessert feast or simply pick your favorites.
Address: Next to Sư Vạn Hạnh Apartment, near the intersection of Sư Vạn Hạnh and Nguyễn Chí Thanh streets. Service starts around 4-5pm.
3. Thai Flavors at Ý Phương
The main ingredients of Thai-style dessert here include a variety of fruits such as mangoes, jackfruit, palm seeds, longan, agar, coconut water, fresh milk, flour... Particularly, the aroma of durian adds a sweet and irresistible fragrance, blending together to create a tempting and visually appealing concoction. Nguyễn Tri Phương Street is famous for its numerous Thai dessert spots, with Ý Phương being the most renowned.
Address: 380 Nguyễn Tri Phương, District 10 (From the intersection of 3/2 - Nguyễn Tri Phương to the intersection of Nguyễn Tri Phương - Vĩnh Viễn)
4. Thanh Tâm's Delights
As one of Saigon's renowned Chinese dessert spots, this place serves from around 2pm until midnight, with the crowd picking up as the night progresses. There's a wide array of delectable treats such as tea-infused eggs, assorted tofu, Thai desserts, tofu pudding with fruits, peanuts, white wood ear fungus, sweet soup with snow fungus, lotus root, and lotus seeds...
Address: 28 Phan Van Tri, Ward 7, District 5 and 98 Bui Huu Nghia, Ward 7, District 5.
5. Joyful Desserts
Most of the desserts at Joyful Desserts are typical Chinese specialties like lotus seed sweet soup, egg tea, black sesame, sweet tofu with lotus seeds, egg tofu with peanuts, ginseng soup, five blessings dessert... Additionally, the shop also offers unique and delicious creations such as tri-color pudding, steamed egg with lotus root, lotus seed pudding... Prices at Joyful Desserts are very affordable, ranging from 10,000 to 12,000 VND.
Address: 63 Pho Co Dieu, Ward 12, District 5
6. Wonderland Desserts
Ky Dong Desserts has been serving its unique dessert creations for over 20 years. Specialties include mixed dessert, lotus seed and mung bean sweet soup, green bean jelly, coconut jelly, Thai desserts, and star apple sweet soup... They also offer a variety of savory dishes like crab soup, salty sticky rice, sweet sticky rice, water fern cake, tapioca dumplings, mixed rice cakes... Address: 153/7 Ky Dong, Ward 9, District 3. Phone: (08) 8469039
7. Cambodian Desserts - Le Hong Phong Market
Le Hong Phong Market, District 10, is also known as the Cambodian Market or the Mien Market because it is a hub for Vietnamese-Cambodian returnees. Here, you can enjoy unique desserts with rich flavors from the land of Temples. The most unique is the pumpkin sweet soup (known as num-a-poi in Cambodian). It's said that all the ingredients are sourced from Cambodia and are imported here every 3-4 days.
Address: Le Hong Phong Market, alley 374 Le Hong Phong, Ward 1, District 10. Desserts here range from 10,000 to 20,000 VND/bowl.
8. Street-side Hot Desserts on Ly Chinh Thang
Located on Ly Chinh Thang Street (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), this hot dessert stall offers a diverse menu with over ten regular desserts, giving customers plenty of choices. They're called hot desserts not because they're served steaming hot, but simply because they're not served with ice. However, since these desserts are mildly sweetened, you won't feel overwhelmed even if you have two or three bowls. Delicious options include sweet potato in coconut milk, floating cake, taro sweet soup, mung bean sweet soup...
Address: Street-side stall in front of house number 50 Ly Chinh Thang, Ward 7, District 3. Open from 8 pm until late night, each bowl of dessert here costs 8,000 VND.
9. Saigon's 70-Year-Old Dessert Stall
It's a dessert cart tucked away in the transformer station at Dong Khanh Market, District 5. Simple as it may seem, this dessert stall has been around for over 70 years, passed down through 4 generations of a family. With a menu featuring over 20 desserts, this 'lantern house' brings out the essence of Chinese flavors. Menu items like high mountain ginseng, hoai son, or the combination of white fungus, boba, tofu pudding, and quail eggs might surprise first-time visitors.
10. Japanese Dessert Cafes
In addition to sweetness, softness, and richness, Japanese desserts lure customers with fresh cream made in Japan. Although they've only appeared in Saigon in recent years, these desserts have garnered significant attention from young people and Japanese food enthusiasts. However, while the previous three dessert spots fall into the budget category and are accessible to everyone, Japanese dessert cafes are relatively pricey (around 75,000 VND per cup). One contributing factor to this high price is that these desserts always come with ice cream made from Hokkaido fresh milk, a type of ice cream that has never been classified as cheap.
Address: Ohashi on Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Street (District 3), M.O.F and Kuru Kuru stores on Nguyen Du Street (District 1)
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Source: Mytour Travel Guide
MytourJanuary 2, 2014
