Buzz
Saigon boasts a plethora of alleys, and the deeper you delve, the more the culinary world of Saigon unfolds before your eyes.
Uncover 8 'enchanted worlds' right within the alleys cherished by food enthusiasts in Saigon.
Saigon's charm owes much to its delicious yet surprisingly affordable cuisine. Did you know that Saigon is home to many famous alleys for street food? Once you step into one, you'll only want to... get lost forever! Explore these 8 street food alleys below and plan a 'sweeping' trip with your friends.
1. Alley 18A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, District 1
A paradise for cheap, delicious, and diverse dining experiences that have kept generations of Humanities students 'hooked', Alley 18A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai is the first stop on this unique culinary alley exploration journey.
Although located in the city center, the food prices in alley 18A are quite reasonable. During the day, you can drop by here for breakfast or lunch as there are many eateries operating all day with dishes suitable for everyone such as grilled meat vermicelli, broken rice, fermented shrimp paste with noodles, Hue beef noodle soup... A meal with various options like braised pork with eggs, fried fish, tofu stuffed with meat... will not disappoint you.
Especially at night, this alley looks no different from a small Western neighborhood because many foreigners rent houses here or come here to hang out and dine. Don't forget to try the field crab hotpot, crab noodle soup, crab soup - the dishes that make the name of alley 18A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.
2. Alley 76 Hai Ba Trung, District 1
If you want to know how famous alley 76 Hai Ba Trung's street food is, please come here around 4 p.m. every day when the stalls start operating.
Everything here is very cheap, ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 dong, and always hot, so from students, workers to office workers, everyone loves it. Traditional Vietnamese dishes such as offal porridge, crab noodle soup, grilled meat vermicelli, noodle soup with soup... rise in smoke amidst the noise of hundreds of people coming to eat. Starting to sell from 4 p.m. and by around 6 p.m. all the stalls are sold out, most of the sellers in alley 76 are carts, makeshift stalls gathering together.
Besides the filling dishes for busy people, alley 76 still has some 'fun' dishes for a cozy evening chatting of Saigonese people such as mixed rice paper, sweet soup, sweet potato soup, instant noodles, rice noodles... and surprisingly, still priced at 15,000 dong! And although selling in crowded, expensive, and roadside areas, the sellers here still ensure all aspects of food safety, such as wearing gloves when processing and selling food to customers.
3. Chilled Alley 177 Ly Tu Trong, District 1
Considered the birthplace of the divine fruit salad loved by everyone, alley 177 Ly Tu Trong is an intriguing snacking spot in the city center.
With Saigon's year-round heat, the fruit salad dish never loses its cool. Perhaps that's why the fruit salad vendors snugly tuck themselves into one side of this small alley, always bustling with people sitting down to eat or buying takeaway. Various fresh fruits, neatly arranged in a bowl, topped with a bit of coconut meat, fruit syrup, served with shaved ice and yogurt - just the thought makes you want to rush to this 'chilled' alley.
Venture a little deeper, and you'll encounter a dense cloud of steam from the braised offal stalls, with many people sitting and eating. The combination of braised offal and fruit salad makes this alley even more popular because it allows people to... be a bit lazy. Just a few steps from one stall to another, you can have both a savory dish and an instantly refreshing dessert.
4. Co Giang Area, District 1
Enter the Co Giang area, District 1, around 5 p.m. onwards, be cautious because... your stomach will be relentlessly teased but not sure what to eat as the food here is extremely diverse.
Street food area on Co Giang Street consists of makeshift tents and plastic tables and chairs, but it's never devoid of customers. The most popular dishes here are the 'enticing' ones - always emitting a fragrant smoke that makes customers naturally crave and rush to the eatery, such as chicken rice, beef stir-fry, grilled beef in betel leaf, crispy fried noodles...
Another plus point is that the Co Giang street food area is near the Bui Vien Western street, so you can fill your stomach with these delicious and cheap dishes before hitting the town for a night out on the weekend.
5. Cao Thang Alley, District 3
An unforgettable name on the 'enchanted world' map of Saigon's street food enthusiasts, Cao Thang Alley always knows how to warm the hearts and stomachs of its customers with its rich and diverse dishes.
Gathering a full range of both filling and indulgent dishes, Cao Thang Alley makes Saigonese people less puzzled about choices. Representative dishes in this alley include braised offal, balut eggs, quail eggs, fried fish balls, stir-fried noodles, dumplings, Teochew porridge... Not to mention the cheap snack stalls that are always clean, hot, and priced at only around 8,000 dong.
The 'stars' of this alley are the Teochew porridge, braised offal, and snails. Teochew porridge with its special cooking formula from Teochew, China, will give you a memorable experience when enjoying the hot porridge with the sweet taste of pork liver mixed with the spicy flavor of pepper. Braised offal needs no introduction, wherever it's sold, it's delicious and well worth sampling on a lively Saigon night. And the irresistible aroma of the snail dishes will keep you lingering here forever.
6. Alley 284 Le Van Sy, District 3
Not to be outdone, alley 284 Le Van Sy remains crowded every day thanks to its hot, delicious, and reasonably priced dishes. From hot dishes that make your mouth water like fermented fish noodle soup, grilled meat vermicelli, wet cakes, tapioca dumplings to cool snacks like sweet soup, jelly, flan... everything is placed close together, eagerly awaiting Saigon's food enthusiasts.
This place is also quite famous for its Hue-style dishes such as baby clam noodle soup, water fern cake, flat rice dumpling cake, beef noodle soup... with authentic Hue flavors, making Hue food lovers or distant children suddenly feel warm because it seems like the enchanting land is nearby.
7. Alley 200 Xom Chieu, District 4
When it comes to street food, nowhere is as cheap and diverse as District 4. And when mentioning street food in District 4, how can we forget the 'representative' named alley 200 Xom Chieu?
This alley, over 100m long, is lined with eateries on both sides offering a variety of dishes from main courses to snacks. The target customers of this alley are mainly ordinary workers living in the area, so you don't have to worry about prices because everything is very affordable. A must-try specialty when wandering around alley 200 Xom Chieu is crispy fried chicken skin, the more you chew, the more addicted you become because of its crispiness and rich seasoning.
Some satisfying dishes served in this alley include salty fish fried rice, shredded chicken fried rice, seafood fried rice, dumplings, sautéed balut with tamarind sauce... each dish competes to emit an enticing aroma that attracts customers closer. And the evening will be even more complete when you visit the cold dessert stalls or the flavorful flan cakes nestled among the savory food stalls.
8. Ha Ton Quyen Dumpling Area, District 11
Located far from the city center, but the Ha Ton Quyen Dumpling Area, District 11 still has its own advantages as the number of people coming here never shows signs of decline.
Because this is the living area of the Chinese community, it's no wonder that dumplings become the shining star. This is definitely the place people often visit to enjoy a delicious and authentic bowl of dumplings.
Stepping into this area, you'll be overwhelmed by a stretch of more than ten dumpling shops lined up next to each other, not to mention the dumpling carts hidden in the small alleys.
Even though they only serve one dish, dumplings, you'll still spend quite a bit of time ordering because there are so many enticing varieties. Shrimp and meat dumplings, combined with other ingredients to create shrimp dumplings, offal dumplings... served with clear broth and vegetables. If you want to be full, add some noodles to accompany the dumplings or taste the richly flavored Chinese-style noodles.
From Youth World
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Reference: Mytour Travel Handbook
MytourMarch 14, 2016
