Ho Chi Minh food guide6 places

Things that only happen here

One MICHELIN star and an eighty-year-old satay noodle counter, in the same city

Some tables in this city stay with you longer for where you sat than for what you ate. At one end is MICHELIN — the city's only one-star room, a kitchen that rewrites its entire tasting menu every four months, and a Bib Gourmand serving home cooking inside a hundred-year-old French villa. Vegetarian fine dining is on the Bib list too, so guests keeping a meat-free practice can sit down to a proper full menu rather than picking around one.

At the other end is Chợ Lớn. The satay noodles in a District 5 alley follow the recipe Teochew Chinese brought eighty years ago, and they are not what Thai diners expect — the satay is not on a skewer, it is in the broth. Peanut, chilli and coconut milk make a brick-red soup poured over thin beef and rice noodles, and this is effectively the only city in Vietnam where you can eat the dish properly.

Then there is the river. The Saigon River dinner cruise leaves a District 4 pier at seven in the evening and works upriver for two hours. As the boat passes the centre, Landmark 81 and the Bitexco tower fall into the same frame — which is, in practice, the only way to get this skyline whole in one shot. Fine dining and the cruise both need booking: a few days ahead at minimum, two weeks for a prime evening slot.

In this guideOne MICHELIN StarMICHELIN Bib GourmandTeochew satay noodlesVegetarian fine diningA restored French villaSaigon River dinner cruise

Food map

Things that only happen here
Food map
1Ănăn SaigonThings that only happen here

The city's only MICHELIN star — three narrow floors above a market lane

Ănăn Saigon

Approximate locations — see each card for the exact address

Ănăn Saigon
Illustrative
Ănăn Saigon3 photos
01Things that only happen here

Ănăn Saigon

The city's only MICHELIN star — three narrow floors above a market lane

On Tôn Thất Đạm behind Bến Thành market, in a lane lined with fruit stalls by day, a narrow three-storey building holds the only MICHELIN star in this city. Chef Peter Cường Franklin rebuilt Saigon street food as a tasting menu, and bánh mì and cơm tấm both appear inside the course as single plates. There are two menus, the Saigon and the Chef's, and they are priced in US dollars — US$115 and US$145 for the food, pairings on top. Booking is required and you choose between a 17:30 and a 20:30 seating. The same team runs a cocktail bar, Nhau Nhau, on the second floor, open Tuesday to Sunday from five and closed Mondays — worth a stop on its own if the dining room is full.
One MICHELIN Star 2026Reservation requiredEnglish menuAir-conditioned

What to order

  • Saigon Tasting MenuListed at US$115, food only; pairings extra. The ₫ figure is a conversion2,900,000₫≈ ฿3,698
  • Chef Peter's Tasting MenuListed at US$145, food only3,700,000₫≈ ฿4,719
Hours
dinner seatings 17:30 & 20:30 · Nhau Nhau bar Tue–Sun from 17:00
Price
2,900,000–3,700,000₫ (US$115–145)

89 Tôn Thất Đạm, Bến Nghé, Quận 1

Before you goBooking is required — email about two weeks out. We could not confirm whether walk-ins are taken, so turning up without a reservation risks being turned away. The Nhau Nhau bar upstairs is closed on Mondays. Prices are set in dollars, so what you pay depends on the day's rate.
#anansaigon #michelinstar #district1 #tastingmenu #modernvietnamese #nhaunhau
Nén Light
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Nén Light3 photos
02Things that only happen here

Nén Light

A kitchen that rewrites its whole menu every four months — Nén Da Nang's Saigon sister

This is the Saigon sister of Nén in Da Nang, the first restaurant in Vietnam to take a MICHELIN Green Star. There are seven- and nine-course menus, and the whole thing is rewritten every four months around whatever Vietnamese produce is in season, so eating the same named menu twice will not bring you the same plates. It first appeared as MICHELIN Selected in 2023 and is still on the guide's list. It is in District 1 but off the tourist grid, down a lane on Trần Đình Xu, so set the Grab pin carefully.
Vegetarian optionsReservation requiredEnglish menuAir-conditioned

What to order

  • Nén Light 7-course tastingSeven-course tasting menuThe menu is rewritten every four months
  • Nén Light 9-course tastingNine-course tasting menu
Hours
—
Price
1,990,000–2,570,000₫

122/2 Trần Đình Xu, Nguyễn Cư Trinh, Quận 1

Before you goThe courses run about 1,990,000–2,570,000₫; ask whether pairings are included when you book. Because the menu turns over every four months, flag allergies or anything you cannot eat at the time of booking so the kitchen can work around it. It shares a name with Nén in Da Nang but is a separate restaurant; the Green Star belongs to the Da Nang room. We could not confirm the opening hours, so ask when you book.
#nenlight #tastingmenu #district1 #modernvietnamese #seasonalmenu #michelinguide
Cục Gạch Quán
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Cục Gạch Quán3 photos
03Things that only happen here

Cục Gạch Quán

Home cooking inside a rebuilt hundred-year-old French villa — Bib Gourmand

An old French villa in Tân Định, District 1, taken apart and rebuilt as a restaurant. The name means 'a piece of brick', and it was in fact assembled out of salvaged brick, old floor tiles and secondhand crockery. Two dining wings face each other across a koi pond and a small garden, so there is greenery outside the window from every seat. The food is not fine dining but Vietnamese home cooking — tofu deep-fried with lemongrass and chilli, sour fish soup (canh chua). Dishes average around 110,000₫, and it is on the 2026 MICHELIN Bib Gourmand list. Open from nine in the morning until eleven at night, so a late dinner works.
Bib Gourmand 2026Vegetarian optionsReservation recommendedEnglish menuFamily friendly

What to order

  • Đậu hũ chiên sả ớtDeep-fried tofu with lemongrass and chilli
  • Canh chua cáSour fish soup
Hours
09:00–23:00
Price
90,000–130,000₫

10 Đặng Tất, Tân Định, Quận 1

Before you goEvenings fill up, so book. Seating splits between the pond side and indoors; the pond side is better for both photographs and atmosphere, so ask for it. For two people the way to eat here is two or three shared dishes with rice and a soup, not one plate each. There is a separate vegetarian menu. That range is per dish, averaging 110,000₫; since you share two or three, budget 150,000–250,000₫ a head. We could not confirm prices for individual dishes.
#cucgachquan #bibgourmand #district1 #frenchvilla #homestylevietnamese #tandinh
Things that only happen hereIllustrative
Hum Garden
Illustrative
Hum Garden3 photos
04Things that only happen here

Hum Garden

A vegetarian table in a garden — four straight years on the Bib Gourmand list

A vegetarian restaurant in a garden down a Thảo Điền lane. Vietnamese vegetarian cooking (ăn chay) comes out of Buddhist practice, which puts it on the same footing as Thai jay — no meat or fish, and pungent alliums usually left out too — so guests keeping the practice do not have to pick their way around a menu here. Fried mushroom rolls and a sweet soup of lotus seed and longan are the dishes to look for. Open ten until ten. It has held a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand for four straight years, 2023 through 2026. Several vegetarian restaurants in the city carry similar names, so check that you are at 32 D10 in Thảo Điền.
Bib Gourmand 2026Vegetarian optionsCan be made without porkEnglish menuFamily friendly

What to order

  • Chả giò nấmFried mushroom rolls
  • Chè hạt sen nhãn nhụcLongan and lotus-seed sweet soup
Hours
10:00–22:00
Price
—

32 D10, Thảo Điền, TP. Thủ Đức

Before you goWe could not confirm menu prices — it is à la carte rather than a set course, so decide at the table. Several vegetarian restaurants in the city have similar names (Hum Vegetarian in District 3, and a separate business called Chay Garden). The one on the MICHELIN list is at 32 D10, Thảo Điền — go by the address. Twenty to thirty minutes by Grab from District 1.
#humgarden #vegetarian #thaodien #bibgourmand #gardenrestaurant #anchay
Hủ Tiếu Sa Tế Quảng Ký
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Hủ Tiếu Sa Tế Quảng Ký3 photos
05Things that only happen here

Hủ Tiếu Sa Tế Quảng Ký

Here the satay goes in the broth, not on a skewer — eighty years of Teochew noodles in Chợ Lớn

This is the bowl that surprises Thai diners most. The satay does not arrive on a skewer; it is in the broth itself — peanut, chilli, coconut milk and ground spice worked into a brick-red soup, poured over thin sliced beef and rice noodles. The recipe is the one Teochew Chinese brought eighty years ago, and few places in Vietnam still make it properly. The heat and the nuttiness land well on a Thai palate, so if you eat one bowl in Chợ Lớn, make it this one. They open at four in the afternoon and run to midnight, so this is an evening stop. A bowl is 60,000₫, about 75 baht.
Long-runningLocal favouriteOpen lateCash only

What to order

  • Hủ tiếu sa tếSatay noodle soup60,000₫≈ ฿77
  • Hủ tiếu tổng hợpMixed noodle soup60,000₫≈ ฿77
Hours
16:00–24:00
Price
60,000₫

117 Triệu Quang Phục, Phường 11, Quận 5

Before you goThey do not open before four in the afternoon — do Chợ Lớn in daylight and put this at the end as dinner. The broth is rich and hot, so one bowl goes further than you expect. It is a small shop on a narrow street, so you may share a table in the evening, and they do not take cards.
#hutieusate #quangky #cholon #district5 #teochew #satayNoodles
Du thuyền sông Sài Gòn — Bonsai Cruise
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Du thuyền sông Sài Gòn — Bonsai Cruise3 photos
06Things that only happen here

Du thuyền sông Sài Gòn — Bonsai Cruise

Saigon River Dinner Cruise — Bonsai Cruise

Departs at seven — the only way to get the whole skyline into one frame

The boat leaves Nhà Rồng pier in District 4 at seven in the evening and works up the Saigon River for two hours. This city's skyline does not fit into one frame from land — Landmark 81 stands in Bình Thạnh and the Bitexco tower in District 1, and the angle between them is too wide — but from the middle of the river the two sit in the same shot. Boarding is between quarter past and quarter to seven, so you have to be there in that window. The fare of 1,100,000–1,450,000₫ per person includes a buffet and live music. Several cruise companies share the pier, so check the boat name on your ticket before you step on.
Great viewReservation requiredFamily friendlyEnglish menu

What to order

  • Vé buffet tối 2 giờTwo-hour buffet dinner cruise, per adultUp to 1,450,000₫ depending on seating tier1,100,000₫≈ ฿1,403
Hours
boarding 18:15–18:45 · departs 19:00 · 2 hours
Price
1,100,000–1,450,000₫

Bến Nhà Rồng, 05 Nguyễn Tất Thành, Quận 4

Before you goBoarding closes at quarter to seven, so plan around the evening rush — it is fifteen minutes by Grab from District 1 and double that at going-home time. Several companies sail from the same Nhà Rồng pier, so match the boat name on your ticket. The best photographs come in the first thirty minutes after departure, once the sun is fully down and the city lights are all on; take a place at the deck rail for that stretch.
#saigonrivercruise #bonsaicruise #dinnercruise #district4 #saigonskyline #nightcruise

Illustrative image of the style and atmosphere — not a photo of the venue itself · As of Aug 2026

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What Saigon eats firstWhere the photos come fromNight streets and marketsCoffee and something sweet