Street Food in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City Food Guide

1. Banh Mi Bay Ho

This was the banh mi stall recommended in the Vietnam episode of Street Food on Netflix. We’re huge fans of that series. Every episode does a deep dive into the featured city’s local cuisine so we’re always confident that we can rely on their recommendations.

Banh mi is one of the best-known and most beloved Vietnamese dishes. The term “banh mi”, in the strictest sense, refers to bread but people often use it to describe the sandwich.

A small French baguette is split lengthwise and filled with an endless combination of ingredients like cold cuts, grilled meats, liver pate, cucumber slices, pickled vegetables, and cilantro. It’s a light sandwich that’s typically eaten as a snack.

They locate at District 1, HCM city, just a few blocks east of Le Van Tam Park.

2. Pho

It’s a noodle soup that’s said to have its roots in Nam Dịnh Province in northern Vietnam but it’s now enjoyed throughout the country. Pho is typically made with four basic ingredients – a clear stock, rice noodles, meat (typically beef or chicken), and herbs.

If you like pho, then you should definitely eat at Pho Le. Their Vo Van Tan branch is in the same area as Bot Chien Dat Thanh, Com tam Tran Quy Cap, Ca Phe Do Phu, and Co Lieng so you can do a Saigon food crawl and visit all of these restaurants in one day.

Pho Le has two restaurants in Saigon. Pictured below is the branch along Nguyen Trai Street in District 5. This is the branch we visited on our most most recent trip.

This is their second branch on Vo Van Tan Street. Both branches are TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence awardees with a 4.5-star rating.

3.Bun Thit Nuong

Bun thit nuong is one of our favorite Vietnamese dishes. It’s a dry noodle dish made with cold rice vermicelli noodles dressed in a nuoc cham sauce (Vietnamese fish sauce) and topped with grilled pork, bean sprouts, pickled carrots, fresh herbs, roasted peanuts, and a deep-fried spring roll (cha gio).

We had one of our best meals in Saigon from this street food stall in District 1. We had just come from Saigon’s famed Cafe Apartments when we were struck with a serious craving for bun thit nuong.

We hopped on Google Maps and it led us to this Saigon food stall grilling pork on the sidewalk – Bun Thit Nuong Nguyen Trung Truc. This place only makes bun thit nuong and they make it exceptionally well. As described, this was delicious and one of the most enjoyable meals we had in Ho Chi Minh City.

Bun Thit Nuong Nguyen Trung Truc is popular and gets crowded at noon. Most of the customers were office workers on their lunch break but there were a few tourists like us who probably stumbled upon the place by chance.

Based on what I’ve read, Nguyen Trung Truc is one of the best and most famous street food stalls in Saigon to have bun thit nuong.

So 1 Đ. Nguyễn Trung Trực, Phường Bến Thành, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh