District 1 located in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, where has tons of delicious local food restaurants that totally is worth to try. We give you suggestions to find the most popular places to taste.
District 1 is one of the biggest districts of Ho Chi Minh City, this area has a lot of popular shopping malls, offices, companies, and also attracts a lot of tourists coming to Sai Gon since it has many popular places such as Duc Ba church, Central Post Office, Ben Thanh market…
Hence, this district has many shops serving every eating demand of people.
Restaurants serving rice dishes:
- Ut Huong fried rice (18/1 Nguyen Canh Chan, Cau Kho Ward): This is just a small shop on the sidewalk; thus its fried rice dishes are fantastic. There are many options for diners: beef, chicken, crab, prawn steamed with coconut water…The price fluctuates from 30.000 – 40.000 VND for 1 dish, yummy!
- Tu Quy broken rice in Tan Dinh market (corner of Tan Dinh market, on the cross between Hai Ba Trung and Nguyen Huu Cau): This shop opens from 5:00 pm till late; therefore, the price is pretty high, about 40.000 – 50.000 VND. The high rate also goes with the high quality of flavorful Vietnamese broken rice; therefore, it still attracts lots of customers coming to have a nice meal for the late night.
- Thuan Kieu broken rice (26 Ton That Tung, Ben Thanh Ward or 114 Yersin): Thuan Kieu broken rice has been favorite for years in Sai Gon, so it has several shops located in district 1. The food here not only goes with ribs, crackling, cha lua, but also with squid and meat, caramel shrimp, and even the soup with the taste of a little bit of sour, acrid, and a special sweet taste. Its opening time is from early morning to 7:00 pm.
- Bui shop (17A Ngo Van Nam): If you prefer a simple traditional dine with dishes from the country like ‘thit kho mam ruoc’, ‘ca ro dong kho’, boiled sweet potato leaves, ‘canh chua nau me’…then Bui is definitely the one for you. The price ranges from 30.000 – 120.000 VND and the opening time is from 7am – 11pm every day.
- Bac shop (31 Nguyen Cong Tru): Bac shop is a shop serving Northern dishes in District 1. The special feature of this restaurant is that not until the customers starting to order do the food start to be cooked. Hence, all the food are really warm and tasty when served. This shop only opens in the afternoon from 10:30 am – 2:00 pm. The price is from 20.000VND/dish.
For dessert lovers:
- Che My (107 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Cau Ong Lanh Ward): is one of the famous dessert shops in district 1 that everyone knows. The menu covers different Vietnamese desserts of sweet soup (Che) flavors: beans, ginseng, ‘cu nang’, ‘nhan nhuc’…with the distinctive taste from the Southern. Besides, this shop also has other street food like fried fish balls, dumplings, rice paper rolls…
- Nhan ice-cream (2 Truong Han Sieu): is a famous shop that everyone living in HCM loves. The price is pretty low, about 12.000 VND/ scoop. People coming here are extremely excited to try the taste of longan melted in their first bite.
- Swensen’s Ice-cream (73 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Cau Ong Lanh Ward): This is one of the most favorable ice-cream shops of the youth. The price is not really high: from 50.000 – 80.000 VND/cup with lots of flavors.
- Haagen Dazs Icecream (11-13 Han Thuyen or 20 Le Thanh Ton): The ice cream of this shop is so yummy because of its easy taste and smooth and delicious smell, a little bit of fatty but not too sweet. The price is pretty high, from 90.000 VND/ serve. However, this shop still has many customers who don’t hesitate to spend since the shop has a comfortable vibe and also the taste of the ice-cream here are amazing.
- Baskin Robbins Icecream (1 Truong Dinh, Pham Ngu Lao Ward): this shop has 34 different flavors for ice-cream, which is more than enough for you to become an ‘ice-cream expert’. All of the ice-creams here are imported from the USA, the price range is 48.000 – 110.000 VND/ scoop.
For noodle fans:
- Bun cha Hanoi (177 Dien Bien Phu, Da Kao Ward or 107 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Cau Ong Lanh Ward): this shop as a real taste of dishes from the Northern such as bun cha, nem ran, banh tom…The staff here are friendly and agile. They open from 7:00 am till 9:30 pm. The price of bun cha is 32.000 VND/serve and for bun nem ran is 30.000 VND/ 2 serves.
- Bun BO Hue Bui Thi Xuan (The corner of Cong Quynh – Bui Thi Xuan): they open from the afternoon till late. This shop is one of the most popular ones because of its delicious special sauce with tasty vermicelli.
- Pho Ho Hao Hon (Ho Hao Hon Street): is opened on the sidewalk and is famous for vermicelli dishes attracting lots of people. Their opening time: 6am-10am.
- Bun Mam 61 (63 Co Giang): This shop opens in the late afternoon with delicious vermicelli dishes and fresh seafood. Especially, ‘mam me’ is a special dish that impresses many customers. The price is from 30.000 – 60.000 VND.
- Banh canh bo vien (Nguyen Van Nguyen, Tan Dinh Ward): A bowl of ‘Banh canh’ is quite simple, only ‘banh canh’ cooked with beef balls and the stewed bone broth; and surprisingly it tastes really good and that’s why it has many customers coming here to have a hot bowl of Banh canh, simple and delicious. Sometimes, they even have to close earlier than usual because all of the ingredients are finished.
>>> You may want to see the best Pho restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hotpot in District 1:
- Mam hotpot Ba Du (19 Tran Khac Chan, Tan Dinh Ward): The staff are agile, space is large and comfortable, are features bringing customers to this restaurant. Opening hours: 9am-10pm with the price of 25.000 – 120.000 VND.
- Giam Bong hot pot (7G Nguyen Thi Minh Khai): This restaurant has a taste from the Northern. Besides the significant dish which is Giam Bong hot pot, this shop also has lots of lovely dishes like Fish hot pot, Crab hot pot, Duck hot pot, Chicken Hotpot…with the price of 260.000/hotpot. They open from the afternoon till late.
- The Grill hot pot in Nam Bo restaurant (16/1A Dinh Tien Hoang, Da Kao Ward): They have the true style from the south with significant dishes like Lau Mam, spring rolls… In addition, they also serve other dishes such as Bo Luc Lac, smoked pork, grilled Shrimp…with the price of 30.000 – 150.000 VND.
>> You may see the famous hotpots in Vietnam.
Some place to have street food in District 1:
- Con Rua Lake
- 177 Ly Tu Trong
- Bui Vien area
- Tran Dinh Xu (grilled beef balls sub)
- 1A Suong Nguyet Anh (Pha Lau Li)
Those are some suggestions for you, promising to have a really nice and yummy journey when you have the chance to come to Ho Chi Minh City.