When it comes to things to do in Saigon, eating is indispensable. People in Saigon eat regardless of time, and especially when the sun goes down and the air becomes cooler. This is the time for “soul food” to shine.
No need to go far! Tourists can fill up their stomachs at the Ben Thanh Street Food Market on Thu Khoa Huan Street, District 1, a food square 700m wide next to Ben Thanh market. Offering food street-style, Ben Thanh Market Street Food Market has quickly become the gathering place of many international and domestic visitors.
Food stalls with the local name (Anh Sau, Chu To, Chi Ba, Ba Ngoai, Nha Que) are decorated according to the Vietnamese style, with eye-catching images of the cycle trishaw, bicycles, wooden chairs, and tables. There is an abundance of Northern, Central and Southern foods such as noodles, Halong Dipped Squid, betel leaf-wrapped pork balls, Vietnamese egg roll, bread, broken rice, vermicelli and sour crab soup, fish noodles, broken rice in lotus leaf, and grilled meat and vegetables.
Besides Vietnamese food, this food market also has Asian and European food stalls, like Korean ice-cream, Japanese sushi, Thai ice-cream, and fried chicken. Also, when nibbling in the night foods here, visitors can admire performances of exciting music and dance at the market.
A little further from the city center, the night market in Thu Duc University Village and the Hanh Thong Tay Night Market in Go Vap are both crowded and vibrant during the night with carried kinds of foods and snacks which can drive the young to crave with reasonable prices.
Passing by these markets, you will be amazed by the paradise of various kinds of grilled goods: grilled chicken feet, grilled octopus, grilled quail eggs, roasted chicken, grilled pork skewer, grilled corn, grilled pancake, grilled snail, and so on. And there are many smoothies, fruits, and coffee stalls on the streets that create an exciting, vibrant atmosphere at night.
(Source: Wanderlust Magazine)
