Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, is the most energetic city of Vietnam and when it comes to the travelling here, eating is always the top thing to do. The cuisine here is extremely various and street food is really popular in this frenetic city and that’s why it is the place for adventurous eater. There are thousands of different street dishes astoundingly cheap and vendors for you to choose from. Every street you walk through, you can smell the food served or prepared.
Following is the list of best street food in Ho Chi Minh City:

1. Banh Mi – The Baguette Vietnamese Sandwich

Being compared with Subway, Banh Mi, or The Baguette Vietnamese Sandwich is much more delicious with an insanely cheap price. Banh Mi is made from a mixture of wheat and rice. It is usually filled with pate, some different kinds of vegetable, cucumber, grilled meat and Cha Lua (Vietnamese ham). The ingredients put in to Banh Mi are actually optional, you can choose to add up whatever you want and remove anything you don’t like to eat.
There are vendors and shops selling Banh Mi along every street of the city, it is also served in all the café or markets. Take a walk around the city and you will definitely run into some Banh Mi vendors at least.
One of the most recommended places for Banh Mi in the city is Banh Mi 37 Nguyen Trai.
• Address: 37 Nguyen Trai st., Ho Chi Minh City
• Price: 10,000 – 15,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 16:00 – 21:00

2. Com Tam – Broken Rice

Beside Banh Mi, Com Tam, or Broken Rice (literally translated) is the dish that you can easily find out whenever and wherever, but particular in the morning in Ho Chi Minh City. This dish is served for breakfast, lunch and even dinner. Originally, this dish was made by leftover rice and eaten only at home by farmer because they thought that it was not suitable to sell at the market. Nowadays, Com Tam takes the normal rice dish of Vietnamese people to another level.
Additionally to the broken rice and the toppings of spring onion, you can choose the others for your dish like barbecued pork chop, shredded pork skin, steamed pork and egg patty or fried egg. The other important factor of Cam Tam is the bowl of dipping sauce, you will fill this sauce into your dish of rice before eating.
In fact, you can see the eateries serving Broken Rice everywhere in the city. Among them all, Com Tam Moc is commonly recommended by local.
• Address: 82 Nguyen Du, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1, HCMC.
• Tel: 028 3824 8561
• Price: 25.000 – 69.000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 06:00 – 21:30

3. Seafood

Seafood is one of the special eating culture of this city, especially when it comes to the evening backstreets. Because Ho Chi Minh City is near to Mekong Delta, the sources of seafood here is plentiful, especially crab claws, snails. People grill these kinds of seafood directly on fire and serve it with a little coarse sea salt and sprinkling of lime and chilli flakes.
Vinh Khan Street in District 4 is truly a night place for your seafood experience.
• Address: Vinh Khan St, Dist 4, HCMC.

4. Banh Xeo – Savory Pancake

Banh Xeo, literally translated as Sizzling Cake due to the sizzling sound when cooking, is actually a savory omelet pancake. People put many ingredients like shrimp, pork, bean sprout, onion, etc. into a pan sizzling so the pancake is in round shape. It’s then folded in half and put beside lettuce leaves on the dish. When eating, it’s normal to dip it into a bowl of slightly sweeten fish sauce and wrap it with vegetables.
One of the best places to enjoy this is Banh Xeo 46A.
• Address: 46 Đinh Cong Trang St., Tan Dinh Ward, Dist 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Tel: +84 283 8241 110
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 14:00 & 16:00 – 21:00

5. Goi Cuon – Fresh Vietnamese Spring Roll

Goi Cuon basically includes rice noodles, prawn, bits of pork, leafy vegetables with are all wrapped in a crisp but delicate rice paper. People dip Goi Cuon into a warm peanut sauce when eating.
• Address: 46 Đinh Cong Trang St., Tan Đinh, District 1, HCMC
• Tel: +84 283 8241 110
• Price: 15,000 – 55,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 14:00 & 16:00 – 21:00

6. Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio – Grilled Pork & Spring Rolls With Noodles

Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio is a dish with brightly color and fresh flavor which will definitely satisfy your taste. Unlike the other noodle dishes of Vietnam, there isn’t broth is the bowl of Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio. To make this dish, they first fill the bowl with light and fresh rice noodles, then crispy and meaty spring rolls and savory grilled pork, finally fresh vegetable, sliced cucumber and dried peanut. The bowl of dipping sauce is served on the side. Before eating, you need to mix all these ingredients together by using chopsticks then add a sufficient amount of fish sauce into the bowl.
Bun Thit Nuong Chi Tuyen is the place to bring you an authentic experience of this dish in Ho Chi Minh City.
• Address: 195 Co Giang St., Ho Chi Minh City
• Tel: +84 90 853 80 79
• Price: 30,000 – 60,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 06:00 – 20:00

7. Cha Gio – Fried Spring Rolls

Cha Gio is Vietnam’s bite-sized crunchy fried spring rolls, this dish is really favored in Ho Chi Minh City. The fillings are comprised of different ingredients like meat, mushroom, etc. which are wrapped in a rice paper. Then they are fried in a large pan of oil until they are in beautiful yellow. Like other rolls, when eating, people dip them into fish sauce.
Our recommendation location for Cha Gio is Quán Nem.
• Address: 15E Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC
• Price: 100,000 VND – 330,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 07:00 – 23:00

8. Bo La Lot – Beef In Betel Leaves

This is truly an aromatic street food you should not miss in Ho Chi Minh City. It is a minced beef roll wrapped in betel leaves grilled directly on fire. There different ways to enjoy this dish, rolling in rice paper or lettuce leaf or simply on its own. The cuisine is simply yet brings you an unforgettable street food experience in Ho Chi Minh City.
Many food bloggers recommend Bo La Lot Co Lieng as the best place to taste this amazing dish in the city.
• Address: 321 Vo Van Tan st., Dist. 3, Ho Chi Minh City
• Tel: 028 3839 8669
• Price: 50,000 – 165,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 10:00 – 21:00

9. Hu Tieu – Rice Noodles

Hu Tieu is a perfect alternative to Pho. The unifying ingredient of this dish is the broth which is made of pork or pork ribs, instead of beef in Pho. Therefore; the broth is a little bit lighter and sweeter. The toppings are various with sliced pork shoulder, a whole pork chop, wonton dumplings, meatballs, shrimp, squid. People sometimes mix with instant noodles to make a textural contrast tasting.
Hu Tieu Nam Vang Quynh is one of the best places to enjoy this dish within Ho Chi Minh City.
• Address: A65 Nguyen Trai, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Tel: +84 8 3836 9145
• Price: 69,000 – 80,000 VND
• Opening Times: Daily 24/7

10. Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnam is famous for its delicious Vietnamese coffee and Ho Chi Minh City is the place full of trendy coffee shops with great atmosphere. Especially, ice milky coffee on the streets is the best iconic experience you shouldn’t miss in this city.