When in Vietnam, you can find incredibly stunning dishes in both big fancy restaurants and street-side eateries. Good food permeates every district, neighborhood, and alley of the country. Below is the rundown of these food streets in Saigon that have become well-known among food lovers in the city
1. Vinh Khanh Street – District 4
How to get here: Vinh Khanh Street is just about 2.5 kilometers from Ben Thanh Market, you can get here by motorbike in about 10 minutes. Go to Ong Lanh Bridge, which is the boundary between District 1 and District 4, turn left at end of the bridge and take a right turn to Vinh Khanh Street. There is a very big gate welcoming you.
The gate welcomes visitors to Vinh Khanh Food Street
When we think about Saigon food streets, Vinh Khanh Street is one of the first names that come to mind. When night comes, this place is densely packed with people, especially students and teenagers, including tourists. Hundreds of friend groups hunker down at small metallic tables, clinking beer, cracking crab legs, and chatting with each other.
Saigon youth gathers at Vinh Khanh Street to enjoy the cheap food
This street is specialized in seafood like snails, clams, and squids. These seafood are cooked in many styles such as grills with cheese, red chili, or scallion oil. The environment here is super vibrant. On special occasions like national holidays, this place can be described as hustling and unrelenting.
Another “Pho Am Thuc” or food street with a similar style is on Street No. 10 – or Duong so 10, Ward 13, District 6 (about 30 minutes from the city’s center). The special thing about this street is that you can enjoy the foods of all 3 regions of Vietnam: North, Central, and South.
2. Alley 200 Xom Chieu – District 4
How to get here: Xom Chieu Street is quite near Vinh Khanh Street. Head to Xom Chieu Street, and then search for address 200 and here you are in the food alley. It is very small, so the motorbike is the most suitable vehicle.
Evening at the alley 200 Xom Chieu is crowded and bustling
Alley 200 Xom Chieu has about 50 eateries that offer various choices of snacks from Northern, Central, to Southern Vietnam. The market is opened from 5 PM until late evening. Many young people love this place not only because of the tasty snacks but also because the food vendors have always kept the price stable whether on normal days or holidays.
Besides chicken pasta, other dishes such as rice chicken, grilled banana with coconut, and caramelized flan with black coffee are also very delicious and worth trying.
Related article: Where to eat in Saigon?
3. Nguyen Thuong Hien Street – District 3
How to get here: Nguyen Thuong Hien is a small bustling street in District 3. From Ben Thanh Market, you can head to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and keep your eye on the right side of the street. Once you see a small alley with a big store of fruit juice, you have reached your destination.
The junction of Nguyen Thuong Hien Street and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street
Nguyen Thuong Hien Street has its reputation for an extremely popular snack named Banh Trang Tron (mixed rice paper), which is small pieces of rice paper mixed with dried beef, dried shrimp, quail eggs, shredded mango, chili, salt, and a sprinkle of shrimp powder. With just one bite, you can feel the sour-sweet taste, aroma, and toughness of dried beef, quail egg, mixed with a bit of chili, and chopped Vietnamese coriander.
The price for a bag of Banh Trang is about VND 10,000 to VND 20,000, depending on the customized request of Banh Trang Tron.
Moreover, Khoai Tay Lac (crispy flavored potatoes) is also highly recommended. It is very crunchy and cheap. The price is VND 20,000 for one packet.
The crispy shaken potatoes food stall at Nguyen Thuong Hien Street
Nguyen Thuong Hien is not a very long street but most eateries and food stalls are located in the first half of the street. In fact, the liveliest section of Nguyen Thuong Hien is between the two junctions with Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street and Vo Van Tan Street. The stores are quite small, and the designs are generally quite run-down, therefore, most are suitable for takeaway.
A large fruit juice store on Nguyen Thuong Hien Street
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4. Phan Xich Long Street – Phu Nhuan District
How to get there: Phan Xich Long Street is about 5 kilometers away from Ben Thanh Market and Tan Son Nhat Airport, which makes it accessible to all kinds of vehicles. It takes about 20 minutes to get there.
Phan Xich Long Street (Phu Nhuan District) is not long but very spacious with many trees and not too crowded. This street is a hub of many big restaurants. Our first impression of this street is quite fancy. Walking around here, you can easily see many international and domestic franchise restaurants. The cuisine is varied, including traditional Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and western dishes.
| Cuisine | Restaurant |
| Vietnamese | Thien Huong Stuffed Pancake, Gold Restaurant, Ong Gia Squid Noodle, Bun Cha Pho Co, Mi Quang, Bun Bo Hue Xua |
| Japanese | Osaka Ohsho (specialize in Gyoza, Japanese noodles), Daruma, Annz- Japanese Dining, Tasaki BBQ, Tano Sushi, Tokyo Deli, Yuki Sushi, Arigato |
| Korean | Hot Pot Story, Gogi House, Kichi Kichi, Kduck. Dolpan Sam, King BBQ |
| Thai | Thai Express |
| Singaporean | Gia Bao – Rice clay pot, Sensota Food -Singaporean rice congee |
| Chinese | San Fu Lou |
| Western | Al Fresco’s, Bo Vang Steak House, Bo Sinh Doi (steak and hot pot), Pizza Hut, Pasta Fresca, Texas Chicken, DQ Grill & Chill, Pasta Paradise |
If you like street food, you can walk to the other smaller streets that cross Phan Xich Long Street, which leads to an apartment building nearby. At this place, the street life is more lively with many food stalls and small restaurants as well as people living here.
Note: The buildings on this street are numbered randomly so it is quite difficult to find them on Google Maps. You should look up for the restaurant’s contact to ask for directions and drive slowly to find the right number.
5. Ben Thanh Street Food Market – District 1
This place is probably not long enough to be a street, but we think it should be on this list because this market is like a long street packed into a square place while the most important things like the level of original and quality of food remain excellent.
Address: 26-28-30 Thu Khoa Huan Street, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1
Opening hours: 9 AM – 11 PM
How to get there: This market is just a few meters behind Ben Thanh Market. Therefore, you can walk here from the North gate of Ben Thanh Market and it is on your right side.
Ben Thanh Street Food Market, the bustling and hustling of city nightlife right in the heart of Saigon
Entering this market, you can immediately feel the fragrant smell of food radiating from the typical dishes of Vietnam. The atmosphere is very lively. Besides traditional Vietnamese cuisine like Vietnamese noodles and wrap roll dishes, the culinary market menu also has several other Asia-Europe food stalls such as Korean, Japanese, and Thailand.
In the evening, guests can enjoy both the food and the performances of dance music at the bazaar. In terms of design, the area of tables and chairs is spacious, the walls are decorated well with the new trend of the young like graffiti painting.
The prices of this market are higher than in other places on this list but clearly marked with pictures. The quality and cleanliness are acceptable.
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Summary of Saigon Food Streets
If you are hungry but have no idea what to eat, visiting one of these Saigon food streets might help you to satisfy your hunger with fresh, authentic food at a cheap price.
Moreover, we offer private food tours in Saigon, these tours are well-prepared and packed with much good food.