Saigon's food scene is a wonder to behold. Eating establishments range from world-class, Michelin-star worthy dining institutions to food stalls on a corner run by an old woman, and everything in between. In order to help out people who have never been here before, I will make this blog as idiot-proof and easy-to-understand as possible. I had never been to Asia before my flight on August 26, and the ensuing weeks and months have been an education in a totally different dining scene. Also, I don't have my most trusted websites to help me when I hear about a place to eat: Urbanspoon and Googlemaps. Urbanspoon is a pretty reliable way to find reviews of a restaurant, and Googlemaps is the easiest way to find a place you've never been to before. There are no online dining guides for Saigon, and while Googlemaps can find the right street in the city, it will not give you the exact address. As a consequence, I've circled blocks multiple times trying to find my destination, since many streets here are one-way, and the building numbers don't match on both sides, which gets confusing. For example, if one building takes up a whole block, that whole block will have one address. So, at the next block, the buildings on the right may be 47 Le Thanh Ton, while the buildings on the left will already be at 84 Le Thanh Ton. At least this isn't as bad as Phnom Penh, where buildings numbered 13, 47, and 76, or something ridiculous like that, can be found one next to the other. Given the difficulty inherent in finding a restaurant, even with the address in hand, I'll include my best description of how to get to a place, in addition to how the food is. For now, I'll break restaurants into categories two ways: first, by district, second, by price level.
While menus at most establishments are skewed in the Vietnamese direction, there are plenty of places to get your Mexican, Italian, Middle Eastern, etc. cravings satisfied. If you're worried about the language barrier, don't. Most places have English descriptions under the Vietnamese name of a dish, so if worst comes to worst you can simply point at the name. There are some places that have no menus, but all you have to do is look at what other people are eating and point to whatever you think looks good. It's simple as that. Also, very few places accept credit cards, so make sure you're alway carrying some dong (giggle) when you go out to eat.
I'll do my best when it comes to reviewing the actual food. I like to think I have pretty good taste, although I certainly don't have the most developed palette in the world. One warning: I have almost no sense of smell, so my posts will be completely lacking in that department. Finally, since I'm a tightwad, the restaurants I talk about will mostly be rather affordable. Don't expect to see many of the aformentioned fancy-pants places. Taking all of that into account, I hope you enjoy this guide, and I hope you visit Vietnam! (Or, if you're already here, try some of the places I talk about.)
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