Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour: DIY or go on a tour?

Ho Chi Minh City cuisine is always among the most attractive dishes in the world and is extremely loved by many foreign tourists. Typically, Vietnamese Banh Mi - Vietnamese bread was voted as one of the most delicious bread dishes by international media. Ho Chi Minh City cuisine is extremely diverse and has many unique characteristics, so have you tried it yet? If you had to choose between explore Ho Chi Minh food by yourself or book a tour, which option would you choose?
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Introduction of Ho Chi Minh cuisine

Ho Chi Minh City is the major and main economic center of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is a favorable place and attracts many people from other provinces of Vietnam and foreigners to live and settle down. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City has many influences from many different cultures and the cuisine of this sleepless city is extremely diverse because people from many different regions have brought their dishes to Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is a convergence of regional culinary quintessence:

Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour - AN Tours Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City has three regions: North, Central, and South of Ho Chi Minh City because many people from all over migrate to this sleepless city. In addition to the typical dishes of Southern cuisine such as Banh Xeo-Vietnamese Pancake, broken rice, and steamed rice rolls, Northern and Central cuisine also appears quite a lot and is loved as well as it is quite popular in the lives of Vietnamese people. 

In the middle of District 11, there is a market called Ba Hoa Market, a famous place selling Central cuisine. Ba Hoa Market is not only a place where many people from the Central region of Binh Dinh Province, Quang Nam Province, Quang Ngai Province, and Hue come to live and start a business, but also a place where delicious dishes and regional specialties are sold. Some dishes sold here are Hue-style beef noodle soup, Quang noodles, and Xu Xue cake.

Northern cuisine in Ho Chi Minh City is very popular. If you love Northern dishes, Hong Ha Street – Tan Binh District is quite famous for dishes of Northern origin. This street is bustling and has dishes from Hanoi and Hai Phong such as Hanoi’s bun cha and crab spring rolls. Northern cuisine has a gentle taste but is delicious and worth trying.

You can also easily find dishes from all three regions at Ben Thanh Market. Visit the market in the morning to fully explore the dishes as well as take a Ho Chi Minh food tour here! 

Ho Chi Minh City also converges world cuisine:

Ho Chi Minh City also converges world cuisine - AN Tours Vietnam

Typically, Chinese cuisine has been around for a long time in Ho Chi Minh City. The District 5 area, also known as Cho Lon, is famous for many Chinese people and they have brought Chinese cuisine to Ho Chi Minh City. Just passing through the Chinatown area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City, tourists will easily see many Chinese stores and you can enjoy some typical Chinese dishes such as wonton noodles, and dim sum. Districts 5, 6, and 11, have the largest concentration of Chinese people in the city. Typically: roast duck and roast pork on Ta Uyen and Bui Huu Nghia streets; Dumpling noodles on Ha Ton Quyen Street. Chinese cuisine is diverse, delicious, and has a unique flavor and is always on the Ho Chi Minh City food tour list for tourists and locals alike.

In addition, Cambodians have also lived in Ho Chi Minh City for a long time, so the Cambodian market has been here for more than ten years and is extremely popular with the city’s community. Cambodian Market located on Le Hong Phong Street-District 10 and runs along Ho Thi Ky Street is quite a famous place with many dishes of Cambodian origin and snacks. The foods most commonly sold in Cambodian markets are dried foods and fish sauce made from fish from the Bien Ho-Campuchia region, clearly labeled with their origin. Among them, the most popular and delicious types are fish sauce, dried frog, dried shrimp, palm sugar, and sausage.

Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour: Should or Shouldn't?

Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour 1 - AN Tours Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City is a culinary paradise and there are many delicious dishes here from street food to luxury restaurants. Therefore, discovering all the dishes will take quite a while. Experiencing the food yourself is interesting, but it does not give you the most complete and perfect experience. Some advantages and disadvantages in both ways of exploring food:

Exploring Vietnamese food on your own

Advantages:

If you experience the Ho Chi Minh City food tour by yourself, you can have a more comfortable time, go out to eat anytime you want, and are not bound by anything. In addition, you can eat whatever you like and go anywhere. Going on a food tour experience by yourself is very suitable for those who love freedom and want to explore every corner of Ho Chi Minh City on their own.

Disadvantages:

Time-consuming

Exploring on your own will take a lot of time to find a restaurant and you may need help finding it. Finding a restaurant in a strange city will cause many difficulties as you will not be able to walk from one location to another on your own, it will take time and you will miss many interesting things.

It’s hard to find good restaurants

You can still find many good restaurants on Google and see customer reviews there. However, you will miss out on some delicious local eateries that only your tour guide knows about. Some restaurants may run advertisements and it may not be as delicious as rumored and the service attitude may not be good. Trusting a local guide is the best choice if you want to find a good restaurant. The delicious local eatery is not only popular with tourists but is also popular with the people who live there.

Difficult to save costs and being scammed 

Although exploring the dishes yourself is fun and interesting, it can cost you a lot of money, such as taking a taxi to get around. In addition, if you are unlucky, you may mistakenly go to high-cost restaurants. Choosing to go to Ho Chi Minh City food tour costs are clear from the beginning and there is always a shuttle bus to take tourists from one location to another. Tourists will also be explained and introduced to the food before arriving, so you will have a better understanding of the place you are going and the food you are about to enjoy without having to waste time researching it yourself. In addition, discovering the dishes themselves also causes some unfortunate problems such as tourists encountering restaurants that sell at higher prices than those on the menu or do not have clear prices or menus. 

Food hygiene and safety issues

The issue of unsanitary food is always an alarming problem for tourists. This happens often because some restaurants are not conscious of hygiene and they do not clean up customers’ leftover food first or the restaurant has too much trash. Pre-peeled fruits such as dragon fruit, watermelon, mango, etc. are also quite at risk of causing stomach aches and diarrhea because they are left out in the air so flies can swarm and cause illness for travelers.

Miss out on local dishes that few people know about

Deciding to experience the Ho Chi Minh City food tour yourself will cause some shortcomings, mainly experiencing local dishes that are not so popular. You can search for good restaurants in the media, but local restaurants usually won’t get much publicity or advertising.

Going on a food tour - Top things you should know about

Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour 2 - AN Tours Vietnam

When traveling in a tourist city, what people want to explore are famous places and especially local cuisine. You can experience it yourself, however, most tourists will not have enough time or resources to explore all the interesting things in the city. Therefore, there are many reasons you should choose to join the Ho Chi Minh City food tour

1. Discover more cultural flavors

In addition to delicious dishes from street food to luxury restaurants, each dish carries a different story and culture. As introduced, Ho Chi Minh City is where the culinary quintessence of many regions converges, so each dish will have different characteristics. The way to absorb a new culture is through your stomach. By following the tour, your tour guide will take you to many interesting restaurants and tell the story of that dish.

2. Explore hidden gems of Ho Chi Minh City that you may never find out by yourself 

Famous restaurants seem to appear too much in newspapers and social networks and many tourists will appear in such places. However, local restaurants are not heavily advertised or too famous. In Ho Chi Minh City, delicious restaurants are often concentrated in alleys and alleys, which is a typical cultural feature of Vietnamese people. You will not miss interesting things and discover all the delicious dishes at cheap prices on the Ho Chi Minh City food tour.

3. Connect and make more friends

If you join a food tour together, you will make more friends. The restaurant owners and tour guides can become your friends through stories about the dishes. Your trip to Vietnam will be memorable and filled with many memories that will make you want to return to this beautiful country again and again.

4. Make you like locals

In addition to enjoying attractive and interesting dishes, tourists will be able to visit typical local places and discover more about the lives of the people. Things you only see on the Internet compared to real-life experiences are completely different aspects, experiencing and immersing yourself in local life is always more interesting. The trip will be much more interesting when walking around the streets, visiting iconic places, and learning more about history and culture.

The most recommended food tours in Ho Chi Minh City

Local Night Food Tour By Scooters

Local Night Food Tour By Scooters - AN Tours Vietnam (2)

Experiencing a food tour at night on a scooter has many interesting things because tourists will be able to visit each location and enjoy delicious dishes. Some highlights of the tour are:

  • Tour guides speak 100% English and provide attentive and friendly service.
  • When participating in Local Night Food Tour By Scooters, you will enjoy 7-8 local dishes of Ho Chi Minh City that cannot be found in other places as well as go to places that few tourists know. The main attractive dishes are Banh Xeo-Vietnamese Pancake, grilled meat vermicelli, and beef stew. You will also be taken to the city’s largest flower market.
  • Tourists can explore the culinary paradise right next to the flower market and enjoy many interesting snacks.
  • In addition to eating, you will tour around many districts in Ho Chi Minh City and discover the culture and life of the people here. This will be an extremely memorable experience and create many beautiful memories.

Local Night Walking Food Tour

Local Night Walking Food Tour - AN Tours Vietnam

If you are quite bored of being introduced to famous and crowded tourist destinations, the Local Night Walking Food Tour will give tourists an experience imbued with local colors and immersing themselves in life. authentically local.

  • It is a completely local experience where you can visit and eat in a place that no one knows and has many delicious and attractive dishes.
  • Tourists will experience the nightlife of the people through this Ho Chi Minh food tour. The food tour will start with a mountainous dish from Northern Vietnam, a dish called “Pho Chua” – Sour Pho with a strange flavor and a strong impression on tourists.
  • Local Night Walking Food Tour focuses not only on delicious food but also on experience. Therefore, you can join a mini cooking class to learn how to make steamed rice rolls, a popular dish among local people.
  • Tourists can enjoy some dishes that are not too famous in the foreign tourist community, such as grilled beef with lolot leaves, salt and chili toast, and banana ice cream for dessert.
  • At the end of the trip, you will walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the peace of people’s lives.

For more detailed information about the Ho Chi Minh Food Tour as well as more interesting information about the trip, do not hesitate to contact AN Tours Vietnam for immediate guidance, AN Tours Vietnam will bring you a unique experience that is hard to find anywhere else.

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