New Beer Bar Quenches Saigon

Beer in Saigon now has its Graceland. While most bars serve the same range of regional beers, the Kool Beer Bar is stocked with over 100 beers from 13 countries.
Located just off the Ben Thanh Market traffic circle, this joint is the best a beer-drinker could hope for in hop-starved Saigon. Glass-doored coolers make it [...]

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Update Saigon: On the Palate

Yikes! This blog has gone bone dry as of late (I blame the Beginner 1 class I just started teaching). Here’s a quick blast to add some meat to my recently skeletal offerings.

Just days after I plugged the Vietnamese Vegetarian Restaurant in my Vegetarian Guide to Saigon, the joint assumed a dual identity. This Pham [...]

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An Israeli Falafel in Saigon

Falafel enthusiasts and vegetarians rejoice! Falafellim is serving up meal-sized falafel pitas here in Saigon. Located on Pham Ngu Lao just off the traffic circle at Ben Thanh Market, this small, attractive falafel bar was opened a few months ago by an Israeli ex-pat. And while most of the foreign fare you sample in Saigon [...]

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Vegetarian Guide to Saigon’s Backpacker District

Eating vegetarian isn’t always easy in Saigon. Luckily, the Backpacker District encompassing Pham Ngu Lao and Bui Vien caters to HCMC’s herbivorous visitors. Here are some of the best spots to eat an chi.
Zen: from stir fried to braised, Indian to Mexican, Zen offers the largest slate of cheap non-meat cuisine around above Bui Vien. [...]

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Banh Mi: Franchised and Sanitized

Meat banh mi — Vietnamese sandwich — is the definitive Saigon street food. For 10,000 VND (about 60 cents) street vendors pile on the ingredients: the ubiquitous white porous pork, gristly bacon, spicy pate, cucumber, onion and cilantro.
But if you’re not keen on street food, you can try banh mi at the new franchise Bamizon. [...]

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Le Cheap Drinks at Le Pub, Saigon

Since a cheap night out sends tingles down my spine usually associated with things not spoken about in polite company, I felt obliged to plug one of my favorite new Saigon drinking spots: Le Pub.
One of the more attractive bars in HCMC’s backpacker district — dig that blood red paint job on the storefront patio [...]

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Update Saigon: Stay Cheap, Stay Alive

Okay, so things aren’t THAT dire. But heading into my third month living on savings, I’m definitely feeling the crunch in the lead up to that sign-on bonus at ILA. Here’s how I’m staying cheap in Vietnam.

Bia Hoi. Paying $5000 VND (about 33 cents) for a beer sure alleviates (if not obliterates) morning-after guilt. There’re [...]

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Saigon Sellers Hawk Cookies for a Cause

Walking through the backpacker district in Saigon means shoeing away street vendors hawking everything from hammocks to hashish, not to mention the bevy of poor Vietnamese vying for your heart strings. But there’s one group of street sellers you can feel good about supporting.
Sozo street sellers operate between Pham Ngu Lao and Bui Vien and [...]

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Cheap Eats: Ben Thanh After Dark

During the day, visitors to Saigon flood Ben Thanh Market to rifle through stalls selling chop sticks, dried fruit, pottery, clothing, jewelry…basically everything. But as the sun sets, the main building is shuttered and food stalls set up shop around the square.
While cheap chicken, beef, and pork dishes are available, the real draw at [...]

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Cà Phê Viêt Nam

Taking coffee in Vietnam will likely be a foreign affair for first-time visitors to South East Asia. Typical Vietnamese coffee is a dark French roast, sometimes spiced with chicory. Like Italian hot chocolate, it’s thicker than its American counterpart.
First things first. Your coffee will come adorned with a metal top hat. Vietnamese coffee is filtered [...]

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