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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Bobby Brewers: The Last Picture Show Has Cometh

Backpackers in Saigon have been packing Bobby Brewers‘ movie theater for years, but Vietnam’s lax copyright laws have tightened and put a stranglehold on this staple of the Bui Vien lifestyle.
Alas, at least for the time being, there shall be no more bootleg movies at Bobby Brewers’ Bui Vien outpost.
Two weeks ago, Bobby Brewers retracted [...]

Read Full Post »

Things I miss about NYC: Sound Fix Records

It’s tough to complain about 33 cent beer here in Ho Chi Minh City, but lately my mind’s been wandering back to $5 whiskey shot ‘n’ Pabst specials at Sound Fix Records. Sitting in plastic kindergarten chairs, drinking something that manages to taste worse than Pabst, I long for the cozy respite of Sound Fix’s [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Apocalypse Then and Now

It’s never been a secret: Apocalypse Now, Saigon’s most iconic club, has always been an establishment of ill repute. A few years ago, my girlfriend Sarah used to slug ex-pats for feeling up her friend, who these salacious foreigners assumed was a prostitute because a) she’s Vietnamese and b) she was at Apocalypse Now.
I [...]

Read Full Post »