Vietnam culinary trip for 10 days, which cities and towns? what to eat?

[andycolombia]

Hi, Its my first time to Vietnam. I want to go with my partners to eat during 10 days. Im having a hard time decididing on the places we should visit and what should we look to eat in each of them. Any help is greatly apreciated.

[Sam Fujisaka]

That is a really big question. I would probably do a combo of Saigon and Canh Tho. From Canh Tho, a must is traveling around the Delta a bit--lots to explore and eat An alternative would be Saigon, Hue, and Hanoi. Each city differs in terms of food.

[JoG]

A great recommendation in Ho Chi Minh is Com Nieu Sai Gon
Address ...6C Tu Xuong - Quan 3-TP

I had recalled seeing it on an Anthony Bourdain show some time ago and had noted down the address so we visited for lunch earlier this year. The setting is lovely and the food is fabulous. Great service too!
Upmarket Vietnamese food but based on the traditional dishes.
A must!!

[andycolombia]

Thank you very, much I will definitely be visiting that place. In terms of the cities do you think its worth it to go to Hue and Hoi An? should I be able to find everything in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh?

[JoG]

We really enjoyed Hue as we met two of the most fantastic local guys who we spent 3 days with touring the area on the back of their motorbikes. We made sure they knew were foodies so they took us to out of the way places where we ate the best local food, drank gallons of coffee and nearly as many gallons of the locally brewed beer.

Hoi An is a gorgeous town however we found it very touristy. A lot of restaurants serving average Italian, Indian and other foreign foods and full of only tourists. There are also plenty of great eating spots however we preferred to eat at the street stalls.
Too many tailors, gift shops and coffee shops full of foreigners which is
not my idea of the best of Vietnam. Nevertheless we had a great time there but it wasn't a highlight.
Hoi An definitely has an outstanding array of traditional local dishes and the best of it is to be found at the street stalls and little restaurants out of the town centre.

There is a fantastic organic community garden just out of the town in Hoi An called Tra Que Vegetable Village where we spent a morning at a cooking class at a family home. Definitely a great alternative to the famed Red Bridge cooking school.

I thought Ho Chi Minh was the best place to shop for clothing and textiles and we found the people friendlier as we moved south!

[andycolombia]

Thanks for the advice. Ill write a little trip report on my way back just to let you know how it went. take care

[fresnohotspot]

Here is a link to a June 2006 Bourdain interview, where he mentions how Vietnam was the start of a change in him. He doesn't mention specific towns or places to eat, he simply states that you should get lost and surrender to the friendliness, the people, the invitations. Pretty scary planning (or non-planning) but this might be that once in a lifetime opportunity to just let go. I honestly don't know if I could do this, and I grew up in Asia ... but the possible culinary adventure is intriguing. Isn't this how we have all found those unknown restaurant gems, the stumbleupon method?

http://www.bookslut.com/features/2006...

[andycolombia]

great link, thanks a lot. Unfortunately I a very limited amount for the let go approach, although I must say I would love to do it this way. At this point my vietnam destinations are Hanoi, HCMC, and Hoi An. Hopefully Ill be able to visit some other time with less time constraints. Have you been to Hoi An?

[fresnohotspot]

Hope you have a great trip. Hoi An is on my list of places to see someday. A friend mentioned Tam Tam Restaurant as a recommended stop. Let us know how everything goes.