Dishcovery - Saigoneer

A Delicate Dish in Hanoi That's Not Your Usual Crab Salad

2025-10-16T10:00:00+07:00

Crab has long held a beloved place in Vietnamese cuisine, and it is often simmered into comforting soups, tucked into rustic rolls, or served fresh and simple on coastal tables. Yet it is rarely treated as a star ingredient or explored with the kind of finesse that reveals its deeper character. That is precisely why the Smoked Crab Salad from Viên Dining in Hanoi deserves attention.

In Chef Trương Đức Mạnh’s hands, this humble seafood is reimagined with elegance, offering diners a fresh way to experience the essence of Khánh Hòa’s coastal bounty: refined and contemporary, yet deeply rooted in tradition.

The crab is carefully shelled and steamed before each strand of meat is meticulously separated to preserve its natural texture. The meat is then cold-smoked over straw for a full hour. This delicate process imbues the flesh with a subtle, fragrant smokiness while amplifying its inherent sweetness. Finally, the crab is gently tossed with Vietnamese herbs and seasonings, which balance the smoky depth with the bright, clean freshness of the sea.

Paper-thin slices of zucchini and radish bring a crisp, refreshing contrast, while toasted pumpkin seeds add a layer of nutty richness. The result is a dish that feels both grounded and elevated, a microcosm of the coast where acidity, crunch, and umami exist in harmony.

Viên Dining’s website

Viên Dining’s Facebook

Viên Dining’s Instagram

A Culinary Celebration of the Watermelon That Would Make Mai An Tiêm Proud

2025-09-30T10:00:00+07:00

I never imagined there could be more than one way to eat a watermelon. Yet here it was, transformed beyond recognition, via a bold experiment and a deeply personal story, challenging everything I thought I knew about such a simple fruit. Only later did I realize it was part of Sonó’s new tasting menu, “Tales & Tastes.”

The dish — named Mai An Tiêm after the main character in a famous folk tale — begins with watermelon on the grill. Fire draws out flavors we rarely associate with the fruit: smoky, savory, caramelized sweetness. To this, Chef Kiên Phan pairs a chilled cheese sauce, his playful take on gazpacho where vegetables are replaced with cheese. The contrast is striking, hot and cold, sweet and creamy, familiar yet unfamiliar. The classic trio of watermelon, cucumber, and feta is then elevated with lemon gel, finely chopped makrut lime leaves, and crisp prosciutto, creating a perfect balance of textures and tastes.

The inspiration comes from memory. Years ago in Vinh, Kiên once stopped at a roadside stall and tasted sticky rice served with a simple pickle of cucumber and lime leaves. That humble pairing lingered with him, sparking a curiosity to push lime leaves into new territory. Countless trials later, the memory returned in the shape of “Mai An Tiêm.” The dish embodies his philosophy of delivering comforting food rooted in French technique, with a gentle modern twist, and a touch of Vietnam. Something refined yet familiar, inventive yet grounded.

It is also the dish he’s most eager to share. The idea of grilled watermelon alone challenges expectation, asking us to see a familiar fruit differently. For me, Mai An Tiêm is more than a course in a menu. It’s a story of memory and imagination, and a quiet reminder of how extraordinary the ordinary can become.

The Tales & Taste menu which includes the Mai An Tiêm is accompanied by Petey Majik's entertainment show.

Sonó’s Facebook

After Coconut and Salt, Is Peanut Butter Coffee Saigon's Next Drink Trend?

2025-09-15T10:00:00+07:00

After egg coffee, coconut coffee, and salt coffee, is the next coffee trend going to be peanut butter coffee?

Probably not, but it should be!

The concept is evident in the name: add rich and creamy peanut butter to a familiar cà phê sữa đá, or cà phê sữa tươi. The earthy oils of the peanut cut through some of the sugar while adding a bit of complexity.

Given peanut butter and peanut milk’s general presence here, it’s a bit surprising one doesn’t see cà phê đậu phộng more often. I had never encountered it until earlier this year, at Suối Tiên, of all places. While delicious, that version was made with an extra-heavy pour of sweetened condensed milk that led to a severe sugar crash. Since then, I’ve been scouring menus for a version that might fit my preferences a bit more.

After one disastrous rendition at a cafe I won't name, Saigoneer got targeted by an Instagram ad for a place named Mardoll Coffee. We ordered from Grab and were pleasantly surprised to find the cà phê đậu phộng was smooth, milky and subtly nutty without being cloyingly sweet. Luscious and refreshing, it warranted an in-person visit.

“I don’t know if the coffee is any good, but people keep coming to that shop to take pictures,” we overheard an elderly neighbor exclaim in Vietnamese when she saw us outside Mardoll, located down a busy District 3 hẻm. The apparent trend of people visiting Mardoll to take photos is baffling, because it's not really a coffee shop; it's a nail salon that happens to have a barista counter that makes terrific peanut butter coffee. There is no possible way to drink it there comfortably amongst women getting butterfly and flower gel designs, but it’s certainly worth ordering for delivery or takeaway.

As Grab orders pinged in on the barista’s phone, we watched him make our cà phê đậu phộng. The process is simple, with the ubiquitous Golden Farm peanut butter applied around the edges of the cup and allowed to seep into the milk before the coffee is added on top. He said he wasn’t sure why it appeared on the menu recently or where the shop’s owner had gotten the idea. While I will likely order from here again, the true takeaway was that the recipe is one worth experimenting with. What’s stopping me, or you, from having peanut butter with your fresh milk and sweetened condensed milk for sapid start to the day?

Mardoll Cafe

399/2A Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Ward 5, D3, HCMC

Huế's Palm-Sized Bánh Mì Chuột Is the Perfect Snack for Nibbling While Walking

2025-08-12T14:00:00+07:00

Huế's culinary landscape is designed for snacking. From bánh khoái to bánh bèo to chè bột lọc heo quay, many of the most popular and delicious dishes are served in small portions that work together collectively to fill one’s belly, but don’t get the job done on their own.

Saigoneer has theories for why portions in Huế are so small, including influence from imperial feasts that aimed to show off how many different, often exotic items one could fit on a table, with such lurid descriptions as orangutan lips and elephant feet. Alternatively, the snack-sized offerings can be a matter of practicality. Unlike in Saigon, where residents are often busy rushing between work, hobbies, and obligations, in sleepy Huế, folks might have more time to prepare and savor dishes in their kitchens. Thus, they are not buying heaping bowls of noodles or heavy plates from vendors, and instead picking up reasonable noshables to tide themselves over between meals.

This all leaves bánh mì in a precarious situation. The typical bánh mì constitutes more or less a full meal, and eating one during a food-filled tourism trip to Huế can mean foregoing all an appetizing serving of bánh nậm or bánh bột lọc. This represents a tragedy for any self-respecting foodie.

Thankfully, Huế has a solution in the form of a tiny sandwich: bánh mì chuột. The palm-sized sandwiches provide a pleasant few bites of bread that are filling without spoiling one’s appetite for further munchies meandering. The specific ingredients don’t differ greatly from the average Huế bánh mì, the familiar thịt xíu, pa-tê, fried egg, and pork, and even the intriguing but ultimately unsuccessful bột lọc. Expectedly, the chillies pack a bigger punch than one typically experiences in Saigon.

We have returned to a particular grouping of bánh mì chuột vendors operating at the far end of Đông Ba market. Surrounded by big baskets of tiny, warm bread and trays with the rudimentary fixings, for a mere VND5,000, we had quick and simple satisfaction enough to power our walk to the next food stall. Other spots exist in and around the city selling these ideal snacks, and we suggest making a little room for one the next time you are in Huế.

Bánh Mì Chuột

02 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Phú Hoà Ward, Huế

A Tale of Three Chè Bột Lọc Heo Quay, Central Vietnam's Unique Savory Dessert

2025-07-05T11:00:00+07:00

Why am I so obsessed with chè bột lọc heo quay?

Bột lọc heo quay is a fairly straightforward concept, as its name already tells you everything you need to know. A tiny cube of pork (heo quay) is covered in a coating of tapioca dough (bột lọc), formed into a sizable pearl much like those found in bubble tea, and then eaten with a simple ginger syrup and ice. Finding out about its existence the first time often elicits two types of reactions in people: disbelief or delighted curiosity. Meat? In my dessert? Well, it’s more common than you think.

My initial response somewhat leaned towards the latter, and upon discovering a restaurant in Saigon that serves it, the Saigoneer team made a beeline at the door. This iteration, which we’ll refer to as 001, is the most visual appealing bột lọc heo quay I’ve had: it comes in an aquamarine glazed ceramic bowl, surrounded by julienned strips of ginger and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. The tapioca dough is pliable and well-cooked, but the nub of roast pork inside is underseasoned and lean, and thus, dry and fibrous. It is certainly photogenic and shows a level of care from the restaurant kitchen in the way it was assembled.

001: Chè bột lọc heo quay at Góc Huế, Saigon. Photos by Cao Nhân.

Bột lọc heo quay originates from Huế, the old imperial city in Central Vietnam, and according to our guide, it was once a privileged treat reserved for the imperial court due to the level of intricacy involved in its preparation. During a recent trip to Huế, it was natural that we sought out some popular local versions.

002 came from Chè Hẻm, the city’s most popular dessert spot, though it was clear that most patrons were tourists. The operation here is rather hectic but efficient; gaggles of tourists speaking all sorts of Vietnamese dialects swoop in and out like termites. Chè Hẻm’s bộc lọc heo quay is the largest, with a thick, opaque tapioca skin that was unfortunately as tough as rubber. The filling was a surprise: a mixture of peppery minced pork with bits of wood-ear mushroom that was no different than the filling of bao buns in Saigon. The syrup was rather boringly sweet. Though the seasoning and pepper were interesting, I couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t roast pork.

002: Chè Hẻm, Huế. Photos by Khôi Phạm.

Last but certainly not least, 003 was the offering from Chè Mợ Tôn Đích, a highly sought-after destination for locals and tourists alike, judging by the full house of people waiting patiently 15 minutes before opening time. Here, bột lọc heo quay is served in a tall glass in a subtly gingery syrup. The tapioca dough’s texture balances between chewy and elasticity in a pleasant way, but the headliner of the show was undoubtedly what it enveloped: shredded pork that was caramelized in soy sauce, sugar, and five spice — like a sweeter thịt kho or carnitas. To me, this was the best interpretation of the famous dessert, even though, once again, this was not heo quay. But does it even matter at this point?

003 Chè Mợ Tôn Đích, Huế. Photos by Khôi Phạm.

As much as it is polarizing, the savory bột lọc heo quay is a quirky outlier in a sea of often cloyingly sweet, pasty Vietnamese chè, and I realized that a part of me, perhaps, was hoping that, by being able to appreciate its whimsy, I myself could be quirky too. Judging by how wildly different all three versions are, even within Huế itself, I’m happy to report that there might be room for everyone to be quirky after all.

Addresses
001 Góc Huế / 41 Kỳ Đồng, Ward 9, D3, HCMC
002 Chè Hẻm / 1 Kiệt, 29 Hùng Vương, Phú Hội Ward, Huế
003 Chè Mợ Tôn Đích / 20 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Phú Hoà Ward, Huế

Bored of Mundane Date Spots? Try Tân Sơn Nhất's Romantic Star Cafe.

2025-04-01T13:00:00+07:00

I know a little place.

Saigon’s cafe scene is so developed that finding and embracing cafes constitutes a hobby, if not a full-blown personality for certain residents. For some, the pastime is all about the drinks. Bean sourcing and roasting; preparation techniques and technologies; and pouring and presentation methods can all be meticulously assessed. Others care about the vibes and aesthetics, with particular attention paid to Instagram photo potential. Within this cafe culture world, bringing a date to the perfect coffee shop for stupendous drinks can be an unrivaled aphrodisiac.

No beverage better proves this than the cà phê truyền thống sold at the Star Cafe inside Tân Sơn Nhất’s Domestic Departure Terminal. Squeaking luggage trolly wheels; one-half of conversations shouted into cellphones; cranky kids crying to parents stressed by travel plans; and a pungent blend of body odor, perfume and distant jet fuel collects like soap scum and tangled hair around a clogged shower drain: the atmosphere in the domestic terminal is the ideal setting for a romantic date. Star Cafe even provides for the social media-minded as plenty of bystanders are present to snap the perfect photo for you to upload and inspire jealousy about your whereabouts while providing a valuable keepsake of the day you met the person you’ll one day marry.

But you cannot sit without purchasing something, of course. And we all know the adage “You get what you pay for.” The astronomical prices (US$6.50 for a large regular Vietnamese coffee) must mean that you’re getting something of exceptional quality. The fact that it's only listed in foreign currency lends a dose of international exoticism to the experience. The drink, coupled with the price of the tickets needed to get through security constitutes spending so extravagant your date will have no choice but to be impressed. And the coffee itself, tasting like the crass feedback emitted on a karaoke machine when two microphones are brought too close together, invites trauma bonding.

Photo via Tripadvisor

But if you’re not convinced, remember McBeth speaking to the night sky: “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.” If you want to make your deep desires known, surely you must bring them to the Star Cafe. You don’t even need to board the plane you bought the ticket for.

Editor's note: Happy April Fools' Day! This article is part of Saigoneer's 2025 April Fools' Day celebration. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the writer’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

Fried Floating Rice with Dried Cá Chốt and Lotus Tells a Complete Vietnamese Narrative

2025-02-16T14:21:00+07:00

Chef Peter Cường Franklin shared a powerful narrative to introduce the dish he prepared for Saigoneer. Rice symbolizes the nation’s most important carbohydrate and its agrarian culture; cá chốt represents the ubiquity of local seafood and vital waterways; and lotus provides a metaphor for Vietnamese resilience because it grows in the mud and produces a beautiful, useful flower.

Peter’s dish was made with these ingredients from the Mekong Delta, which allowed him to reflect on the value and condition of the region. “We have flooding and we have different kinds of weather conditions that are affecting the farming and thus the livelihoods of the people in that region … We have 100 million people, we have to feed these people. So, the Mekong Delta is very important.”

The WWF's nature-based solutions projects include providing farmers with fish fingerlings and guidance on how to grow them without industrial feed and chemicals. The fish which, include cá chốt, can be dried, seasoned, and sold to people like Peter to enjoy throughout the country. Moreover, farmers receive support to plant floating rice, an ancient variety native to the region that grows naturally during the flood season and thus requires no blocking of floodwaters. By allowing water to flow naturally from upstream, sediments can collect and improve soil fertility while combating erosion. Groundwater reserves are also able to be replenished.

Photo courtesy WWF.

This rice provided Peter with an enjoyable challenge. He explained: “For home cooking, it is actually a very healthy grain of rice ... it still has all the flavor and texture outside. It requires more work, more effort, but I think it could be something to add to the arsenal of home cooking. People can create something that's new, that's different for the family. Because we eat rice, it's the same rice all the time. So, it's nice to have something that has a different flavor, and different texture, and requires a bit more work and effort. To some extent, it's a bit of fun, too.”

Peter seemed to have fun while frying the cooked floating rice with some vegetables and spices and added the dried cá chốt that had been lightly fried along with some boiled lotus seed for subtle sweetness. While bringing silverware for us to try he summed up the value of the meal nicely: “When we make a dish like this, we're actually showing people what and how the Vietnamese eat, and what we eat, and the resources available ingredients that are available to us to make a meal for our family.”

A Light Bánh Cuốn Quảng Đông to Break Your Fast the Chợ Lớn Way

2025-02-13T15:00:00+07:00

Meeting up for a Chinese-style breakfast often means gathering around stacked baskets of dim sum or diving into hearty bowls of wonton noodles. But if you're looking for something lighter, a serving of cheung fun might offer the perfect balance.

Cheung fun (腸粉), often likened to Vietnamese bánh cuốn, is made from thin sheets of steamed rice batter wrapped around various fillings like shrimp, minced pork, or vegetables. The name cheung fun loosely translates to “intestine noodles,” a nod to its coiled shape rather than its ingredients, which contain no actual offal.

The dish originated in Guangdong and has since spread globally through Chinese diaspora communities, adapting to local palates wherever it landed. In Vietnam, it’s commonly known as bánh cuốn Quảng Đông and is a staple of breakfast tables in Chợ Lớn, Saigon’s historic Chinatown. If you happen to wander through early in the day, you might come across Ngọc’s small cheung fun stall tucked into a hẻm in Phùng Hưng Market.

Ngọc, a Teochew descent, runs the stall with her husband, whose family hails from Guandong.

“This dish is now popular in many places like Singapore and Hong Kong. Each region has its own way of making it — some use one type of filling, others another, depending on their own take,” Ngọc explains. “My brother learned the original recipe and taught me, and I adjusted the seasoning to better suit local tastes. In China, the flavors are much milder, so I had to make some changes.”

If bánh cuốn is made on a stretched cloth and lifted with wooden sticks, cheung fun requires a multi-tiered steamer — one level for greens, one for fillings, and two for the rice sheets.

Ngọc’s batter starts with fresh rice soaked overnight and ground daily. Before pouring the batter, she brushes each tray with a thin layer of oil to prevent sticking and give the sheets a smooth, glossy finish. Each tray receives a ladle of batter, spread into a thin layer that cooks in just two minutes over rising steam. She lifts and rolls each sheet, slicing them into neat sections before plating.

Classic cheung fun comes with fillings like minced pork, shrimp, or egg, with the mildly seasoned rice sheet acting as a backdrop for the fresh ingredients to shine. At Ngọc’s stall, the dish is served with steamed bok choy and additional fillings like scallops and imitation crab. “I also make my own sauce, adding a bit of sa tế to match local tastes while keeping it true to tradition,” she explains.

The first bite is all about balance — soft rice sheets, a flavorful filling, a touch of sesame oil, and just enough heat to wake up the palate. It’s a Chinese breakfast that doesn’t demand a feast, yet leaves you perfectly content to take on the day.

Bánh Cuốn Quảng Đông

189/1 Phùng Hưng, Ward 14, D5, HCMC

Cua Cà Mau Consommé Evokes Nostalgic Summer Beach Holidays

2025-02-08T08:33:00+07:00

Seafood reminds chef Nghiêm Minh Đức of childhood vacations to northern beaches with his family. But since moving to Saigon, he has been exposed to southern products including cua Cà Mau’s which inspire him to experiment with new dishes.

its crabs, which populate the mangrove estuaries where the river system meets the sea. This fragile ecosystem and the people who depend on it are at risk because of rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion; the prevalence of dangerous agricultural chemicals and pesticides; disrupted water cycles; and deforestation. The WWF’s Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects are addressing some of these issues while improving the socio-economy and resilience of local communities through sustainable livelihoods.

In Cà Mau, farmers raise crabs and shrimp according to a nature-based solutions (NbS) model, wherein shrimp and crabs live and feed naturally in native mangrove forests without any chemicals or industrial feed. This NbS approach not only improves livelihoods for local communities but also encourages them to protect the mangrove ecosystem, keeping it green, clean, and reducing the risk of deforestation.

Photo courtesy WWF-Viet Nam.

“Every time we find new ingredients or create new dishes, we always think about the whole process and the whole cycle. Everything from the farmers, how they plant it, and then how they supply to us, and how we use that, and how we introduce the ingredients to the customer. So it's a full circle.”

Photos courtesy of WWF.

To create his dish, Đức paired noodles made with floating rice with a cold, tomato-based consommé made with crab meat, chamomile tea, and local herbs. While straightforward, the process required patience, such as processing, boiling, then icing the noodles and slowly straining the broth to let the crustacean flavors shine. The result was a bright, refreshing dish perfectly suited for endless summer days.

After tasting a bite and reflecting, Đức explained that he initially wanted to make something original that was inspired by the joy surrounding the beach vacations of his youth. But in the end, he discovered that he had made something similar to another Hanoi dish: bún ốc nguội. This led to Đức’s profound realization about chefs: “We think that we make new things, but actually, we just reimagine and recreate our memories; the old, good and happy memories … the experiences that we had wherever we were born and grew up and stay.”

Tôm Sú Kakiage with Floating Rice Noodles is a Crisp, Cool Dish for Steamy Saigon Afternoons

2025-01-24T06:54:00+07:00

Phở, bún, hủ tiếu, cao lầu and bánh tằm are stand-outs in Vietnam’s impressively diverse portfolio of noodles made with rice. The ones Saigoneer tasked Anaïs Ca Dao van Manen to create a dish with were also made using rice powder, but have different qualities. “The noodle has such a nice bite to it … you can not taste the rice but you can actually taste the different texture of it so it reminded me of soba which made me think, okay, let's do a cold noodle dish.”

The noodles were made using floating rice, which is a centerpiece crop being grown by farmers in the Mekong Delta as part of the CRxN projects deployed by WWF. As part of the non-profit’s efforts to improve the socio-economy and resilience of local communities through sustainable livelihoods while protecting and restoring critical ecosystems, they’re helping farmers return to the rice variety that was once abundant in the area. Able to grow in flooded fields, it grows without the need for devastating chemicals or the manipulation of water cycles which helps the soil rejuvenate.

Noting its similarity to the healthy brown rice her mother loves, Anaïs explained how the noodles made with floating rice remain chewier than typical white noodles. This would make them a great compliment to crispy fried food. She settled on Japanese-style kakiage made with “any vegetables you have in the house,” and tôm sú, or black tiger prawns.

The prawns are also part of WWF’s efforts in the Mekong Delta. Farmers are supported to raise crabs and prawns in the native mangrove forests without any chemicals or industrial feed. This nature-based solution (NbS) model not only improves the local livelihoods, it encourages protecting the health of the vital mangrove ecosystems and combats deforestation.

“For prawns, you have to let the ingredient shine because that's what it's all about, right? It's the flavor of the prawn.” Anaïs said. “So here we're gonna make it shine through two ways, through the stock and through a nice batter.”

Photo courtesy WWF.

The resulting dish delights with its contrasting light crispy fritter and chewy noodles. The fresh herbs, vegetables and shrimp are enhanced by a light sauce boasting salty, umami-laden prawn notes. These fresh flavors and its cooling temperature make it an ideal summer meal that highlights the Mekong Delta’s bounties.

Photo courtesy WWF.

Re-imagining a Streetfood Staple with Sustainable Ingredients: Cơm Tấm Ốc Bươu with Floating Rice

2025-01-23T04:01:00+07:00

Cơm tấm is “all about utilizing, minimizing food waste and, basically, not giving anything away,” explains Chef Trụ Lang of Mùa Sake, as he stands in front of ingredients from the Mekong Delta. “That matches with the ethos of what these crops are trying to do … show a different way of thinking, a different way of agriculture, a different way of using the land, and using the relationship that we have with the land to coexist.”

Trụ is referring, specifically to the ốc bươu, or black apple snails and floating rice (gạo lúa mùa nổi), that he was challenged to cook with to help showcase products produced as part of WWF-Viet Nam’s Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects. The undertakings aim to improve the socio-economy and resilience of local communities through sustainable livelihoods while protecting and restoring critical ecosystems.

U Minh Thượng National Park in Kiên Giang province. Photos courtesy WWF-Viet Nam.

The core zone of U Minh Thượng National Park in Kiên Giang province is strictly protected, but increasing market demand frequently drives buffer zone farmers to collect apple snails for their livelihood. These farmers now receive support from WWF to raise responsibly collected snails in waterways, using natural and readily available food sources.

Floating rice being grown in Long An. Photo courtesy WWF-Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, the floating rice was once largely abandoned by local farmers despite its natural cultivation coinciding with flood cycles, and thus, not requiring chemically intensive fertilizers and destructive interference with water flows. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects support residents in Kiên Giang and Long An in adopting feasible, sustainable methods for cultivating the floating rice which helps return the land and water to health and fertility.

After boiling the ốc bươu, Trụ chops the meat to make a patty with pork, egg, honey and fish sauce. The juicy meat is fried, topped by the requisite egg with a runny yolk, and presented atop a mound of floating rice. The whole grain rice is at first difficult to approach, Trụ admits, as it is tougher, more flavorful, and requires overnight soaking and a longer cooking time. However, in addition to greater nutritional value than conventional rice, its production helps maintain soil fertility without leaching harmful chemicals across the Mekong’s land and waterways. He offers the advice of mixing some of it into your daily white rice to get some of these benefits.

U Minh Thượng National Park. Photo courtesy WWF-Viet Nam.

Complimented by pickles and more fish sauce, the ốc bươu cơm tấm with floating rice is a wonderfully salty, juicy, complex meal that retains all the charm of the more familiar pork chop version. They taste all the more delicious knowing that the ingredients are the result of projects that support local livelihoods while protecting treasured wilderness areas and natural water and soil balance.

Sấu, Mơ, and Lotus Tea: The Delight of Freezedom Hanoi's Creative Gelato Flavors

2024-12-29T17:38:18+07:00

Apart from a rather ambitious list of Hanoi-specific dishes to sample, my itinerary for the capital includes three personal wishes: ride the Hanoi Metro, visit Sonder Coffee Bar, and try out Freezedom’s ice cream.

The latter two are both quirky indie hangout spots I’ve followed for ages on social media, yearning for their uniquely sounding creations and waiting for one day when a northward flight will take me to their doorstep. Though our tight eating schedule this time prevented me from catching a metro trip, I’ve managed to sample the tasty beverages and gelato flavors in the flesh.

From an online shop, Freezedom has opened a small space for dining in.

As an ice cream enthusiast, I’ve had my fair share of frozen treats in Saigon over the span of my lifetime. Foreign chains have come and gone. Hobbyists set up online shops, dishing out home-churned pints. Some even became successful enough to cross over to brick-and-mortar locations. And a few went big enough to hit supermarket shelves. While I can name quite a handful of specific flavors and gelaterias in town I would gladly get brainfreeze for, few can come close to the sense of wide-eyed fascination that the folks behind Freezedom Hanoi imbued into their frozen brainchildren and put forward into our world.

Ice cream in the cold front of December, why not?

There’s a significant financial risk to running an ice cream parlor, so I understand why most places feel the need to provide safe basics to appeal to the hoi polloi: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, coffee, etc. I have an innate need for novelty, so my all-time favorite thing at a new ice cream place is that magical moment when I gaze inside the glass display for the first time and be overwhelmed by choices in the best way. It, however, can be disappointing to see that the most exotic thing inside that glass display is… passionfruit.

While Freezedom does offer a slew of classics like cookies & cream, salted caramel, or rum & raisin, what distinguishes them from the rest is their drive to constantly experiment to come up with exciting flavors, many of which seek to lionize Vietnam’s endemic flora and cultural dishes. They’ve crafted sorbets from mangosteen, cóc, Hanoian plum, lotus tea, sấu, persimmon, and jasmine beancurd, just to name a few.

The bulk of flavors on offer here is never the same, as it depends on the seasonality of the ingredients.

As is the nature of such experiments, the texture can vary between flavors — some are better aerated, some are more stable, and some can be a tad icy — but most of the time, the essence of the featured fruit or dish at hand is always well-encapsulated. From my visit, cóc sorbet was a hesitant pick that we didn’t expect much from, but ended up being an instant favorite for its tartness and freshness, both balanced well thanks to a packet of salted plum sea salt as accouterment.

If you follow Freezedom’s social media, you will learn that not all experiments yield edible results, and new flavors often have short runs due to the featured fruit only being in season for a fleeting time, but it is their transient existences that make the wait and urgency exciting. Mangosteen season might be short, but Freezedom’s creative spirit seems evergreen — just something we can always use more of in this constantly churning grind.

Freezedom Hanoi

29B Ngõ 100 Đội Cấn Street, Đội Cấn Ward, Ba Đình District, Hanoi

The Unbearable Lightness of An Giang's Bánh Bò Thốt Nốt Chảo

2024-09-10T12:00:00+07:00

Some simple delights can capture the flavor of an entire region.

The toddy palm tree flourishes throughout southern Vietnam, yet it’s in An Giang where it’s most deeply intertwined with daily life. The Khmer people of the Seven Mountains region aptly call it a divine gift. This member of the palm family can be found everywhere — dotting the landscape, casting shade over ancient temples, and playing a role in almost every facet of the community.

Its wood is used to craft boats and its fronds are turned into ropes and roofing, but most prized is the sweet sap harvested from its blossoms, skillfully transformed by artisans into the beloved palm sugar that has become a hallmark of An Giang’s cuisine.

Toddy palm trees and palm sugar tablets. Photos via Mia.vn

With its distinct sweetness and fragrance, this traditional sugar is the key to many local delicacies, most famously bánh bò thốt nốt, a rustic pancake cherished across the region. Food enthusiasts typically recognize bánh bò thốt nốt in its traditional form: large, soft, spongy loaves or morsels with a generous, hearty portion. However, there is a lesser-known version, which stands out for its unique shape.

At husband-wife duo Thanh Nga and Kim Chi’s humble street cart, bánh bò thốt nốt is made directly on a pan, similar to how bánh xèo is prepared, rather than being steamed or baked. The batter is lightly spread across a hot aluminum pan over a charcoal stove, creating a thin layer. The pan is then covered with a clay lid, allowing the heat to distribute evenly until the pancake turns a golden yellow.

Nga, an An Giang native, migrated to Saigon with his family decades ago but carried with him the knowledge of making pan-cooked bánh bò, an art that was passed down from his mother. The recipe is simple, relying on basic ingredients like rice flour, eggs, and yeast, as well as the key components of palm sugar and coconut meat which are sent fresh from his hometown. The elderly couple gets up early every morning to prepare and ferment the batter, while manually grating ripe palm fruits and adding them to the mixture for a rich, nutty flavor.

While its exact origin is unknown, bánh bò thốt nốt chảo is believed to share similarities with bánh bò Ha Cô, a delicacy of the Chăm ethnic community in An Giang. Nga explained that thanks to the natural properties of palm sugar, no butter or oil is needed to cook the pastry. The batter forms a crisp outer layer while remaining soft and airy inside, retaining the classic honeycomb structure of a traditional bánh bò.

Each bite offers the creamy richness of coconut and the light sweetness of palmyra sugar, perfectly capturing the heart of An Giang’s natural offerings. Nga lovingly describes it: “It's subtle, it's delicate, and it always carries that familiar scent of palm sugar.”

Bánh bò thốt nốt chảo

995 Phạm Thế Hiển, Ward 5, D8, HCMC

Saigon's Most Famous Cua Rang Me Is a Tangy Tamarind Party

2024-08-28T12:00:00+07:00

It started with tamarind, and ended with crab.

Gazing up from central Saigon sidewalks, one will notice thick canopies consisting of small pinnated leaves: an arrangement that calls to mind the spikes splayed on stegosaurus tails. Tamarind trees are native to Africa but have been part of the city’s urban makeup since the French brought centrally planned streets arranged in a neat grid pattern to Indochina. Being pallid vampires, they required constant shade. Tamarind trees were selected as the ideal trees to provide it, because their roots wouldn’t destroy the concrete and they blocked significant sunshine.

Some people collect the fallen tamarind fruits and occasional street vendors sell them for eating fresh or in simple cooking, unlike peanuts and carrots which have made their way into a variety of dishes despite not being native. Still, tamarind hasn’t been widely embraced outside of đá me and the occasional dipping sauce. Why not? This question led us to list as many tamarind-centric dishes as we could, which in turn brought us to Thúy 94 Cũ.

Far from unknown, Thúy 94 Cũ has been popular for years, and was recently featured in the Vietnam version of the Michelin Guide. Saigoneer even reviewed it back in 2016 for our long-running Hẻm Gems series. Still, most people know it as a great place for miến xào cua thanks to the ample servings of plump, fresh crab meat. That dish is terrific, of course, but we suggest you go to honor the splendors of tamarind via Thúy 94 Cũ's cua rang me.

Thúy explained the secret behind the dish whose recipe she devised herself over years of simple trial and error. Unlike rival shops that add starch or other thickening agents to the sauce, she boils down large tamarinds sourced from different suppliers without their seeds. Taken on its own, the sauce is a distilled slap of sugary-sweet tamarind. But when lavished over soft crustacean flesh, it exists as a sultry undertone.

Cua rang me and its shrimp-focused alternative tôm rang me made with the same sauce is a great dish to understand why this restaurant is so popular, so much so that it has invited an imitator at its original namesake address next door. This saucy, tamarind-rich dish is a rare opportunity for me enthusiasts to indulge their preferences, and a prime example of the strange historical happenstances that underpine some of our favorite dishes.

Thúy 94 Cũ

02839101062

84 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Đa Kao Ward, D1, HCMC

We Should Offer Gỏi Măng Cụt a Full-Time Position in Saigon's Food Scene

2024-05-30T11:00:00+07:00

The mangosteen salad trend hit TikTok in 2023, creating a demand that led locals to quit their jobs and take on more lucrative full-time fruit-peeling duties.

But trends always taper off, and then the question now becomes whether the item will disappear or remain, albeit in a less-popular, but more stable form, as happened with khô gà and cà phê muối. Mangosteen season is back, so it’s time to answer that question: should mangosteen salad become an enduring part of Saigon’s food landscape each summer?

The most acclaimed mangosteen salad spots are in Bình Dương, where the fruits are grown. We contemplated the two-hour round trip, but then calculated the cost per word of this article and instead looked closer to home. Delivery-only options in Saigon abound, but because we are beholden to aesthetics and feared a bike journey would yield wilted, sloppy, soggy salads, we continued searching. We finally found a vegetarian restaurant, Be An. The standard rendition of the dish involves shredded boiled chicken, so we paused, but the poultry is never the best part; why not judge it based on its vegetarian version?

Mangosteen salad is simple. Because the fruit hasn’t ripened fully, once peeled, they can be sliced into cross-sections that retain a delightfully graceful star shape. They are joined by cilantro, carrots, purple onions, peanuts and large shallots. Sugar, fish sauce and lime juice add a welcome moistness that helps bind the ingredients together. The star is of course the unripe mangosteen, which is not nearly as sugary as when mature, but adds a wonderfully pleasant floral softness. It’s a refreshing salad for the warm weather of the season.

I enjoyed the vegetarian version more than the chicken one I had last year. Chicken flesh texture can be inconsistent and doesn’t mesh with the mangosteen as well as the tofu. And the flavor isn’t a natural match either. It’s almost as if the meat dish is a song that features a saxophone and an electric guitar, both vying for the lead. Perhaps because we ordered this from a moderately expensive restaurant, the percentage of mangosteen in our salad vastly exceeded others I’ve had. And really, given the name and the price, the mangosteen should take center stage.

Verdict: mangosteen salad should become an annual menu staple (but please, don’t quit your day job to produce it).

Savory fruit dish sidenote: Be An featured a wonderfully nuanced and umami-stocked braised jackfruit that furthers our belief that fruit can be a stellar salty meal ingredient.

Sparkling Oysters: Champagne Meets Caviar at Social Club Restaurant

2024-01-03T06:21:00+07:00

Caviar, oysters and Veuve Clicquot champagne are all special on their own, but imagine them combined in one luxurious mouthful.

This extravagant coalescence is exactly what Hôtel des Arts is serving during their weekly Sunday Brunch at the Social Club. Head chef Ivan Barone explained to Saigoneer that the original plan was to delight diners each week with a changing selection of items prepared on a cart navigated through the dining room. However, his first idea, the sparkling oysters, proved so popular it has become a mainstay.

Barone’s recipe supports the theory that a dish can be more delicious than the sum of its ingredients while allowing the chef to indulge creative whims on any given day. Thus, he typically selects imported French Ultime oysters which he describes as meaty but delicate compared to the large Japanese Miyagi he occasionally uses that are strong and crunchy. He then places liberal dollops of colorful roe that he selects based on mood and instinct from a supply of black, orange and green ebiko, wasabi tobiko and smoked kazunoko atop the oyster. Of course, there is always caviar. He adds a dash of citrus and shallots and grapeseed before bathing the entire dish with Veuve Clicquot Champaign.

Pre-scooped for streamlined slurping, the sparkling oyster is an explosion of complimentary flavors and textures. Rich, sweet, and salty, the taste is elevated by the interplay of bursting roe, effervescent champagne and slick oyster. Its arrival on a graceful cart beside fresh bilinies with smoked salmon and accouterments including wasabi espuma accentuates the entire meal's special atmosphere and indulgences.

Sparkling oysters are served at every Sunday brunch, from 11am - 3pm at the Social Club - click here for more information and reservations.

Hôtel des Arts Saigon's website

Hôtel des Arts Saigon's Email

(+84) 02839 898 888

Hôtel des Arts Saigon | 76-78 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street, D.3, HCMC

A Flaky Pâté Chaud That's Been a Saigon Institution Since 1930

2023-11-20T11:00:00+07:00

It took me 37 years to have my first pâté chaud.

Such a delay wasn’t by design. The uniquely Vietnamese-via-French-colonialism pastry item wasn’t served anywhere around where I grew up, and in all my years living in Saigon, I never got around to ordering it. Thankfully, I seemed to have picked an ideal place to enjoy it for the first time last week.

Quán ăn SGC first opened in 1930 and its current proprietor represents the fourth generation of the family operation. During the taping of a special Hẻm Gems video project earlier this year, he shared that it was one of the first restaurants serving pâté chaud, or pa tê sô in Vietnamese, in the city. He claims that many others followed their lead but none could quite match the moist texture of their rendition. An unmistakable sense of old Saigon nostalgia fills the bright, comfortable dining room Tôn Đức Thắng Street. A brick from the first building rests at the wall, complementing the black-and-white photos of earlier venues.

Pâté chaud always seemed to me to be too heavy or oily for breakfast, so I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. While undeniably buttery, the flaky crust was light and thin, like pencil shavings. Nestled within the delicate pastry layers, the minced pork was moist without being greasy. Chopped onions and a dusting of salt and pepper added flavor, however, the lack of MSG as announced on the menu certainly diminished its potential. I’m always disappointed to see restaurants here cave into the west’s xenophobic mistrust of the magical flavor-enhancer, but I take solace in knowing that I can purchase frozen pâté chaud at SGC and enjoy them at home with my own liberal application of the godly particle. Perhaps I will even give in to hooligan peer pressure and try it with mustard as I have been advised.

I need to come back during the weekday lunch rush when local office workers fill tables eating goat noodles, snakehead noodles and hotpot. Or perhaps simply for another pâté chaud to accompany a morning cup of coffee while reflecting on the particular sense of romantic nostalgia one can develop for a time they never existed via carefully curated tastes and décor.

Quán ăn SGC's Facebook

028 3820 0705

05H Đ. Tôn Đức Thắng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh

Beautiful Jade Tiger Abalone Arrive at Hotel des Arts Saigon for a Good Cause

2023-10-09T15:11:00+07:00

Jade Tiger Abalone is amongst the world’s most prized kinds of seafood. Requiring several years to grow exclusively in Australia’s frigid, nutrient-rich waters without the use of any hormones, antibiotics or chemicals, the large, meaty mollusks have a rich, briny, sweet flavor that many find to be stronger and more satisfying than oysters. Rarely found on Saigon menus, a particularly unique version of Jade Tiger Abalone is now available at all of Hôtel des Arts Saigon's dining venues for a limited time.

To impart the abalone meat with its strikingly deep pink color, Chef Đức Thịnh cooks them slowly overnight in beet juice. A subtle sourness thus slips in to compliment the inherent sweetness, elevating an already light and complex flavor profile. The cold dish is then embellished with chives, shallots, cucumbers, lemon gel, chili flakes and cubes of beets making it as photogenic as it is delicious.

Finally, the salty, umami notes added by drizzling nước mắm atop the dish ties all the flavors together. It’s a natural starter for a Vietnamese meal, but also compliments Western dishes. While it can be enjoyed any time of the day, it's a particularly suitable accompaniment to a glass of wine or a cocktail as enjoyed with the incredible views of District 1 that shimmer at sunset.

The culinary team selected the pink color for far more than aesthetics, however. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pink is the defacto indicator of efforts to bring attention to the important cause. Five percent of every Jade Tiger Abalone sold at all of Hotel des Arts will be given to the Breast Cancer Network Vietnam (BCNV) along with similar proceeds from a special pink cocktail.

Hôtel des Arts Saigon's website

Hôtel des Arts Saigon's Email

(+84) 02839 898 888

Hôtel des Arts Saigon | 76-78 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street, D.3, HCMC

Chả Cá Lã Vọng, Now in Burger Form at D2's Latest Burger Joint

2023-08-15T11:00:00+07:00

With its tiled walls, neon signs, and red-and-white color palette, The Smash Saigon appears to emulate the classic aesthetics of American diners. These motifs are so heavily associated with American comfort food — burgers, fries, milkshakes — that, wandering into The Smash, guests might guess at its menu before even seeing it. But they’d only be half right.

The interior of The Smash Saigon takes inspiration from American diners.

While the new Thảo Điền eatery does offer traditional diner fare, its signature items are much more imaginative: burgers based on Vietnamese dishes that have likely never been served between buns, like chả cá Lã Vọng, bò lá lốt, chả ốc, and more.

This vision of Vietnamese-style burgers is driven by the owners’ love for the sandwich. Nguyễn Diệu Hương Trang, who opened The Smash with her friend Nguyễn Minh Đức, explained that one the place's goals is to align burgers with the Vietnamese palette, rendering the distinctly Western dish approachable and familiar. The owners want burgers to be “a daily meal of Vietnamese people,” Trang continued. “Like a bánh mì, but in the form of a burger.”

Still, the notion of The Smash’s Chả Cá Lã Vọng Burger is so far-fetched that it seems like a gimmick. An Instagram post on a Saigon food account piqued my interest, but I was skeptical that it would be something I’d want to eat aside from its novelty. Somehow, though, the food us as inventive as it is delicious. On a recent trip to the restaurant, I tried two of the signature Vietnamese burgers. Each contains tomato, cucumber, and lettuce, along with a soft, fluffy bun — wonderfully un-soggy despite the load of toppings inside.

Removing the Hanoian dish from its usual context of hot stones and vermicelli, the chả cá burger features a fish cake-like patty spiced with turmeric, galangal, and dill. Thanks to the creamy dill mayo and additional layer of fresh dill, the smell clued me into the burger’s central ingredient even before I took a bite. Once I did, the singular flavor of chả cá burst from the patty, herbaceous and slightly smoky. The overall effect was refreshing — a rare adjective for a notoriously indulgent food.

Chả Cá Lã Vọng Burger simply felt like an updated, lighter, and more fragrant fish burger. The fusion occurs seamlessly and the result is unmistakably chả cá Lã Vọng, without straying too far from the platonic ideal of a burger. It strikes a perfect balance between the original and recognizable, creating a dish that I’d happily have for lunch on any normal day.

The Smash Saigon

127 Quốc Hương Street, Thảo Điền Ward, D2, HCMC

A Simple Americano Goes a Long Way at Quy Nhơn's Lone Coffee Roaster

2023-07-20T11:00:00+07:00

Saigon is spoiled with cafes. In addition to the street stalls hawking cheap phin coffee, international chains and charming mom-and-pop shops, the last decade has seen a proliferation of third-wave venues that meticulously source organic beans to roast in small batches and prepare with a wide assortment of gizmos and gadgets.

Such cafe variety does not exist in more remote places like Quy Nhơn. In fact, Adiuvat Coffee Roasters may be the coastal cities’ lone place for coffee nerds to hang out that prepares their own beans in-house and even makes a cold brew served on nitro. They opened in 2019, long after I moved away in 2016, back when the coffee landscape was dominated by cafes prioritizing everything but the quality of the coffee itself.

The name Adiuvat is in reference to the phrase “Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat” (fortune favors the bold) which you may recognize from John Wick’s back tattoo. The phrase’s final word is fitting because the shop prefers medium to dark roasts. They explained to Saigoneer that most of the coffee is shipped down from Đắk Lắk and Lâm Đồng, however on a recent visit the barista noted they’d previously featured some grown in Laos as well.

Whenever I return to the city and am invited to coffee by young friends in their early twenties, it’s always Adiuvat. They’ve explained the vibes are just best there. The two-floor minimalist tube house retrofitted by A+H Architects wouldn’t stand out in Saigon, yet in Quy Nhơn, where all the coffee shops are more generic or traditional in design, it’s a startling deviation. Perhaps the concrete and bare wood aesthetics remind people of the busier metropolises they’ve lived or traveled in. The shop admits that they are most popular with domestic and international travelers and have some trouble winning over conservative locals.

My go-to at Adiuvat is a simple Americano so I can enjoy the full flavor of the roast, uncluttered by milk or sugar. The unique element here is the coffee beans, after all. The drink’s buoyant fruit notes are balanced by sweeter chocolate and caramel undertones. For me, a simple cup of arabica represents connoisseur coffee’s bright future in Vietnam’s smaller cities like Quy Nhơn.

Adiuvat Coffee Roasters

57A Nguyễn Huệ, Lê Lợi Ward, Qui Nhơn City, Bình Định Province