Hẻm Gems: Atop a Beef Bowl Eatery, the Hidden Cozy World of Shochu Bar Mitsuboshi
Looking back at my days in Japan, I cherish most the moments I decided to get lost in yokochos — small and narrow alleys filled with shops, often bars — and push on a random door, not knowing what could await me behind it. It could be a wooden stall illuminated by blinding lights, its noisy customers showered with beer; or a 19th-century-style Manhattan bar, where the only movements come from trails of smoke off the customers’ cigarettes and streams of light going through bottles of whisky behind the counter.
When Rush Hour Hits, The Straits Offers a Singaporean Alternative
Saigon’s streets snarl with hot, sticky knots of traffic every evening. As people finish their workdays and look ahead to quality time with families at home, precious hours pursuing hobbies and meeting with friends around the city, they must first contend with horrific congestion. This rush hour period, when movement is slow and frustrating, coincides with peak skyline beauty.
Hẻm Gems: Tokyo Moon Cafe Introduces Homey Korean Flavors to Japan Town
Stepping into Tokyo Moon is like venturing into a world of wonders, neatly packed within a mere 35-square-meter space.
Văn Tân in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: Inside a Modernist Abode, O Phương’s Bún Bò Harks Back to Huế Flavors
“O” is the affectionate way central Vietnamese call their sisters and aunties. For children of Central Vietnam like me, it has taken root in me like the most natural anchor of home. Sometimes when I’m out and about, glimpses of the accent of my hometown would pull me back home.
Hẻm Gems: Bánh Canh Hẹ Is Phú Yên's Homage to Chives and the Sea
Ever since I was a kid, I have had a general dislike towards vegetables, but green onion has always been an exception. I regard green onion as a garnish that can lighten up the whole dish, and it seems like whenever it’s absent from my cơm tấm or xôi mặn, I will instantly lose my enthusiasm to eat. But during my teenage years, my affection for scallion was challenged for the first time, when I encountered a photo of Phú Yên’s bánh canh hẹ online.
Khôi Phạm in Food Culture
Welcome to the New Age of Mass-Produced, Enshittified Plastic Bánh Giò
Do you always remember the first time you tried a new food? With common staples like hủ tiếu, bún riêu or cơm tấm, that might be difficult, but I can recall exactly the first time I had bánh giò: it was from a bike vendor with a very distinctive northern-accented street call of “chưng, gai, bánh giò.”
Linh Phạm in Food Culture
This Tết, Learn to Wrap Bánh Chưng in One of Hanoi's Oldest Villages
Much like the peach blossom or the lucky money envelope, bánh chưng is a staple part of Tết.
Hẻm Gems: In Đà Nẵng, Góc Nhà Tụi Mình Is Where Tea Time Feels Like Home
As a Đà Nẵng native, I often get asked where and what to eat and drink by friends who are in town. The tried-and-true list of places in my mind always includes Góc Nhà Tụi Mình, which I’ve frequented nearly constantly for the past six years.
[Video] Americans Try Hột Vịt Lộn for the First Time
When it comes to food, everything is relative: what's shocking and scandalous in one country is completely normal in another.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: Chị Hiền's Cơm Sườn and the Single Greatest Fish Sauce of All Time
As an accomplished eater and failed cook, I spend a lot of time scouting street food venues.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Check out the New Street Food Mecca Behind Ben Thanh Market
Barely more than a week old, Ben Thanh's brand-new street food market is already turning heads with its souped-up version of the standard roadside dining experience.
Saigoneer's 5 Best Hẻm Gems of 2015
From legendary chicken and rice to finger-licking fried buns to an unbeatable hủ tiếu served with a side of sass, Saigoneer revisits our favorite street eats from 2015. Chúc ăn ngon miệng!
Interactive Book 'Art of Phở' Brings Saigon to Life One Click at a Time
When foreign visitors arrive in Vietnam, one facet of local culture that tops every must-do list is cuisine. Since the outside world has only recently been introduced to the magic of Vietnamese food, ...
Archaeologists Discover Roman Fish Sauce off Italian Coast
In Vietnam, you can't swing a dead cat without finding a bottle of fish sauce. The stuff is everywhere: on dining tables and in street food stalls, on supermarket shelves and in kitchens across the co...
Dana Filek-Gibson in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: The Universal Truth of Fish Sauce Fried Chicken
There are few indisputable facts upon which good, reasonable people the world over can agree. Here are three: the sky is blue, the earth is round and fried chicken, in any form, is delicious.
[Video] The Story of Saigon's Classiest Street Food Restaurant
While the city is a cut above when it comes to delicious outdoor dining, most local streetside restaurants stick to traditional Vietnamese and opt for low-cost ingredients, passing on those savings to...
[Video] Thai Chef Gives Stink Face to Gordon Ramsay's Pad Thai
You may know Chef Gordon Ramsay from his role on the popular reality show Hell's Kitchen, where he spends an hour each week crushing the dreams of aspiring chefs. Whether you love him or hate him, the...
[Photos] The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Dumplings
From savory bowls of sủi cảo and steaming hoành thánh to the delightfully chewy há cảo dispensed by street vendors, Vietnamese have borrowed both the terminology and flavors from a wide array of Chine...
Six Reasons Why You Should be Slurping Your Noodles
Has anyone ever judged you for slurping (húp) your noodles? Well, Vietnam Coracle has come up with a list of six reasons why you shouldn’t be ashamed for showing an elevated understanding of soup inta...
Hẻm Gems: Golden Bún Bò Huế
Walking into this temple of bún bò Huế, I was surprised the lady recognized me from my last visit from quite a while back. Even with my attempt at growing a beard for no-shave November, god has blesse...
How One Company is Turning Trees into Noodles
With all the talk of tainted noodles in Saigon, we’re always on the lookout for alternative sources of bún. One Japanese textile company is experimenting with a technology that may provide such a...
Le Dîner en Blanc Comes to Saigon Next Month
If your fantasies involve droves of white-clad socialites showing up to a secret location to dine and drink, Le Dîner en Blanc should be right up your alley.
[Video] Ben Tre Man Shows You How to Perfectly Husk a Coconut
Husking a coconut is one of those things that looks deceivingly easy. But if you’ve ever tried to remove its thick green shell, it quickly becomes obvious that is a task of precision, one mastered onl...
Dana Filek-Gibson in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: District 1's Delightfully Decrepit Bia Hơi
UPDATE: It is with heavy hearts that we inform our readers that the Thi Sach bia hơi has permanently closed. We will miss its regular crowd and grimy, beer-stained walls. In a city that pretty much r...
[Video] Nosh Food Week Kicks off at GRAIN
Over the next week, Luke Nguyen’s Grain will be home to Nosh Food Week Saigon, a week of food events centered on collaboration between local chefs.
Dana Filek-Gibson in Saigon Hẻm Gems
Hẻm Gems: Bánh Căn and the Elixir of Life
In the world of hẻm gems, gritty is a good thing. The more battered the tables, the more precarious the seating, the more dubious the location, the more we feel at one with the chaos of Saigon street ...
Hẻm Gems: We Found Xôi Gà in a Hopeless Place
Stand outside a market at closing time and you'll bear witness to the daily routines of its swift, unceremonious demise. After sunset, Binh Thanh District's Ba Chieu Market transforms before your eyes...
Hẻm Gems: Tan Dinh's Hue Food Heaven
The area around Hue O Xuan is pretty busy, making it easy to miss the address amid its neverending traffic. Though the local chain that takes up two storefronts opposite Tan Dinh Market at 18 Nguyen H...
