1. PHỞ

Let’s start off with something familiar, something tourists near and far have all heard of – phở (or pho, if you are not good with the Vietnamese marks). Phở is the most eater-friendly dish you can find in this city. Its ingredients are simply: broth, rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat (primarily beef or chicken). But wander into any random phở eatery, and you are likely to be served with phở bò (beef pho).

Like most Vietnamese dishes, phở bò has handful variations. The most basic of phở’s is simply served with beef from cow shanks (tái). To add chewiness, feel free to pop a plate (nạm). Something fattier? Try the brisket (gầu). Not crunchy enough? Add some tendon (gân) and tripe (sách)! Trying them all is a must. Though, with the phở business growing so fast, it can be hard to navigate just the right eatery for your Vietnamese cuisine experience. Fret not. In the case of extreme craving for phở (which are most Saigonese in the morning), it is fair to crash into the nearest Phở Ông Hùng. They’re everywhere and the prices are affordable. However, for a true phở connoisseur, the day should always start with Phở Thìn – Phố Nhỏ at 170 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, district 3.

2. BÚN BÒ HUẾ

As we take another step up the culture ladder, bún bò Huế (Hue beef noodle?) awaits. Its basic ingredients are the same as phở’s – broth, noodles, and meat – but the variations go further. The explosive flavors of bún bò Huế’s broth come from the addition of lemongrass and fermented shrimp sauce. The dish’s noodles are made of rice vermicelli and its beef is sliced into pieces thinner than phở’s. Speaking from over 15 years of bún bò Huế enjoyment, we ensure you that just a spoonful of the dish can entail flavors as exotic as chả Huế (Hue sausage), shrimp meat roll, blood pudding, vegetables, and herbs (onions, mung bean sprouts, thinly sliced banana blossom, purple cabbage, mint, or Vietnamese coriander to name but a few). It is ok to be intimidated by all the herbs, even a Vietnamese would be. But if you plan to immerse in the Vietnamese culture, do consider tasting bún bò Huế to its fullest.

Still confused? How about trying the dish yourself. Since the Saigonese take their bún bò Huế seriously, there are bún bò Huế emergency restaurants Món Huế everywhere that you can crash into. But for true cuisine enthusiasts, Bún Bò Huế at 725 Hoàng Sa, district 3 is the ultimate destination. With its Foody rating (Vietnam's largest food rating app) at 9.2, who wouldn’t want to give the place a try?

3. BÚN MẮM

For those who have undertaken and survived the “Bún bò Huế life-changing trial of flavors explosion,” congrats and welcome to your next stop: bún mắm. For those who have not made it but are interested anyway, read on at your peril.

Bún mắm is so eater-picky that it is considered by many to be the “Vietnamese gumbo” (gumbo is an extremely strong-flavored West African dish). The magical taste of bún mắm does not lie in exotic components (ingredients-wise it is essentially bún bò Huế) but in the process through which a bowl of bún mắm, especially its broth, comes into being. Bún mắm’s broth is made with the ever-so-rich, one-of-a-kind “prahok sauce”. Making the sauce requires great patience, as the time period between first marinating prahok fish and the point at which they are fermented can take months. But it is all worth it, for the final result is perfection – one slurp is enough that can send you to cloud nine and back with its mixture of saltiness, sweetness, a little bit of sour, and the much-famed unami. One word to describe the taste? Carnival.

There is a saying that goes, “Whenever traveling to a new region in Vietnam, order bún mắm. You’ll never end up with two same bowls.” And that is true. Each locale has something new to put on the table. Chinese-Vietnamese bún mắm? More meatless greens. Trà Vinh? Vice versa. As for the Saigonese, we care a lot about giving customers the best experience, so everything is included. Literally, everything. Eating bún mắm in Saigon, you will find ingredients similar to bún bò Huế (which is already packed with ingredients) and those uniquely suited for bún mắm, knotgrass for example. Other types of meat like squid or fish are also present.

Bún mắm is truly a dish that will take your cultural immersion to another level. Without many obvious restaurants that hang signs of “BÚN MẮM” at their doorstep, finding the right place to enjoy the dish may require much time at Saigon. To save that precious holiday time, we will help you with the starting point, try eating at O Xuân at 22A-22B Nguyễn Hữu Cầu, district 3. Bon appetit!

4. BÁNH CANH

Departing from the flavourful adventure in Bún-land, we now head for bánh canh (literally “soup cake” from the dough’s cake-like shape). Bánh-canh-craft is an art of its own, with dishes varying to as many as six large branches (bánh canh cua, bánh canh bột lọc, bánh canh chả cá, bánh canh giò heo tôm thịt, bánh canh Trảng Bàng, bánh canh tôm) and many more sub-variants. In Saigon, the dominant ones (or at least, the ones we have tried and loved) are bánh canh cua (crab soup cake) and bánh canh Trảng Bàng (Trang Bang soup cake).

Unlike the complex nature of the dishes discussed above, the makings of bánh canh are as straightforward as it can get: soup, noodles, meat, and some herbs. For bánh canh cua, the meat is seafood (crab, shrimp) with the addition of a quail egg or two. For bánh canh Trảng Bàng, it is even simpler: just add pork knuckles! But do not be fooled by its apparent simplicity as bánh canh is by no means less tasty than its bún counterparts. Taste-wise, the sort of feelings bánh canh provokes are similar to those of phở. Its broth is light, medium-seasoned, and the richness in flavours come exclusively from the pig bones, hardly relying on any other type of seasoning. Its noodles are a trademark. Few, if any, other dishes have noodles as thick and chewy as bánh canh. If bún mắm is a carnival on the tongue, then bánh canh must be a kiddy playground as its chewiness teems with youth and vigor.

A bowl of bánh canh, if served right, can be a refreshing experience. To testify that, you can try Bánh Canh Ghẹ Cầu Bông at 2 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Bình Thạnh district for bánh canh cua or Hoàng Ty restaurant at 1 Nguyễn Hữu Cầu, district 1 for bánh canh Trảng Bàng.

5. CAO LẦU

Tired of soupy noodles already? Let’s go for some cao lầu. Oh and sorry to break the news but, the name does not mean tall tower as cao means tall and lau means tower in Vietnamese!

It does mean something else though. One-of-a-kind-ity. Cao lầu differs from every other dish presented in this guide. It is not a type of phở, much less bún, hủ tíu, or bánh canh. Aside from the fact that nobody really knows where it came from (Hội An - Vietnam, China, or Japan?), cao lầu differs from other Vietnamese noodle dishes in that the noodles take the spotlight. First off, black rice is soaked in ash-water to get rid of all the moisture. Then it is pulverized and clean, cool water is added to make the dough. After that, the dough is rolled out, cut into strands, steamed, and dried under the sun for a long time to produce the final result of tender, chewy, and oh-so-indulgent noodles. Add some salad, herbs, mung beans, char siu (xá xíu), and fried lards (tép mỡ) and voila: cao lầu’s at your service!

Since cao lầu is not as popular in Saigon (or anywhere) as it is back in Hội An, places that serve it can be a bit tricky to find. I would recommend travelling to Hội An to fully experience such a delicacy, but if you have no time to visit Hoi An but really want to try it here in Saigon, then Phố Hội Quán – Cơm Gà và Cao Lầu at 203/67 Lãnh Binh Thăng, district 11 is a good place to start.

6. HỦ TIẾU NAM VANG

Strolling around Saigon, it is not hard to catch glimpses of hủ tiếu Nam Vang (Nam Vang kuy teav) eateries. You can either enjoy the dish in its original form (wet noodles) or a less soupy version that is hủ tiếu khô (dry kuy teav). Both taste good, but since wet noodles have flooded four pages already, let’s see what hủ tiếu khô brings to the table.

Just as the broth is the spotlight of a bowl of bún mắm and the noodles are that of cao lầu, the magic of hủ tiếu khô lies in its sauce. Making the sauce is as simple as ABC, simply stir-fry some garlic and mix them with good ol’ soy sauce, vinegar and some spices like sugar or salt and as much as half a bowl of hủ tiếu khô is ready for consumption. The other half? Just turn to the basics – rice noodles, meat (pork, shrimps, pig organs, etc.), some vegetables – and add a quail egg or two.

Many say eating hủ tiếu khô is like chewing on rubber! Absolutely, very indulgent rubber it is. Since it is served dry, hủ tiếu khô usually do not get soggy (unless you get greedy with your sauce) and has a chewy texture that brings much delight to whoever bites into it. Coupled with pungent stir-fried garlic – everybody’s food crush – and a sour-sweet taste from the mix of soy sauce and vinegar, hủ tiếu Nam Vang has never failed to trigger a “wow” from any foreigner first time dining on it. Try it for yourself at Nhân Quán, 122 Trần Quang Khải, district 1!

7. BÚN THỊT NƯỚNG

Truth be told, by now you are probably feeling so hungry right now after reading the 6 noodles dishes! But don’t leave yet! Grilled pork comin’ up!

Revolving around grilled meat, the dish is called bún thịt nướng (literally vermicelli with grilled meat). Ingredients-wise, bún thịt nướng is probably the most foreigner-friendly dish. It does not call for many Eastern components other than fish sauce (now likely to be found in any supermarket anywhere) and nem (meat roll/spring roll) (easily omitted from the recipe). To assemble your own bún thịt nướng, simply put some salad and herbs at the bottom of the bowl, spread cool rice noodles on top of the salad, place grilled (better charcoaled) pork, spring rolls, and meat roll (if available) on top of the noodles, sprinkle crushed peanuts, pickled vegetables, mỡ hành (scallion sauteed in oil) for garnish, and douse with fish sauce to blend everything together.

There is nothing quite like a cool, refreshing bowl of bún thịt nướng on a summer day (or just any day). The chill of the noodles, the smokey flavor of grilled meat, the crunchiness of greens, and the sour-sweet-with-a-tinge-of-spiciness fish sauce, all of which are blended together so perfectly that the dish just seems to brighten up anyone’s day.

There are quite a handful of bún thịt nướng eateries all around Saigon, from sidewalks to restaurants. But with our beloved foreign friends in mind, Bà Tư’s at 74 Cô Giang, Phú Nhuận district is a good go-to bún thịt nướng place.

8. BÁNH HỎI

The Vietnamese have always had some loose screws in their heads. Speaking of vermicelli, many would figure it can hardly be served as anything beside noodles with meat and broth in a bowl. But they would be wrong. Here in Vietnam, bundles are also a solution to vermicelli. Such is the case of bánh hỏi.

Served on ceremonial occasions such as wedding and ancestor memorial days, bánh hỏi requires much skill to make. As you would guess, the spotlight is on its bundles. First, high-quality rice is soaked overnight and washed until the water is clear. Then it is ground either with or without water; more water is added to leaven the mixture, which is then cooked in a pan and stirred continuously till coagulation. When the dough’s ready, it will be pressed through small holes in copper or aluminum cylinders. One person presses while another catches and bundle the noodles coming out on the other side. At last, the bundles are cut into 10cm portions and steamed for about five minutes.

Complicated as the preparation process seems, the dish is actually very easy to assemble: simply place the vermicelli bundles on one side of the plate, spread some mỡ hành on top, then put the meat (pork, duck meat) and herbs on another side. When eating, you should put everything together on your fingers in the order of herbs – vermicelli – meat, fold them and dip the bunch into fish sauce. The taste is very similar to bún thịt nướng but the texture is a lot smoother as the noodles are more refined.

For an authentic taste of bánh hỏi, head for 453/98 Lê Văn Sỹ, district 3. They also serve bún thịt nướng as well! (two birds one stone!)

9. BÚN ĐẬU MẮM TÔM

Oh boy. Our tourist friends, you have no idea how tortured we were over whether to put this dish on the guide. Why? Imagine bún bò Huế or bún mắm, pretty eater-picky ‘cause they have got shrimp paste, right? OK, guess what. In bún đậu mắm tôm, the shrimp paste (made from fermented ground shrimp mixed with salt) is for dipping.

Don’t run away! The dish is here for a reason.

The taste of shrimp paste in bún đậu mắm tôm is actually very delightful as it is mixed with hefty amounts of sugar and Vietnamese kumquat (tắc). Bún đậu mắm tôm is similar to bánh hỏi. Its components are served separately and are left to the customers to put together. A typical serving of bún đậu mắm tôm can be found on a “mẹt” (a special type of traditional Vietnamese dish made of mây - calameae) with vermicelli bundles (a lot thicker than bánh hỏi), meat, herbs, and of course, fried tofu.

There is no absolutely correct way of eating bún đậu mắm tôm. Some people like to enjoy each part of the dish at a time, but here in Saigon, we eat it the bánh hỏi way: just bunch everything together, dip it in the sinful shrimp paste, and devour everything in one go. The explosion of textures and flavours are sure to leave you craving for more. How about giving it a try yourself at Tú Uyên’s at 433/9 Sư Vạn Hạnh, district 10? You won’t be disappointed.

10. GỎI CUỐN

Not to be confused with chả giò, which is also Vietnamese spring rolls, gỏi cuốn is a combination of thinly sliced pork, fresh prawns, herbs, and vermicelli wrapped in rice paper (called bánh tráng). One of the most popular Vietnamese appetizers (ranking 30th on “World's 50 most delicious foods” by CNN Go in 2011), gỏi cuốn does not require much spice. In fact, what makes it so good is the dipping sauce – tương xào. The sauce’s main component is hoisin, made with ground soybeans. Mix it with coconut broth, stir-fry with garlic and sugar, and sprinkle some chili or ground peanuts on top and voila! Few, if any, people finish their gỏi cuốn with a half-empty bowl of dipping sauce.

It can be hard to find the right gỏi cuốn place since the dish is so popular and enjoyed by Saigonese and foreigners alike. But we’re here to save your wallet: try eating at 38 Nguyễn Phi Khanh, District 1!