All Reviews
Large indoor market that sells luggage, clothing, souvenirs, fresh flowers, produce, meat, and prepared foods.
This is a great place to visit if you're a tourist staying in the Pham Ngu Lao area and want to pick up some clothes or knick knacks to take home with you. Just remember to bargain for the price you want to pay.
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Good for a late night drinking place, when all other options have been forgoten. Cannot remember the music that much, but had a alright time.
Been during early evening mostly, just people watching, as it's position is perfect. Not tried the food, so cannot comment, although my wife said some of the dishes she had were, average to good.
Iam not a tight person at all, but 35k for a beer with a head and half on it, was pricey for backpacker area, especially when the cafe/bar next door does the large bottles of Tiger for less.
It's always full anyway, so i pay for the atmosphere, although with Allez Boo re-opening on the other corner, it could have a effect.
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low-key place to get drinks. yes, the price of food is expat/touristy, but the staff are very friendly and it's a nice place to hang out with friends on the weekend.
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One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I’m not a big fan of these kind of themed pubs (Australian by birth I’d never dream of venturing into an “Aussie” pub – or perhaps only in a nightmare), but if you like these sort of places, this is as good as I’ve seen anywhere.
In the spirit of my forefathers I do love a drop of the black stuff, and “Irish” pubs are a generally a good candidate to get one. Here it’s served cold (how I like it though I’m told an abomination to many native drinkers) and reasonably priced – i.e. expensive, but not horrendously so). The staff are friendly and willing to smile, the décor is sufficiently tacky and on my last visit a good collection of folk music came wafting through the din (though somewhat incongruently with some esoteric Australian tracks and a few pieces of country and western twang).
What did it for me here was the food. Yep, pricey – tourist pricey (~110k avg a plate) but it was bloody good. The shepherd’s pie and the beef and pies are top notch – much more authentic than one might imagine. And lord knows how hard it is to get a pie in this country, let alone a good one. The mash – with hints of leek, garlic and almost certainly cream, was to die for and it’s for this that it’ worth coming here if nothing else.
If you like an Irish pub or just some good, real, western food – you could do much worse than give this place a crack.
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This is the only authentic looking Irish bar i have been, in Vietnam.
I use to go when in town form Hanoi, when it was only the smaller version, it was still good, but due to the small "bar" area, it was hard to get a perch.
Now with the increased area, plenty of options in the other areas.
The food is pretty good also, especially the Sunday roast, and always end up there for breakfst when people come down on the p*ss from Hanoi.
Also the price is not over the top for a popular place, unless your on a travelling budget of course.
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This is a great restaurant with great value. Despite what the summary says, you can easily have a full meal for about 70-80,000 per person, without having to skimp on appetizer or anything. The decor is cozy and charming, in a rustic Vietnamese style. While the food is not the best gourmet food, it's quite good and the menu is very extensive, offering up almost any popular dish in Vietnam. I haven't been here for lunch, but I've been here for dinner three times and never had to wait more than a couple minutes while they cleared a table. It's also close to Window's Cafe, which is a great place to relax after dinner for a drink.
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This should be more of a 3.5 stars, but if I had to pick 3 or 4, well you can see that I picked 4. The venue was nice and the service was good. I had the Skewers Gyros which were good. Everything was good and the reason I'm not giving this place four stars is because there's nothing special about it at all.
I can get the same food for the same price in an equally nice restaurant in the US. Considering this is Vietnam, I expect it to be cheaper or better for the same price.
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Being french, I was looking for a french restaurant and was directed to La Fourchette. I was quite disappointed by the place: it's too expensive for what it's worth and quite basic...
It's ok to go when tired as not far from most hotels...
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Nam Giao is a great find for the budget-minded diner who still wants to eat well. The food is not quite as good as more upscale Huế restaurants such as Phú Xuân, but the price is very affordable (check their website for menu with prices). The first time I ate there, we ordered almost everything on the menu and the bill for two people was about 180k. Last night, my friend and I had two bowls of noodles, appetizer and iced tea for 66k. While the decor is not on the level of a Western-style restaurant, it is cozy, comfortable and clean.
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This place is sooo close to being good. The kitchen just needs to develop some taste buds.
I've walked past this place many times,'cause it is a block away from Saigon Centre, but I was never motivated to go until reading the reviews below.
Went here for dinner and had a selection from the drinks and dinner menu - came out to about 320k for one person.
Here's the rundown:
Ordered a margarita (85k) and it was pretty decent - made with real, fresh fruit, which is a nice surprise.
Restaurant provided a chips + 3 salsa teaser. Chips we the sort of thick, heavy ones one finds in a lot of mexican joints Stateside that make their own; not ideal, but I've had lots and lots of similar chips, so I can't complain.
Salsa however was pretty bad in its execution. The three choices were pico de gallo, a spicier red/brown one, and a very mild red one. The pico was made with very nice, fresh ingredients, but it was missing something - salt, lime, heat? I couldn't really put my finger on it. The brown salsa wasn't very spicy and tasted stale. It's very weird to have something other than crackers, or chips or bread taste stale, but this thing was stale. The mild red one seemed to be just light tomato paste, not salsa.
Altogether, not a very bright start to the meal.
Ordered fish taco (appetizer, 50k), and the shrimp salad (75k); the fish taco really redeemed things. They were great - again, fresh ingredients, lots of nicely cooked white fish, bright, tasty mango salsa toppings. The lime on the side certainly helped.
The salad was a bit of a downer. Shrimp was cooked well and all the pieces were there, but the salad was woefully underdressed. The only sauce was on the shrimp. A light lime vinaigrette on the greens would move this dish from a 6 to a 9.
I then had their mexican styled beer - draft beer on ice, combined with tabasco sauce and lime and served in a salted rim glass (35k). Sounded odd on the menu and tasted like it sounded.
Finally, I ended the meal with a small portion of pork short ribs (70k). Again it was well cooked and the pork was of good quality, but it seemed like the kitchen slapped on the spicy dry rub *after* it was cooked. So you end up eating moistened dry rub. After one bite I was scraping it off.
Service was ok here - but I wasn't offered another drink when the ribs met an empty beer on the table.
Two stars means "no, I probably won't return" - but this place is so close to getting a 4 star "yes, I'll return" rating from me. It's just the final little touches from the kitchen.
I hope this finds its way to management and they eat their way thru the menu to make improvements. Otherwise, just stick to the fish tacos.
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The service here is quite great because it is fully staffed, yet 90% of the people inside are going there to take pictures and not mailing items off.
You do have to be aggro on the lines, as people will just jump in front of you rather willingly - after some time in Vietnam, you'll quickly learn that people do not form lines here.
Sending things can be a bit confusing, as there are different counters for domestic slow, domestic quick, domestic package, intl slow, quick, etc. etc. Best bet is, instead of reading the signage, just jump to an open counter, tell the person(s) what you want to send and how cheaply you want to send it, and they'll direct you to the right counter number.
And yes, the stamps are not self-adhesive. You gotta lick them! Kids these days.. pretty soon, no one will understand how George Costanza's fiance died. :)
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If you want a nice time out in HCMC, this is the place to go!
The atmosphere is warm and welcoming and reminds me like France!
The menu proposed is very refined: you can find traditional french dishes or less common recipes.
Live music and great wine make this place a must!
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This restaurant is a hidden gem! Tucked away in District 10 (but still quite central), the food is outstanding. I particularly like their House Special Hotpot with tender free-ranch chicken. You have to try their Fish Springrolls as well. Clean, beautiful design, great food and very decent price -- this place is like I said, a real hidden gem!!
Haven't checked out the nightly live music yet but my friends have nothing but good things to say about the place.
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Windows 4 is the hottest non-club hangout in Saigon right now, but to call it a cafe doesn't do it justice. Make no mistake, Windows 4 is not a quiet place to curl up with your favorite book and a cup of joe. Windows 4 is the place to go, dressed to the nines, to see and be seen. Drinks here are US$4-6, which is even pricey for Americans.
The establishment itself is absolutely gorgeous. World-class architecture that includes streams and waterfalls is so tasteful, you might think you are in a trendy Miami Beach bar. It's truly impressive. The location facing the park is also quite pleasant and makes for a great backdrop.
The cafe plays music that can range from Vietnamese pop to house and trance. The music tends to get dancey later in the night and that probably reflects the fact that much of the clientele is there to meet and warm up before they go out clubbing.
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I've been in Vietnam for almost 8 years, living in Hanoi, but now based in HCMC. I had thought i'd been to every curry joint in VN, and proberly put Khazana (Hanoi) at the top of the list, but Ashoka 1, has pipped it to the post with the currys for me.
I am from Bradford in the UK originally, so if you know the UK, you'll know we have high standards of curry.
This place actually reminds my of a typical curry house from Bradford, very basic and almost 80's decor, but were not here for that. My wife who is Vietnamese is a curry sceptic, and even this place bowled her over, so much so, she eat there most days on her visit down.
For me what did it, is the curry style, which is i would say "From back home". Some would say not authentic Indian, but my idea is not picking meat of the bone. The chicken is boneless, and all white, the goat has small bones now and again, but the meat easily comes off.
Anyway, i can see some people turning their noses up at the place, but it suits me, cos it's just like home.
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Nice, reasonably priced Mediterranean fare. Try their black bean hummus and pita bread. The salmon is also quite nice. Definitely a thumbs up!
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Overpriced and over-rated. Having a Latin background, I am highly familiar w/authentic Spanish food and Pacharan is a far cry from that. Don't waste your time or money there.
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L'Entete is a lovely place, with a great menu, a good service and a very nice ambiance. As a starter I took the foie gras, followed by the grilled seabass,and a wonderful chocolat fondant. The wine list is superb. We really had a good time.
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presentation of the food is well done. portions are a little small, but food is delicious and well worth the price.
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Saigon's Central Post Office is both an architectural tourist attraction (a historical site of French architecture) and a place to mail your postcards, letters, etc.
On the tourism side, it was built during the early 20th century ad features Gothic architectural style, and is located next to another attraction: the Notre-Dame Basilica. (thanks, wikipedia)
On the functional side it was easily laid out when you walk in, but there was still some confusion about how to mail a couple of letters to the US (mostly due to my non-Vietnamese tongue). After figuring out the postage fees, I was given the stamps to affix to my envelopes. They do not use self-adhesive stamps here, so you must paint glue onto the back of your stamps at the counter with a little paintbrush, and then stick them onto your letters. That was by far the most memorable part of my visit to the post office, since it was the first time I'd touched a paintbrush in years.
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