This year’s summer in the Philippines has been hitting more than 40℃, and I can’t help but remember my recent trip to Vietnam. It was the onset of summer when we went to Ho Chi Minh City to dive into what the south of Vietnam offers in terms of culture, history, and of course, food! I’ve been to Hanoi in 2023 and I loved the food experience, who am I kidding, all I did was to café hop for an entire week and I was extremely satisfied to how distinct the coffee variants they have, from the usual ca phe sua to their famous egg coffee.
Coming back to Vietnam, even when it’s a different destination made me giddy to try new flavors of this beautiful country. We arrived at midnight; Ho Chi Minh has become a popular tourist destination that you can find cheap hostels that are beyond what you’re paying for. After having a good night sleep, we woke up well rested and ready to look for the best thing to eat for breakfast –and that’s banh mi!
Weeks before our trip, I was already salivating with the thought of eating banh mi, especially in Vietnam. In the Philippines, this sandwich costs around $5.0, probably cheaper in other countries but you’ll be surprised by how much it costs in Vietnam. Banh mi is one of the food specialties of Ho Chi Minh, my friend whom I went to with for this trip was very particular with trying out the specialties of each area. Spoiler alert, our Vietnam trip involved travelling from the south (Ho Chi Minh) to the center (Da Nang and Hoi An), so we really had the time of our life exploring the unique flavors of their geography.
We ordered the “all in” banh mi, often the not, they ask you whether there’s a particular ingredient you would want to exclude. It’s probably that some ingredients contain allergens but personally, I think a lot of people are not used to the strong flavor of herbs used in Vietnamese cuisine. With just one bite, my verdict was 10/10, I loved how crispy the baguette is on the outside, airy and soft on the inside, the taste of coriander was phenomenal (I would forever describe coriander as an explosion of flavors in your mouth haha), the pate and pork floss have contrasting texture but same savory taste, and ultimately, this banh mi only costs less than a dollar!
After settling everything with our accommodation, we resumed our first day by looking for the second item of our “the food we crave” list, and that’s pho! It was the onset of summer season in Ho Chi Minh, but the heat didn’t stop me from slurping a delicious broth that comes with a bowl of pho. Our trip, although booked from months before, was something an organized tourist would consider her nemesis. We spent our days on full spontaneous decisions of where we’re going and where we’re eating. But not to ruin the whole experience, we still operate within a certain structure. We would look for nearby restaurants and food places that have high ratings on Google review. This is to avoid ending up hangry –getting angry because of hunger –when we haven’t found a place to eat.
Something, I’d like to note about using Google Maps for navigating in Vietnam is that it’s very tricky. Some shops have closed already, well I’m still not sure, that are still on the maps. They do have this knack of setting their locations that makes them a gem you find in hole in a wall. The experience of locating our target restaurants always come with the feeling of we must work hard to find this place hahaha. When we find ourselves giving up, we just make peace with eating on food places that looks promising. Like this one!
It's a simple looking restaurant, with a straight-forward menu. I got the Pho Gau, they quickly serve a hot bowl of pho and a plate of herbs. What I love about Pho is how light the soup is. My friend had to commend how natural it was for me to pick the herbs and while putting it in my bowl, a true local on our first day! After a few minutes, we finished our bowls and just like that, we were again ready to go for a walk to explore the streets of Ho Chi Minh.
