The best food you’ll find in Vietnam won’t be from a restaurant or some chic cafe – no, it will be found in the beating heart of the cities, on the side of rural roads, out of a push cart, while dining on plastic childrens’ chairs and tables. If you’re eating well, you’re indulging in Vietnamese street food. Due to the limitations faced during Tet, I was forced to the streets and discovered some delicious food in Ho Chi Minh’s Go Vap district.

Go Vap District – Vietnamese Street Food

We stayed in two Airbnbs in Ho Chi Minh, the first in District 1, and the second in Go Vap District. The Go Vap District is quite a bit further from the center city and backpackers area, so we (I) got a little bit more of an authentic taste of the region. We also were here during Tet, which meant that just about everything was closed.

Nonetheless, we set off down the street because we had to eat something. As was expected, no restaurants were found (that were open) that could accommodate Briana being vegetarian. But I found a few spots that could satisfy me.

Grab A Bite To Eat On The Streets Of Go Vap

After cooking something for Briana back in the Abnb (we found a little convenience store with some frozen veggies), I set off for some Bun Bo Hue that I saw advertised earlier. The restaurant was a stall with a bunch of portable tables and chairs out front of the owners home.

It was basically just like a little parking lot. But the place seemed pretty popular with quite a few people eating there, as well as a few neighborhood dogs picking at scraps on the ground, and even a few rats scrounging way off in the shadows.

Questionable hygiene aside, the place seemed popular with the locals, and that is the important thing here. If lots of people are eating it, it’s probably fine, even if it the area looks a little sketchy – it’s the unfrequented places to watch out for (because the food has probably been sitting out for a while).

Language Barrier, No Problem

I walked up to the server, who spoke no English, but this really wasn’t an issue to me. I think they only served two dishes, possibly three (though maybe more, really hard to tell). But the guy pointed to noodles and meat behind the glass and said “Bun Cha”. This meant nothing to me besides food, so I smiled and nodded and sat down to wait for the food.

The Picture May Not Be Good, But The Food Sure Is

About 5 minutes later and out came a big bowl of Bun Cha. It consisted of grilled, fatty pork, thick rice noodles, herbs, and broth. The pork was a collection of extremely tender tenderloin, slices of the shank, and some unknown organ meat. The noodles had a unique texture to them, being distinctly not chewy.

The broth was the biggest surprise to me though. I have come to expect heat here in Vietnam with the dishes, but this was actually very sweet. A bright tone of lemongrass and mint mixed with the savory broth brought out by boiled pork and ox bone. All in all delicious.

With the meal complete, I paid a wonderfully low fare of 37,000 Dong (~$1.75) and walked back satisfied. But, I did not get the meal I had originally intended – I wanted my Bun Bo Hue.

Meal Number Two

So the next day, I went to a different place. We had passed by the place earlier in the day when we looked for fruit. So for dinner, I came back and tried it out. The stall was a similar set up though with more tables and fewer dogs and rats. For some reason though, it felt dirtier, but there were plenty of locals so I decided to trust it.

This time, I got my Bun Bo Hue. It was pretty delicious. I had a few concerns, but ultimately I ate it anyway and was very satisfied with it. When they prepared it, it looked like they threw a hunk of raw pork on top of my noodles then poured boiling soup on top. So because of this, I decided to let the pork stew for a while, to allow it to “cook” – if it were in fact raw.

A Pleasant Surprise

The soup was similar to the Bun Cha, but with a few key differences. It contained the same rice noodles and the broth was quite similar in taste. However, this time the broth was very spicy and had a bloody taste to it – because it’s made with jellied pork blood. As well, the meat was various thin slices of beef steak, sausage, and pork knuckle.

The pork knuckle is what I had thought was raw meat initially. After a close inspection, I think it actually was cooked, I just wasn’t familiar with what it looked like. The pork knuckle was very fatty and cartilaginous. In fact, the entire hunk was composed of nothing but cartilage, skin, and fat. Despite that though, it was actually quite good and tender. It surprised me because I typically hate fatty meat, cartilage, and skin.

A Side Of Greens

Much like with the Pho, a side plate of greens and sprouts were served. Considering the state of hygiene in the area though, I decided to not completely trust it and dumped it into my soup as well. It came out good though, so no complaints.

A Few Unfriendly Stares

While eating, I had the odd experience of having a middle age woman stare at me the entire time and give me disgusted looks. I have no idea why, or what I did to upset this woman, but it was rather bothersome.

We’ve noticed here in the Go Vap district that people seem to be quite less friendly towards us – in fact, they seem angry that we are here period. Towards the end of the meal, loud drums suddenly started going off next door so I decided to check it out after paying. I ended up paying the cook 30,000 Dong (~$1.50) for the meal and then went to next door.

Dragon Dances in Go Vap

Next door happened to be a Buddhist temple and I got to see some ceremony for Tet. I do not entirely know what was going on. But I got to watch about 5 minutes of two different dragon dances in front of a Buddha statue. It was pretty cool to see.

I’d passed another place that had caught my eye as well. At the time, they were preparing for the day, so I didn’t bother – but a few days later I went to it and decided to try it out. This place was more like a covered patio and had a bunch of tables and chairs – it certainly looked more permanent than the other places and was quite busy. I had no idea what I was getting, but I saw that they had crab, snails, and other shellfish on display, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Point and Recieve

I pointed to a picture on the menu that looked good and they went on their way preparing it for me. What they brought me was Chien Nuoc Mam – chicken wings. I probably would have gotten something else if I’d known that was what I was ordering. But nonetheless, it was really good. They were chared over a flame grill and marinated in fish sauce served alongside sautéed peppers and onions and some cucumbers.

If You’re Hungry Enough, You’ll Eat Everything

I actually didn’t know what it was that I was eating at first, and it took me a while to figure it out. It tasted just a little bit different and the wings were smaller. I was also really hungry and hadn’t eaten all that much over the previous days, so I was pretty indiscriminate. So I ate the bones. Never thought I’d say that much less actually do it – but I crunched my way through the chicken bones, I ate everything. But I was satisfied.

Finishing the meal, I paid a slightly higher price of 60,000 Dong ($3.00). I think it’s because the place was more permanent as I said and also specialized in seafood.

All in all, I’ve been pretty satisfied with the food vendors here. Except for the guy who sold us fruit – he completely ripped us off at 205,000 Dong (~$10) for 6 pieces of fruit.