 RESTAURANT
Both Vietnamese and Western food are widely available in HCMC and
English menu are common. Additionally, Cholon's specialty is Chinese
food and there is plenty of superb international food around.
Vietnamese Cuisine
When traveling to Vietnam, it'd better to try Vietnamese cuisine
which can be easily found in most Vietnamese restaurants in HCMC.
Examples of such superb restaurants are Nam Giao which is situated
in the heart of Central Area, tucked away in the alley of cosmetic
shops behind Ben Thanh Market. This restaurant serves cheap and
delicious Hué Style dishes. If you think of a restaurant serves
good Hué dishes but in a little quieter place, Tib Restaurant,
housed in a Sino- French Villa down an alleyway, provides you with a
mean jackfruit salad with grilled sesame. Make dining in Vietnam a
little easier at Botung Xeo as its staff speaks English and you can
enjoy traditional Vietnamese BBQ food especially the house specialty
of tender marinated beef. Also, try testy Hanoi's fish cakes (cha
ca) and good Thai dishes at Restaurant 19.
Outer central area is where you can find yummy Vietnamese food
with a small price. Nam Bo, located Pham Ngu Lao Area in the center
of backpacker land, is a remarkable outdoor eatery. Here a wide
variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes can be ordered from a long
time of clean Vietnamese food stalls.
Other Asian
Apart from fine Vietnamese food, Indian is another dominant cuisine
in central area plus many more of Khmer, Thai, Japanese and etc.
Cholon or District 5 is a place to eat Chinese food. There are
several Chinese restaurant here such as My Huong which is a highly
popular indoor-outdoor restaurant serving up all kinds of good food,
including superb noodle soup with duck. Tiem An Nam Long near the
Binh Tay Market, is noteworthy for tasty wok-fried dishes and
sidewalk seating. Dong Nguyen specializes in tasty roast chicken
with rice (com ga).
ENTERTAINMENT
War-time Saigon was known for its riotous nightlife. Liberation
in 1975 put a real dampener on evening activities, but the pubs and
discos have recently staged a comeback. However, periodic
'crack-down, clean-up' campaigns - allegedly to control drugs,
prostitution and excessive noise - continue to keep the city's
nightlife on the quiet side.
Pub & Bar
HCMC's widest and wildest variety of nightlife choices is in the
central area; however, the Pham Ngu Lao area has several hot spots,
in addition to the always hopping travelers-café scene. Generally,
pleasant atmosphere of pubs and bars in HCMC are contributed from
tasteful decoration, good live music, tasty food and beer, and
friendly staff such AQ Café offers cool jazz music and good coffee
and beer, No 5 Ly Tu Trong has stylish decoration, Chu near the
Notre Dame Cathedral is notable for respectable wine, an interesting
twist on Vietnamese noodle soup, pho bo with sirloin, and a climate
controlled stock of Cuban cigars.
Nightclub
Dong Khoi is the area where you can find dance clubs such as Shark,
one of the hottest dance spots in the city center, and well-located
near the river. The cover charge entitles you to one free drink. If
you are in favor of Latin dancing, Maya is the place which offers
salsa lessons as well. It can be also recommended for serving
respectable South American food and tapas, and the décor is chic.
Sam Son is a routine Vietnamese disco five nights a week, but on
Tuesday and Friday nights it has long been a gathering place for
HCMC's gay men.
Water Puppet
A traditional Vietnamese performance, first performed a thousand
years ago on the surface of ponds and paddy fields in Vietnam's Red
River Delta, water puppetry (roi nuoc in Vietnamese) is the lively
creation of farmers who spent their days in flooded rice fields. At
some point, they discovered that the water was an excellent medium
for puppetry: it not only concealed the puppeteers' rod and string
mechanisms, but it also provided exciting effects like waves and
splashes. There are two venues to see the water puppets, at the War
Remnants Museum and the History Museum which schedules vary, but
shows tend to start when a group of five or more has assembled.
SHOPPING
Art & Craft
In the last few years the free market in tourist junk has been
booming - you can pick up a useful item such as a lacquered turtle
with a clock in its stomach or ceramic Buddha that whistles the
national anthem. And even if you're not the sort of person who needs
a wind-up mechanical monkey that plays the cymbals, there is sure to
be something that catches your eyes. It is actually amazing what
people do with soda cans: cutting them up and moulding them into
cyclos, helicopters, aircraft carriers, and so on. The Dong Khoi
area has a reputation as the center for handicrafts, but most shop
owners drive a hard bargain. The Pham Ngu Lao area also has good
pickings.
Craved Seal
No bureaucracy, communist or otherwise, can exist without the
official stamps and seals that provide the raison d'être for
legions of clerks. This need is well-catered to by the numerous
shops strung out along the street just north of the New World Hotel.
In Cholon, you can find shops making these seals along Ð Hai Thung
Lai Ong. Most Vietnamese also own carved seals bearing their name
(an old tradition borrowed from China). You can have one made too,
but ask a local to help you translate your name into Vietnamese. You
might want to get your seal carved in Cholon using Chinese
Characters, these are certainly more artistic (though less
practical) than the Roman script used by the Vietnamese today.
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