Seafood in Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Seafood Treats in Phan Thiet

A bustling fishing community, Phan Thiet is home to a vibrant streetside seafood scene…

Noodle Street: Nguyễn Qúy Đức, An Phú, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Noodle Street: Nguyễn Qúy Đức, District 2

A wide variety of noodle dishes from across Vietnam all within a few steps of each other on a tree-lined street in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City…

Edible flowers in Vietnamese Cuisine

Edible Flowers in Vietnamese Cuisine

Vietnamese cuisine utilizes edible flowers in myriad ways. Flowers are healthy and aromatic, adding colour, flavour and texture to many dishes…

Quy Nhon Food Guide

Quy Nhon Food Guide

An up-and-coming beach city on the south-central coast, Quy Nhon has a vibrant dining scene, featuring fresh seafood & a host of local specialities…

Fresh herbs & spices in Vietnamese Food

Fresh Herbs & Spices in Vietnamese Food

A gardener & home cook walks you through the most commonly used fresh herbs & spices that are fundamental to Vietnamese cuisine & culture…

A Guide to Drinking & Nightlife in Hue, Vietnam

Drinking & Nightlife in Hue

Artisanal breweries, local beer restaurants, dive bars for resident artists, chic cocktail lounges for posers & budget hangouts for backpackers…

Huế Food Guide

Hue Food Guide

Explore the famous ‘royal cuisine’ of Vietnam’s former imperial capital with this extensive Huế food guide, featuring 16 Huế dishes & dozens of specific location recommendations…

19 Coffee Shops in Đà Lạt With a View

19 Coffee Shops in Dalat With a View

Dozens of cool, cosy, photogenic, independent coffee shops with countryside views form one of the most exciting coffee scenes in Asia…

21 Great Places for Cocktails on Phu Quoc Island

21 Great Places for Cocktails on Phu Quoc Island

Stylish sky bars with sunset views, windowless speakeasies with professional mixologists, rustic-chic wine bars above the waves, cheap beach shacks & much more…

Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam: All 8 Episodes Reviewed

Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam: Retrospective & Review

Anthony Bourdain felt a special attachment to Vietnam. Over the course of his TV career, he filmed multiple episodes in the country. I’ve pulled together & reviewed all 8 of his Vietnam shows…

Food in the Time of Corona, Last Meals before Lock-Down, Vietnam

Food in the Time of Corona: Last Meals before Lock-Down

Before the lock-down, street food was still thriving: indeed, sitting down to a bowl of noodles was one of the only times you could take off your mask. I documented my last meals before the spread of COVID-19 forced a nationwide lock-down.

Eating bánh khọt in Vung Tau, Vietnam

Eating Bánh Khọt in Vũng Tàu | 7 Places

Bánh Khọt are delicious gems: crispy discs of rice flour batter & coconut milk, fried until they’re crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside, then wrapped in herbs & dipped in a sweet-spicy sauce. Here are 7 places to eat bánh khọt in Vũng Tàu…

Saigon to Hanoi: A Food Diary

Saigon to Hanoi: A Food Diary

On a recent road trip between Saigon & Hanoi I made a record of some of the meals I ate along the way, to try and illustrate the variety of food available, and what a delight it is to eat your way from one end of the country to the other…

Saigon's Street Food Ghettos, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon’s Street Food ‘Ghettos’

Throughout Saigon, there are clusters of crumbling old apartment complexes, all of which are on the verge of either collapse or demolition. Living conditions appear cramped and grim but, outside on the sidewalks, the street life and street food is among the best and most vibrant in the city…

Budget Sushi in Saigon, Vietnam

Saigon’s Budget Sushi Scene

The last few years has seen an explosion of good-quality yet reasonably-priced sushi joints in Saigon. Décor is cheerful, ambience is informal, and customers are young & convivial: welcome to Saigon’s budget sushi scene….

Slurping your noodles is good in Vietnam

6 Reasons to Slurp Your Noodles

Slurp and suck: this should be every traveller’s primary objective when sitting down to enjoy a bowl of one of Vietnam’s famous noodle soups. Here is my guide to why you should embrace local etiquette and leave your preconceived table manners at home….

The Food Triangle, Saigon

Everyone knows Saigon is full of great food. But there’s one corner in District 1, where you can eat three excellent meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – in three excellent establishments, all within a few metres of each other: I call it the Food Triangle….

Com tam, Saigon

Cơm Tấm, Saigon: 7 of my Favourites

I love cơm tấm. Some of my happiest moments in Saigon have been sitting down with a good plate of barbecued pork & broken rice, watching the city go by. Saigon and cơm tấm are inseparable, and this city does it better than anywhere else. Cơm tấm is the quintessential Saigon experience. Here’s where to eat it….

The Best Street Food Streets in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

7 Great Streets for Street Food in Saigon

Saigon is arguably the best place to explore Vietnam’s extraordinary street food scene. The city boasts so many street food outlets that it feels like a gigantic open-air restaurant. This is my guide to 7 of the best streets for street food in Saigon…

The Lunch Lady's Menu

The Lunch Lady’s Menu: An Illustrated Guide

The Lunch Lady in Saigon is famous for serving a different soup every day of the week. Here’s her weekly menu, illustrated with tantalizing images of each of the dishes…

Dalat: Where to Eat & Drink

Where to Eat & Drink in Dalat

My guide to where to eat & drink in the former French colonial hill station of Dalat, high up in the Annamite Mountains.

The hidden 'indie' cafes of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

Saigon’s Hidden Cafes

Saigon has thousands of independent coffee shops. Hidden down narrow alleyways, tucked away in forgotten colonial villas, or concealed in enigmatic old apartment buildings, there’s a whole sub-culture of ‘indie’ cafes in this city. These are my favourites.

Rooftop Cocktails

TOP 5: Rooftop Cocktails in Saigon

Saigon is at the heart of Vietnam’s economic boom: new high-rises and five-star hotels go up every year. On the upper storeys there are stylish bars with views over the city, catering to the country’s nouveau-riche and wealthy foreign visitors. But, with the price of drinks still relatively low, rooftop cocktails are affordable for travellers on all budgets, especially if you make the most of Happy Hours.

Snails, Saigon

Snails & Shellfish: A Guide

Snail eating is incredibly popular in Vietnam. A night of shells & beer is a very local experience. Young & old feast late into the night. The snails come in all shapes and sizes and they’re delicious. ‘Shell tapas’ is a fun night out that everyone should try

Food & Drink Map

This is a map of all my Food & Drink Guides. Zoom in, click a marker, then click the link in the description to go directly to the guide.