Saigon Food Tour: 10 Dishes, Local Stories & Pickup Included

5.00

(6 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We started the walking food tour in Ho Chi Minh City just as the city was waking up from its afternoon lull — scooters buzzing, someone selling flowers by the curb, the air thick with that sweet-salty smell I still can’t quite describe. Our guide, Linh, waved us over with a grin and right away it felt more like meeting a friend than joining a tour. She handed me a tiny rice cake (bánh bèo?) before I’d even said hello. It was soft and warm in my hand — topped with dried shrimp and something crunchy. I tried to say thank you in Vietnamese but probably mangled it; Linh just laughed and showed me again.

We wandered through narrow alleys where old men played cards under tangled wires and kids darted between plastic stools. The main keyword here is “walking food tour Ho Chi Minh” because honestly, you’re walking but also stopping every five minutes to eat something new. There was this smoky bò lá lốt grilled right on the sidewalk — beef wrapped in betel leaves — that left my fingers smelling peppery for hours. At one point we ducked into an apartment block where families were frying bánh xèo (that crispy pancake thing) and the steam fogged up my glasses. Someone’s grandma handed me sugarcane juice in a plastic cup; it tasted like grass and sunshine.

Linh told stories about her childhood in Cholon while we picked at coconut caramel flan from a chipped bowl — apparently her aunt’s recipe, though she wouldn’t give away the secret ingredient. We passed through a flower market that smelled like wet earth after rain, even though it hadn’t rained all day. There were no tourist crowds anywhere, just regular people doing their thing. I liked that nobody rushed us or tried to sell us anything extra; everything was included already — even beer at one stop (which surprised me). By the end I’d lost track of how many dishes we’d tried but remembered every face.