Big Roy

Street Food – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

You all know I’m on diet right? Writing on all these food is actually creating a crave within… so I really dunno why am I doing this to myself… haha… not a culinary masochist though but all these backlogs need to clear before another batch of food reviews coming in soon when I venture into Xiamen of Guangdong, China. I heard so much about the place as a place for foodies like me. I would love to do videos on the food but you all know, I’m not a video person and taking still pics are still what I prefer. Nevertheless, I will try to video some stuffs! 😛 Anyone been to Xiamen and tried something that is so good that you wanna tell me about? Drop me a comment here or a message on my facebook page! (www.facebook.com/eatwithroy)

Ok back to the topic. I had some street food in HCMC but I didn’t try a lot as I was too full from my other meals and couldn’t really walk too much. But I must say the street food is really good and so much cheaper than what you pay in those upmarket restaurants. With hygiene in mind, I reckon anyone should observe the vendor selling the food first on how he/she handles the food and also if the patronage is high or not. Below are some of the food I tried around Ben Thanh Market area, all within walking distance. You can read about my experience in HCMC on my other travel/life site –> (http://wp.me/p3Hprw-1J)

My favorite Banh Mi stall...
My favorite Banh Mi stall…
Vietnamese baguette with pate, ham, cheese and condiments. VND25,000 (S$1.50)
Vietnamese baguette with pate, ham, meats, cheese and condiments. VND25,000 (S$1.50) See the plate of pate on the far left? 🙂
Fillings for Banh Mi, Vietnamese use a lot of veg and garnishings... Love this baguette!
Fillings for Banh Mi, Vietnamese use a lot of veg and garnishings… Love this baguette!
Never tried this but I reckon it's fried carrot cake... don't look too hygienic to me.
Never tried this but I reckon it’s fried carrot cake… don’t look too hygienic to me.
Loads of fruit stalls
Loads of fruit stalls
You get pomelo peeled for you in packets like these for VND20,000 (S$1.20)
You get pomelo peeled for you in packets like these for VND20,000 (S$1.20)
Packets of Jambu like these also for VND20,000 (S$1.20)
Packets of Jambu like these also for VND20,000 (S$1.20)
Roadside BBQ stall... Nice guy, speak very little English, but enough to order my works!
Roadside BBQ stall… Nice guy, speak very little English, but enough to order my works!
My works of BBQ chicken drumstick, BBQ Pork Belly, BBQ Pork Ribs, steam egg and rice. I wanted to try everything so I asked him to add for me. This cost me VND80000, which is around S$4.80. Seriously damn awesome... So good that I was tempted to have it again the next night... but I held back... Phew!
My works of BBQ chicken drumstick, BBQ Pork Belly, BBQ Pork Ribs, steam egg and rice. I wanted to try everything so I asked him to add for me. This cost me VND80,000, which is around S$4.80. Seriously damn awesome… So good that I was tempted to have it again the next night… but I held back… Phew!
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This Muslim Viet selling ice coffee on the ‘Muslim’ street to the east of Ben Thanh Market. VNC10,000 (S$0.60)
This is the actual amount of coffee in my ice coffee from the muslim guy... You're suppose to let the ice melt as the coffee is really strong.
This is the actual amount of coffee in my ice coffee from the muslim guy… You’re suppose to let the ice melt as the coffee is really strong.

Rating: 5/5.

Taste: Overall the food in Vietnam suits most palates. Pretty close to Thai food. Love it! Didn’t try the pho noodles ‘cos the stalls all didn’t look too good and the stools were too flimsy and too low for me to sit. ;P Maybe after my slimming down I’ll go back. 🙂

Portion: Slightly below average… ‘cos of the size of a Vietnamese is usually half my size. 😉

Service: Very nice vendors and they love talking to tourists… Maybe not for the clothing ones ‘cos people always bargain with them.

Ambience: N/A.

Price: Very affordable.

RTE: YEAH!!!

Location: Around Ben Thanh Market.