Dining Experience: The Best Restaurants in Saigon

Saigon, a bustling metropolis, is renowned for its numerous upscale and casual restaurants offering diverse culinary styles. From European to Asian cuisines, the city showcases a rich culinary heritage, allowing you to experience exquisite dishes from around the world without traveling far. With Deluxe Group Tours, unveil the list of the best restaurants in Saigon to find your best dining experience.

1. The Unique Saigon Dining Scene.

Saigon, a bustling city with numerous eateries and restaurants, is a culinary paradise where every street and corner bursts with colorful and flavorful symphonies. From bustling street food stalls to luxurious hidden gems behind ornate doors, Saigon offers a rich and diverse culinary treasure trove, welcoming you with open arms.

With over 10,000 restaurants, Saigon boasts a culinary scene as diverse as its own. This list of the best restaurants in Saigon will guide you through high-quality dining experiences with distinct cultural flavors. Based on various criteria, such as food quality, service, ambiance, and price, these restaurants promise to deliver the finest culinary experiences.

Whether you’re a fan of traditional Vietnamese cuisine or love street food, you’ll find the perfect restaurant for you in this list of Saigon’s best restaurants. With Deluxe Group Tours, embark on a journey to explore Saigon’s culinary paradise and create unforgettable memories on your trip!

2. The Best Restaurants in Saigon to Try

2.1. Fine Dining Destinations

2.1.1 Cuc Gach Quan

Cuc Gach is one of the best restaurants in Saigon, specializing in traditional Vietnamese cuisine from three regions, and has won over countless customers with the rich flavors of Vietnamese culinary heritage.

Cuc Gach Quan is nestled in an old villa in Saigon, featuring warm and familiar wooden interior decor adorned with gentle greenery. The restaurant is praised for its rustic atmosphere, offering a countryside ambiance in the heart of the city. Unlike the hustle and bustle of the downtown area, stepping into the restaurant feels like entering a cool green courtyard in the countryside. The tranquil space creates a comfortable setting, ideal for your family gatherings and friendly get-togethers.

Moreover, what may impress you when dining here is the restaurant’s criteria for environmental protection. Instead of using plastic, Cuc Gach has long used water spinach stems as straws, which adds a unique and innovative touch to the experience.

The dishes at Cuc Gach Quan are known for their authentic homemade flavors, prepared by skilled chefs. The presentation is rustic, using pottery bowls, banana leaves, clay pots, and bamboo trivets, which are all familiar to Vietnamese people. The restaurant pays attention to every detail to create a cozy, family-style dining experience. Their menu is diverse, focusing on dishes made from vegetables and minimizing starch. They offer a wide selection of authentic Vietnamese dishes, representing the culinary characteristics of the three regions: North, Central, and South Vietnam.

If you wish to try Vietnamese cuisine, Cuc Gach is a destination you cannot miss. Come here and experience the finest flavors of Vietnamese cuisine from all three regions!

• Address: 10 Dang Tat, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 09:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
• Price range: 55,000 VND – 1,200,000 VND/dish

2.1.2. Le Café des Stagiaires

Le Cafe is described as an ideal destination for enjoying relaxation moments in a luxurious European atmosphere. Beyond just being a restaurant or a simple bar, the best restaurant in Saigon boasts quality dishes.

Le Café des Stagiaires is designed in a European style, creating a standard relaxing space for you. Especially with the combination of classic features and local taste in interior design, you will experience cuisine in a spacious area with open windows and a breezy rooftop area overlooking the Saigon River, the stunning cityscape, and the iconic Landmark 81, one of the tallest buildings in Southest Asian.

The highlight of the experience here is perhaps enjoying dinner under the sunset. As night falls, you can also indulge in special cocktails accompanied by lively music from DJs.

The dishes at Le Café des Stagiaires are prepared by Chef Milan Lam, a talented Parisian chef known for his unique European dishes influenced by Japanese cuisine. Le Cafe offers a diverse menu, including Apéro with various drinks like beer, cocktails, spritzes, and the famous French Pastis, served with appetizers such as mixed starters, pizza, assorted cheeses, and bistro tapas. The restaurant’s fixed menu includes light meals, but they also frequently introduce new dishes and special menus.

Le Café des Stagiaires will offer you vibrant parties and breathtaking city sunset views while you sip on cool beers and enjoy delicious dishes made from the freshest ingredients. Come and experience these wonderful moments!

• Address: 10 Street 54, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 05:30 p.m. to 02:00 a.m.
• Price range: 60,000 VND – 500,000 VND/ dish

2.1.3. Noir Dining in the Dark

If you’re looking for a new experience, Noir Dining in the Dark is definitely the place you should visit. The experience here will surely bring something fresh, beyond just culinary delights. With its new and unique cuisine experience, you will be overjoyed and excited about your journey to one of the best restaurants in Saigon.

For those who don’t know, dark dining is a unique style of modern cuisine enjoyment. You’ll be confined in a dark room, completely unaware of the food you’re about to eat, and must move around guided by staff, like someone truly visually impaired.

Stepping into Noir Dining in the Dark, you’ll be ushered into a waiting room before entering a completely different space where darkness envelops all senses and leaves only sound and flavors to guide you on an exciting culinary journey.

With the attentive guidance of professionally trained visually impaired staff, you will be led from the waiting room to your table at Noir Dining in the Dark, sipping on cool drinks and beginning your unique dining experience. Each dish is arranged clockwise, starting from the top right and ending with the top left, immersing you in music and helping you forget the initial confusion of temporary visual impairment. Your sense of smell becomes sharper, your taste becomes more refined, and your touch becomes more sensitive as you discern the flavors of each dish.

At Noir, you’ll enjoy a meal with the motto “no looking, no knowing, no understanding,” and the specific menu won’t be disclosed to you beforehand. What makes it even more intriguing is the elaborate and unique preparation; sometimes, you won’t be able to distinguish between pork and lamb, beef and duck breast, cabbage and green papaya… The dishes are creatively transformed and will surprise you when the truth is revealed at the last moment.

The meal at Noir is a journey through the senses, providing you with a completely new way to perceive food. Moreover, the culinary journey at Noir takes you deeper and helps you better understand the challenges faced by visually impaired individuals, while also fostering a greater appreciation for what you have.

• Address: 180D Hai Ba Trung, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 05:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
• Price range: 500,000 VND – 700,000 VND

2.2. Street Food Adventure – Best Restaurants in Saigon

2.2.1. Van Kiep Street

If you are a street food enthusiast, Van Kiep Street in Saigon will offer you delightful culinary experiences, leaving you fully satisfied before heading home.

As you wander along Van Kiep Street, you’ll come across a plethora of stalls brimming with street food. The small roadside stalls offer a variety of dishes, from familiar ones like pho, Hue beef noodle soup, and crab soup to unique dishes such as mi xao gion (crispy stir-fried noodles), banh cuon (steamed rolled rice pancake), com chay kho quet (scorched rice with vegetarian braised fish sauce), and fried sticky rice. Each dish has its own distinct flavor, making them irresistible. What’s more, with just a few tens of thousands of VND, you can enjoy a hearty and delicious meal.

The Van Kiep Quyen noodle soup is a unique combination that brings an irresistible flavor. Its irresistible deliciousness leaves a lasting impression on anyone who visits Van Kiep Street. With fresh ingredients and meticulous preparation, tasting the noodle soup here allows you to feel the explosion of flavors immediately. The hearty bowl is filled with tender, fragrant slices of beef, chewy, crispy fish cakes, and sweet, rich shrimp, all immersed in a light and sweet broth with firm, smooth noodles, creating a highly enticing dish.

Scorched rice with vegetarian braised fish sauce at 196 Van Kiep is also a must-try dish. This dish will conquer you with its traditional vegetarian braised fish sauce recipe, perfectly blending salty, sweet, and spicy flavors with an enticing aroma that awakens your appetite. The hot, crispy rice combined with the rich, savory sauce makes for a truly exceptional street food experience.

Moreover, visiting this street allows you to freely explore a culinary paradise with thousands of dishes, ranging from simple treats like dumplings, crab soup, and spring rolls to vibrant street foods like snails and colorful smoothies.

• Address: Van Kiep, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 06:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
• Price range: 10,000 VND – 90,000 VND

2.2.2. Su Van Hanh Street

Beyond the bustling Van Kiep Street, explore the diverse culinary paradise on Su Van Hanh Street, where you can immerse yourself in the flavors of Vietnamese street food and culinary delights from around the world.

This street bursts with restaurants, eateries, cafes, and various services, all packed every evening – you’ll lose count trying! Each place has its own unique style, sure to attract you with its diversity and distinctiveness.

Stepping into this area, you can easily find any dish you love, from simple street food to high-end, luxurious cuisine. Each dish is meticulously and elaborately prepared, offering an irresistibly delicious flavor.

One of the eateries you definitely can’t overlook when visiting this area is Chè Mân, a name synonymous with the signature desserts of both the stall and the street. Each enticing tray of che (sweet soup) includes 16 Southern-style sweet dishes, like chè bà ba (sweet soup with sweet potato, taro, cassava, tapioca, and coconut milk), banana sweet soup, corn sweet soup, mung bean sweet soup, taro sweet soup, etc. This sweet soup eatery immerses you in a sweet world. Each type of sweet soup has its own distinctive flavor, and without ice, the slightly cool sweetness lingers deliciously in your throat.

Another dish that will captivate you is Hu Tieu Dia Sa Dec Ba O. You might think that you can only enjoy this local specialty in Sa Dec, but here you can order and savor a delicious plate. With high-quality, fresh toppings, from shrimp to tender meat, mixed with a thick, beautifully colored sauce that emits an enticing aroma, this dish is sure to satisfy your taste buds.

Crab soup might be a familiar dish when exploring Saigon street food, but on Su Van Hanh Street, you can find one of the best and most high-quality crab soups in Saigon at Sup Cua Hanh. Famous for its bowls brimming with fresh, delicious crab meat, Sup Cua Hanh is sure to be a name that offers you an unforgettable culinary experience.

Along this bustling street, you will easily come across numerous restaurants and eateries featuring distinct Korean and Japanese styles, allowing you to enjoy the characteristic dishes of Japanese and Korean cuisine.

• Address: Su Van Hanh, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Price range: 50,000 VND – 150,000 VND

2.2.3. Ben Thanh Street Food Market

Ben Thanh Street Food Market is the first street food market of its kind in Vietnam, gathering most of Vietnam’s most famous street foods. It offers you exciting opportunities to explore and experience Vietnamese cuisine.

This Street Food Market overflows with diverse stalls, offering everything from traditional Vietnamese dishes to Asian and European cuisine. Whether you’re craving a snack or a full meal, you’ll find it here.

Banh xeo (Vietnamese crispy pancakes) features a crispy, golden outer shell filled with delicious shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts served with a rich and sweet fish sauce dipping sauce, creating an irresistible flavor. Bun Cha Ha Noi (Hanoi-style grilled pork and vermicelli noodles) consists of fragrant grilled pork served with fresh vermicelli, raw vegetables, and a sweet-sour dipping sauce, offering a refreshing taste of the capital city’s cuisine.

If you want to enjoy delicious Hue-style cakes, you can also find them here. Banh beo boasts a soft, silky outer layer with a chewy texture. Savory shrimp and pork fill the cake, topped with sweet fish sauce. Crispy pork rinds and fried shallots are served alongside, creating a harmonious and delicate flavor. Banh nam (flat steamed rice dumplings) has a soft, melt-in-your-mouth outer layer filled with fragrant minced pork, dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce, offering a light and refreshing taste. Banh loc (loc cakes or tapioca dumplings) has a chewy, translucent outer layer filled with rich shrimp and pork, dipped in the distinctive salty fish sauce of Hue, creating an enticing flavor.

Spicy and aromatic snails, a signature street food of Saigon, are also a must-try at this street food market. Razor shell stir-fried with chili and garlic features intensely spicy and fragrant garlic and chili stir-fried snails, complemented by their chewy texture, served with crispy hot bread. Grilled sweet snails with scallion oil offer aromatic grilled snails with rich and creamy flavors, balanced by a sweet and savory taste, accompanied by fresh vegetables and sweet-sour fish sauce.

At this place, you can also find many dishes from Chinese, Japanese, and European cuisines, offering you a diverse and rich culinary experience.

• Address: 28 Thu Khoa Huan, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
• Price range: 10,000 VND – 350,000 VND

Furthermore, to easily immerse yourself in the flavors of Vietnamese street food in Saigon without worrying about language and cultural barriers, food safety, or choosing dishes, you can consider the HO CHI MINH CITY TOUR & STREET FOOD BY VINTAGE VESPA. You will be taken care of from A to Z, from transportation to destination selection. Your journey will be filled with exciting culinary experiences.

2.3. Delicious Vegetarian Options – Best Restaurants in Saigon

2.3.1. Be An Vegetarian Café

Opposite to the bustling central streets outside, Be An is a peaceful, warm corner serving wholesome vegetarian dishes for both body and soul. Be An will offer you an inspirational vegetarian dining experience.

Just a few steps from the bustling urban center, Be An brings you a tranquil, relaxing space akin to stepping into a green oasis. With its cozy natural decor and earthy tones predominating, using materials like wood, bamboo, and leafy plants, Be An creates a familiar and relaxed atmosphere. The harmonious setting complements the light and refreshing vegetarian dishes served here.

Be An specifically avoids salty imitation vegetarian dishes, preservatives, or artificial colors. Instead, it takes you on an authentic journey through vegetarian cuisine, transforming vegetables into the stars of the dishes. In addition to traditional Vietnamese dishes, their special menu includes Western and Asian fusion dishes, offering a completely unique vegetarian dining experience.

At Be An, the highlight is always maintaining the core values of fruits and vegetables that are good for health and the immune system. Moreover, Be An emphasizes minimizing sugar content in cooking to preserve the natural, refreshing flavors of each ingredient, contributing to health protection and boosting your immune system. Be An transforms the boring culinary journey of vegetables into delightful dishes. The vegetarian dishes in this restaurant infuse mundane vegetables with flavors, transforming them into a spring feast so delicious you’ll feel like you’re bathing in it.

Forget about the hustle and bustle of the city; let the warm sincerity of the surroundings, people, and especially the food here help alleviate your fatigue and replenish your positive energy.

• Address: Saigon Garden, 99 Nguyen Hue, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. to 09:30 p.m.
• Price range: 65,000 VND – 285,000 VND

2.3.2. Shamballa Vegetarian Restaurant

If you want to experience vegetarian cuisine in Saigon, Shamballa will surely leave an unforgettable impression by offering pure and nutritious vegetarian menus.

At first glance, it resembles a mysterious castle with a Tibetan style that blends classical and modern elements. However, upon stepping into the restaurant, you immediately sense tranquility and serenity within your soul, thanks to its completely different interior design from its outward appearance. Lotus flowers, rustic wood, fired bricks, brassware, coconut shells… create a space that inspires pure vegetarian cuisine, infused with a touch of meditation.

Shamballa stands out with its menu of pure Vietnamese vegetarian dishes that promote health by balancing flavors and nutrition to support a natural lifestyle and environmental conservation. It offers a vegetarian dining experience crafted from organic ingredients, such as naturally fragrant rice without preservatives, meticulously selected fresh vegetables and more.

Shamballa Vegetarian Restaurant’s menu features over 50 exquisite, wholesome dishes that are sure to satisfy you. This diverse range of offerings will definitely impress you, including seaweed soup, fragrant fruit rice, Hue-style noodles, Shamballa in four flavors, banana flower salad, lotus root salad with peanuts, lotus leaf rice, spring roll vermicelli, etc. Moreover, the flavors are equally impressive, ensuring a delightful dining experience.

Shamballa Vegetarian Restaurant will surely become an exciting rendezvous for you. If you love a luxurious yet cozy vegetarian restaurant, you can choose to visit Shamballa Vegetarian Restaurant & Tea House.

• Address: 17-19 Trinh Van Can, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
• Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Price range: 100,000 VND – 400,000 VND

Additionally, To complement the rich culinary experience in Saigon, you can explore stylish rooftop bars where you can enjoy premium drinks while admiring the sparkling city at night. Explore Top Rooftop Bar Saigon: Experience Unforgettable Nights will guide you to ideal spots to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere and stunning views of the city.

Saigon is a bustling city with a rich and diverse culinary scene. From humble street foods to luxurious restaurants, Saigon always has something for you. Whether you’re seeking traditional Vietnamese dishes or want to try international cuisine, Saigon won’t disappoint you. Especially with the list of the best restaurants in Saigon I’ve experienced and recommended above, I hope you have plenty of choices to explore Saigon’s culinary delights. Wishing you wonderful culinary experiences in Saigon!