December 2019 - Fashion Flattery

Ho Chi Minh is the biggest city in Vietnam, but most of the tourist spots are located within walking distances. Amongst them all, the Ben Thanh Street Food Market has to be my most favorite spot in the entire city… so much that we visited it even before flying out of the country.

Oh the ‘we’ here is me and my husband! Yes recently married and exploring food now as an official couple

So what do you get at the Ben thanh Street Food Market??

I would say absolutely every type of South East Asian Cuisine ranging from Thai, Japanese, Indian and the very warm Variety of Vietnamese pho. They also have a super cute dessert counter. Drinks are available in plenty; followed by a lively Music band playing some popular English songs.

The Vietnamese obsession of drinking saccharin…

The Vietnamese people have a rather odd fetish with drinking slushes . They are usually flavored syrups stirred with coconut milk and ice. You can find almost every person gulping down these drinks in every odd corner. I call it odd, because I think its mostly a ‘style statement’ , with the only exception of the amazing Vietnamese Coffee.

The environment at the Ben Thanh Street food Market lively and you could sit for hours and chat about almost everything under the sun/moon. The Street market is best enjoyed in the evening though.

My glorious plate of food at the Ben thanh Street food market…
A rather short 7 point must eat item list

1.Beef rolls covered in Beetle leaves were simply delicious and juicy to the core.
The leaf h Beef in beatle leaf

ad a hint of bitterness to it that paired excellently with the juicy beef and the chilli-peanut dipping sauce

2.The very first Pho of our journey– so the husband had been driving me crazy about having Pho, pho and more pho … and this is where we had a super awesome bowl full of warmth and amazing flavours.Mind you the flavours are complex and like a warm jacket on a winter day.

3.Roasted pork to the rescue! I mean who doesn’t just simply love roasted pork?! The meat falling off the bones paired with various dips like soy , chilli and fish sauce..! HEAVEN.

4.Vietnamese cold spring rolls : I repeat they are cold… but welcoming. With a crunch given by the ice lettuce every time you bite into them… I can assure you it’s not your usual greasy spring roll experience. See, I have never been a fan of the greasy roll version .. may be that’s why this worked with me so well.

5.Kobe beef with all the hype:
I have always found these fancy beef dish names a hype.
KISS ( Keep It Short & Simple).. well I didn’t quiet enjoy this one! There’s a lot of Japanese influence too in the current Vietnamese food culture. We did try sushi at a local street shop.. I would definitely not recommend it! stay away from having sushi in Vietnam.. and if you are a sushi-virgin this experience might just scar you! lol.. The only reason I say this is because I love an original sushi and sashimi. May be next trip Kyoto! Sorry to digress.. just have the kobe beef only if its grilled or barbecued.

6.Raindrop Cake :
This is an absolute delight to the eyes.. Perfect round ball of agar agar swimming in mildly sweetened coconut milk. This made me look up the raindrop cake origin..!
Well the Raindrop cake is actually called “Mizu Shingen Mochi” in Japanese!

7. Last but definitely not the least… my ultimate favorite sandwich.. the divine..yet humble Ban Mi
I loved the Ban Mi so much that it earned an entire blog post for itself.. Here’s why>>

I am also gonna share a short clip of the food galore at the

Ben thanh Street Food Market video; Click Here >>>