My Google Maps Addiction, and Why You Should Use It, Too

Today I'd like to talk about how I log what I do for fun around town. It's really nerdy!

For several years now (maybe 4?) I have been using Google Maps to document all the cool places I've visited, what I've eaten, and all the great coffee I've had to drink.

It sounds kind of inane now that I'm saying it out loud, but I absolutely love using this service, mostly on my phone. It has even become something of an addiction, I'd say! 'Must get rid of the yellow marks...!'

Here's the overview of my immediate neighborhood, for example:

• Blue checks are the places (cafes and restaurants, mostly) that I've visited and reviewed.
• Yellow checks are the ones I haven't been to yet but want to visit. 

The orange ones are the standard google maps suggestions, which are sometimes accurate for your interests and sometimes not. I don't let Google track my location, so these are pretty random for me, personally.

Let me tell you about why this is a great way to explore HCMC, or any city - click through for more!

The Best Vegetarian in Da Kao, District 1, HCMC

Tib's tofu skin rolls stuffed with mushrooms

Up next on my food tour of Ho Chi Minh City, I bring to you the best vegan / vegetarian Vietnamese cuisine in Da Kao ward, District 1! 

You're in luck today, because all three of these options are absolutely, undeniably excellent, and in three different and unique ways. In my opinion, these are three of the best veg spots in the city, so there's no clear frontrunner... you'll just have to try them all and choose for yourself.

If you haven't yet, read about finding and ordering vegan food in Vietnam. If you're looking for more vegetarian nearby, check your vegan options in Tan Dinh ward. Otherwise let's rock!

Da Kao ward sits just north of the major tourist and financial centers of District 1, and is full of big companies with hungry office workers, and thus excellent food at every price point and of every kind. Here's the area I'll be covering in my next few food posts:

As usual, I try to avoid the chain restaurants and focus on independent places that I think are unique and extra-delicious.

Click here for three tasty veg joints that will make your day:

The Best Street Food in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

So you're in Tan Dinh ward and you're hungry... You want street food? You want fast food? I've got some great options for you today.

Welcome to my last food entry exploring all the restaurants and foods of Tan Dinh ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City!

This final post is all about the best fast, street-level food you can get around these parts. Tan Dinh is a smorgasbord of fantastic food options, and the quick food is some of the best you can get when your tummy is angry and you need some calories STAT. 

Today I've got the best banh mi in the area, some Vietnamese pizza, some crazy chicken sticky rice, a very unique bowl of thick crab noodles, and the second biggest meatball you'll find in HCMC. All are craveable, all are cheap, and all are ready to fill your belly within a few minutes of ordering. 

Sometimes, faster is better. With these, you don't have to sacrifice quality in the name of quickness.

Click through to see the street food I recommend in Tan Dinh!

The Best Restaurants in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

Welcome back, folks!

I've been a bit sick the last couple weeks with a persistent cold, and now a possible ear infection, so I've been a little languid and haven't gotten much writing done. But the time has come to try and finish up my food and cafe overviews of Tan Dinh ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

Assorted Steamed Rice Cakes at Bep Hue

Saigon is a city of (as of now) 13 million people, and is, no surprise, a never-ending font of amazing food and restaurants of all kinds. Tan Dinh is a densely populated place and there's a lot of foot traffic, which leads to a pretty excellent variety of neighborhood eateries. 

You've seen my list of awesome cafes in Tan Dinh, drooled over the ward's many excellent vegetarian restaurants, and now it's time to focus on some of my favorite proper non-veg-exclusive restaurants in the ward (although, as usual, many of them offer some vegan options).

Click through for everything from Hue specialties to grilled octopus to Chinese noodles and more...

The Best Vegetarian Restaurants in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

Our first stop on my city-wide breakdown of my favorite Viet Veggie restaurants is, of course, Tan Dinh, where I'm comfortably located and where I do the most repeat visits (including my post highlighting the 7 coolest cafes in the area).

Here's Tan Dinh ward, in case you need a location refresher:

Here are a few of the best vegan restaurants around my new home in Tan Dinh ward, District 1, HCMC.  Don't forget to check out the most important food vocabulary to decipher all-Vietnamese language menus.

To Tan Dinh, and to chay!

Vegetarian in Vietnam: Vocabulary and Notes

Cha Gio Chay - Vegan spring rolls

Strap in - I'm about to start a series of my favorite veg restaurants in Saigon, according to area!

But first, a little background information...

It's absurdly easy to be a vegetarian here in Vietnam, and I've been upping my vegan intake in 2020 - a lot. At this point I'm probably about 60-70% vegetarian, and I feel great. I've also noticed that, even though I still sweat like a waterfall, I've got less BO! It's the little things, people.

Buddhists in Vietnam traditionally eat vegan two to four times a month, the day before and after the full moon, and before and after the new moon. For this reason, there's almost always a few veg places around, and even meat-centric places will often offer a vegan version of their most popular dishes on those days. It's very popular to gather in groups on these days and go out to restaurants, but many people also choose to cook at home.

So without further ado, here are some things to look out for, to understand, and some words that will help you navigate menus and street food signs across the city and through Vietnam. They'll also help you understand what you're drooling over when I post lists of my favorite locations.

Onward, to learning!

The 7 Coolest Cafes in Tan Dinh, District 1, HCMC

Cafe Time is Life. You know I speak the truth.

I moved into my new place October of 2019 here in Tan Dinh ward, District 1, and I really couldn't be happier with the location. It's full of street life, services, good food, and great places to explore.

Fortunately, there are also a bunch of great cafes to while away the hours with a book or your laptop and remote work. If you're anything like me, you love to find a good new cafe, especially one that lets you linger for a little while and take your time soaking up the leisurely pace of life that permeates Southern Vietnam.

Here are some of my close-to-home favorites...

Get Your Dim Sum, and Then Some, in Saigon

Dim Sum is a great way to enjoy a ton of different tastes and textures, and there are more than enough options in Ho Chi Minh City to satisfy every steamed dumpling lover.

These are some of the best dim sum places I've personally experienced in Saigon. Some are best for takeaway (looking at you, Mr. Hao), while some are best enjoyed in the ambience of the restaurant (Baoz and San Fu Lou are both delightful and downright luxurious).

All are worth investigating with your food hole. Just don't forget to pack that wallet before you go - dim sum can rack up a bill reaaaaaal fast, especially if you're ordering for more than two people!

Click through for a list of my local favorites!

Tib Chay Restaurant: Upscale and Affordable Central Vietnamese Vegetarian

Tib Chay restaurant in Ho Chi Minh’s District 1 is a fine choice for getting your Central Vietnamese vegetarian food fix! Check it out – colorful, flavorful, and reasonably priced.

One of the best things (out of many, many best things!) about eating in Vietnam is the incredible variety. While it may be occasionally difficult to find street food that is truly vegetarian (for example, fish is not considered a meat), a huge chunk of the population is Mahayana Buddhist, and one of the traditions is eating vegetarian on the 1st and 15th days of the lunar month. As a result, there are a fair amount of prominent vegetarian restaurants, from cheap to expensive, that serve exclusively veg food any time of the month. Sometimes you just can’t with the pork again, you know?

Slightly off the beaten path, Tib Chay revels in the royal traditions of Central Vietnamese food. Central Vietnamese cuisine is distinct from the Northern or Southern traditions, and centered around Hue. This ancient city was the home of the last Vietnamese royal dynasty, and the food reflects the court: sophisticated and colorful. Dishes are often defined by their small size and elaborate preparation.

Our main dish (seen above) was the house rice, served with veggies and lotus seeds. I’m not usually a fan of anything culled from the lotus plant, but these seeds are an exception to the rule. The vegetables were juicy and well seasoned.

Quan Khoi: The Greatest Seafood Restaurant in the World

Ok, seriously? This is 1/4 of a shrimp,
and it's bigger than a soy sauce bowl.

Let's get hyperbolic about seafood!

[NOTE: this is NOT my go-to place for fish hotpot... that's a story for another post!]

There are an awful lot of quality seafood restaurants in Saigon, and, obviously, I haven't eaten at all of them (I think such an undertaking would take years, even if you ate at one per day).

And frankly, I don't think I'll have to try any more. Quan Khoi is just that good. Thanks Ray and Skye, I owe you guys one.

I was first introduced to this magical place last year, and it used to be located in Tan Binh District to the NW (which its wetnaps still identify as home).

Recently, however, it took it upon itself to up and move much, much closer to my house, which can only be considered a win for all involved (well, for me, certainly).

There are 5 great reasons that I'm pledging my loyalty to Quan Khoi:

1. It has shrimps as big as my forearm.
2. There's this dish where they fry the fish, then fry the bones after you've eaten the fish. It is DIVINE.
3. Prices are reasonable, and they seem to understand my very, very broken Vietnamese almost all the time.
4. The fried rice uses broken rice (com tam) and it is the perfect combination of oil and crunch... but not too much of either. Craveable. Do order with the garlic morning glory.
5. There is frequently a box of kittens in the restaurant.

Even if I kept looking for a better place, I'm not sure such a search would be a worthwhile use of my time - why bother, when I've got truly exceptional staring at me off the plate?

Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền: Broken Rice, Topped With Grilled Perfection

aaaauuuuuugghhhhh OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM RIPRIPRIPRIPSLURPSHOVELSHOVEL. Check please!

Cơm Tấm is one of the most delicious and popular rice dishes among visitors to Saigon, and Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền is where to go get it.

Hands down. End of review.

If you expect perfection on your first bite, head here. There is com tam all over the city, but few are turned out so excellently or consistently perfect as at this alley location in the midst of Phu Nhuan District. It's all they serve, after all, and they've been serving it for a long, long time.

Au Parc: Carb-y Morning Glory

Home of the Marvelous Bread Basket Breakfast (French Brunch):
served with marmalade, mulberry jam, honey, salted butter
(and sometimes homemade chocolate sauce instead of the jam).

Having just done a virtual eating tour of the midwest (and Colorado) for several weeks, I’m more than ready to be back in Saigon, including my routines and my exercise. My smooshy Thanksgiving face demands it! But all those (absurdly) generous portions and cheesy variations have me thinking about one restaurant in particular in HCMC - One with one of the the most interesting (Western) brunches in town. To those of you in the D1 brunch loop, I am, of course, referring to Au Parc.

From their ample, varied baskets of homemade bread, to the colorful, healthy salads and sandwiches, this place has carb-y decadence for sale, and I’m in the market.

Let me show you why Au Parc is worthy of a precious meal timeslot on your visit to Ho Chi Minh City…

Banh Mi Ha Noi: The Art of the Local Deli

HEY YOU.

C’mere kid, I’ve got something for you.

You like crispy, fresh-baked baguette? …Yeahhhh you do.

Fatty, crispy pork? …Drool, baby. You know you want it.

Sautéed onions and peppers? A couple slices of white cheese? A bit of lettuce? All topped off with chili sauce and some kind of sweet-soy-whatever (it's hoisin, I'm an idiot) sauce?

Come around the corner with me, and let’s get some Banh mi thit nuong, or BBQ Pork Sandwich!

This is the most delicious, craveable piece of food art in my neighborhood, and a dangerous distraction after a long day at work - it’s all I can do to stick to only ordering one most days.

Feast your eyes on this specimen...

Sozo Cafe: A Cafe With Heart, But Little Soul (Food)

Does Chile Con Carne usually go over rice?

Sozo Cafe is a pleasant two-story cafe on Ho Chi Minh City's Bui Vien Street, right in the middle of the backpacker district and just down the block from Lam Cafe (a wildly different beast).

I spend a fair amount of time upstairs, where you don't have to do reconnaissance on outlet availability before you settle in and you're guaranteed an environment where you won't hear Vietnamese pop music or anything with Celine Dion - lots of piano, jazz, and old Standards from the '50s and '60s.

Pretty darn good PB cookies, too.

It's a lot of things. It's a reliable local organization that helps pull young and/or disabled Vietnamese and their families out of the cycle of poverty, has a great selection of western desserts (including, I must mention, that phenomenal brownie, DO GET WARM WITH ICE CREAM), is a really nice place to get work done in the AC on hot afternoons, and is super cheap and more quiet than many other comparable cafes. The ca phe da is sweet and the coconuts are cold - my tastes in cafe drinks are simple and this place delivers reasonably well.

Is the food that great? Well... it's nothing outrageously special..

But if you're in the mood for something serviceable without being pretentious or expensive, put this on your list of places that provide a 'home vibe' and stop in... or simply click through for my review below.

Da Lat 2014: Scarf & Fireplace Weather

Erin, I adore this picture.

One of the best and most relaxing adventures of my summer was my return trip to Da Lat, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - Land of 1000 Pines and Former French Colonial Playground.

Not only is the weather here just ridiculously comfortable (a mild 70's during our visit in July), but it was an excellent last hurrah with my friend Erin and a great experience for my friend Lisa visiting from NYC.

It's truly a must-see if you're looking to experience a few of the sheer variety of climates and environments in Vietnam.

Some of the great things we did included: staying at one of the world's most unique guesthouses, visiting pagodas and flower parks, discovering secret trails into the hills originating in the cemetery, frolicking among lush jungle waterfalls, doing the central Market on a Sunday, and generally wandering around this picture-perfect painting of a town, far away from the sweltering heat of Ho Chi Minh City to the south.

It was SO COLD... seriously,
like at least down to 70 F.
Scarf and fire weather.

True, I was brutally sick with a stomach bug for the first day and a half (including a really, really precarious sleeping bus trek. Sorry about your bathroom, Da Lat bus station - but seriously, you should be sorry about it too: thank god I carry toilet paper with me).

(BTW: Hello Erin's Family - this post is for you!!)

Not a lot of reading today, it's been a long week and I'm tired of looking at these summer posts stuck in Draft Purgatory. Plus, I pretty much detailed everything I liked about Da Lat in my 2013 post, which you can find here if you haven't memorized everything I've ever posted.

Check out a photo album of my Last Vietnam Hurrah with Friend Erin, and the beginning of my Vietnam Adventure with Lisa, below!

ABenAbroad's Saigon

Me and my Mom!

I've done a lot of talking about services, food, drinks, and products I've come across in HCMC, but it's not always easy to compile those into a cohesive whole.

Today, I'm beginning that process.

That's right: this is going to be a full map of everyplace I go: from getting ink cartridges to a haircut, drinks to my favorite restaurants, I've begun compiling everything here on a brand new post!

It may not look like much yet, but stay tuned. It is roughly half the places I've been to and utilized in the past 15 months, and I'm sure I'll be exploring even more in the future. I will continue to update this map with locations and small commentary, as well as reviews to my blog if I publish them.

Pho Binh: Occupation Out Front, Tet Offensive Upstairs

Terkel has his eyes closed in every picture, I swear.
The pho bo was satisfactory, but not mind-expanding
 (...maybe I ask too much from my soup).

A pho restaurant named 'Peace Soup' that held the command of a massive military operation? How much more Vietnamese can you get?! Probably not much. If it were a perfume it would be called Essence d'Viet.

I may be in the minority in this, but I didn't get a whole lot of education concerning America's actions in Vietnam in my public school education. I feel shortchanged, and a bit stupid about it.

Soup's on - It's Learnin' Time!

The entire back half of the 20th century was a blur in history classes (as it was also, now that I think of it, in my Theatre History/Literature class), and although names and events stir a vague recollection in our collective unconscious for me, I'm embarrassed to reveal exactly how much I don't know about the Vietnam conflict... AKA The American War.

Embarrassed because I live here now, and doubly embarrassed because the trauma of this prolonged, ridiculous war game has had long-lasting effects and left obvious scars (albeit, scars fading into the past) on many of America's politicians and demagogues in the years since.

Visitors from all over the world have left notes expressing
peace and well-wishes for the family operators of Pho Binh.

Every time the hawkish white men push to go to war, there are fewer and fewer people to remind us of our mistakes in Vietnam (more recently Iraq, which is sadly now becoming a new problem), which is a pity.

The world needs more friends, and fewer enemies. This is the current attitude of the Vietnamese government (except maybe about China) and certainly of Pho Binh (Peace Soup), and has been since the Tet Offensive was planned above the kitchen of this restaurant beginning in October of 1967.

The family is always ready to offer soup and history lessons - they embrace the significance that their establishment holds - and they have been drawing in curious members of the public for over 44 years since the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

My mission to understand more about this prolonged and divisive conflict continued in the most delicious and interesting way possible... with food and some first-hand history.

Lam Cafe: Consistent, Affordable, Varied, and Guinea Pigged

Chicken Cashew Stir Fry at Lam Cafe.

I generally try to avoid Bui Vien (the backpackers district in District 1) but occasionally you just want a good, cheap, quality meal. I've got just the place.

For my money, Lam Cafe is the best all-purpose restaurant on the strip. Enormous portions, quick and friendly service, and consistently high-quality meals add up to the a meal that lets you enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the Pham without taking a gamble on touristy places that may or may not deliver for more money.

Officially it's at 175 Bui Vien, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, but in reality, you can also eat at Chao Saigon (Burger Crazy, 222/2 Bui Vien) across the street (it's owned and operated by the same family/kitchen). An odd setup, but given the limited seating at the original site it works out well. (Protip: there is also upstairs seating at Lam with a good view of Bui Vien. Ignore the mini-second floor. Avoid the bathroom.)

Plus: they have a guinea pig that runs around. True Story. Click through for my favorite dishes, and pics of some of the cheapest, tastiest eats on the block.

Pizza 4 P's: The Only Pizza in Saigon

As far as we can tell, this guy makes every pizza, one at a time. His
workspace is also a casual, circular dining bar area.

Or rather, the only pizza in Saigon that's worth a damn.

From the crust to the cheese to the excellently combined culinary traditions of Italy, Japan, Vietnam, and, yes, even France, everything about these pies screams "Don't forget to take a picture before you decimate it!" and "DECIMATE ME IMMEDIATELY, SCREW THE PICTURE" in the same breath.

I've been lucky enough to dine here three more times in the past month, and the restaurant never lets me down. True, similar to my fascination with the Banh Xeo at Banh Khot Vung Tau, I'm not sure why you'd ever get anything other than a pizza, and possibly a salad, while you're here.

L'Usine: HCMC's Foremost Food & Fashion Fusion

L'usine (151 Dong Khoi Street, HCMC) aims for a specific niche, and nails it: the creative crowd that loves euro-influenced brunch (and an exceptionally expensive boutique) has a home here. Much has been made of the two locations in HCMC, of which the best by far is the first Dong Khoi location (entering through the art gallery almost makes it all by itself!) sitting kittycorner from the stately Saigon Opera House.

Arty!

My friend and roommate Yona introduced me to L'usine, and I owe her a debt that will go unpaid for a long time. I won't go into crazy specifics here. It was one of the first western places I ate, and I've brought several friends here since. It's a solid, dependable option when you want a place with class and air conditioning, and a creative atmosphere with compulsively sippable Iced Lime Juice.

The boutique is a little too hyped up. Not only is half of it so trendy that it's probably already half-ironic by the time it gets to the shelf, but it's almost hilariously expensive. Even if I would buy a great afghan in the south of Vietnam (which, no), 200 USD is just a tad more than I like to pay for anything less than my rent.

But let's not lose sight of why I end up bringing my friends here... that comforting food!