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...

Tan Lap Floating Village: Day Trip from Saigon

As great as Saigon is (and I do love the sheer electricity, the convenience, and the never-ending variety of foods and cafes), you've got to take yourself out of the mix every so often and soak up some greenery. The buzz of motorbikes gets in your head after awhile, and the brain needs space - the birds, and water animals, and the wind through the floating cajaput tree forest of Tan Lap is just what the doctor ordered.

Tan Lap Floating Village - not actually a village, but a forest - is an easy and very cheap way to get out of the concrete jungle for a little bit, and at only 100km from Saigon, it's easy to do so. You have to go through the industrial regions of Long An province in order to get there, but within an hour or so you'll start to see the factories fade away, and soon you'll come to one of the more magical places within easy trekking distance of HCMC.

Whether you decide to take yourself via moto or rent a car for a group, it's easy and cheap to travel here! Click through for details and more pictures...

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!

How To Clean Your Motorbike Helmet

De-stink your insurance hat! 

If you're anything like me, you put this task off regularly (it's easy to forget about and ignore it, honestly), but it's very easy to take care of.

Motorbike helmets are obviously a necessity. However, all that foam and fabric lining collects a lot of bacteria, mold, sweat, hair products, and just general nastiness, so it's necessary to sanitize and un-gross it regularly.

I spend about 2 hours on my bike on a normal workday (uf da, that was physically painful to type). I admit that I'm a sweaty person, and most of that happens above my shoulders, particularly my head - having the sun beat down on the plastic while I'm driving to my far-away workplace doesn't help at all. The foam lining of my motorbike helmets can get preeeeeetty smelly after a month in the tropical sunshine, and if I get rained on and then have to wear it with wet hair, it gets even worse.

There are two ways you can take care of this minor, but inconvenient, task:

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...

Things to Do and Eat in My Tho, Vietnam

My Tho is just a short distance from HCMC (less than 40 miles) but it feels like another world. It takes the bus - Hung Hieu from District 5 - about 1.5-2 hours to make the trip (mostly because of the traffic, but also because they make several stops along the way). Fortunately, once you get there, there's enough to make for a relaxing but eventful weekend out of the city.

There's enough here to make for a pretty neat trip, including snakes, temples, statues, food, and plenty of pretty countryside on relatively nice roads - rent a motorbike and get exploring!

Follow me for some highlights...