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 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!

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...

Cao Lầu: Hội An's Most Famous Dish

Cao Lầu is Hoi An's most famous and mysterious dish, and, I argue, it's most delicious! This is a reason to visit as often as possible - while you can get great ribs outside of Memphis, you literally can't find Cao Lầu anywhere but Hội An.

But what is it? And what makes it so incredibly satisfying? And why can't you get this dish - literally - anywhere else in the world?

First and foremost, it's all about the noodles. These are a lye-water kneaded noodle, and are toothsome and thick, soaking up the scant sauce ladled on top. They are created using rice flour mixed with water and wood ash (specifically from the Cham islands, two dozen km offshore), and then cooked with firewood three times.

These are not your average noodles, my friend... and it shows!

A Filipino Food Digression

As long as I'm on a foodie kick on the blog, let me share with you all the delicious things I ate on my trip to Central Visayas in the Philippines!

I learned that there's a lot to love about Filipino food. It's the punch in the face you didn't know you needed, and tastes like home... no matter where your home is.

I was staying in the Iloilo/Guimaras region, and I got to see a very different kind of Asian culture. Rice is a staple, as in Vietnam, but the food as a whole is much more bold - vinegar makes a frequent appearance, as do features from Spain and other Filipino regional styles, which makes for eclectic, exciting eating.

I thought the most obvious attribute was the contrasting flavors. Vietnamese food often features such flavor pairings, like Salty, Sweet, Sour, and Savory, but usually to a much more subtle effect, and usually telling a story through texture, too. Filipino food stomps into the room with a bottle of brandy and a bucket of fried chicken skins, and tells you to get the cups! Flavor, texture, nutrition (or not), this cuisine has got it all going on, and it loves to tell you all about itself... and it wants you to know that you, too, have a home in the Philippines.

A very special thank you to my friend Rey! I couldn't have properly labeled this post without you. Thanks for a truly mind-expanding trip! Some of the best food I've ever eaten, hands down.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't tried most of these recipes, but they're on my list!

ABOVE:

Tapsilog

Tapa - Beef
Sinangag - friend rice (With lots of garlic!)
Itog - Egg

Served with a dish of vinegar! This extremely simple meal can be ordered just about anywhere, and is most commonly made for breakfast with the day-old rice from the night before. This was my favorite breakfast. It's as delicious, with fewer ingredients, as many of my favorite Vietnamese breakfasts.

MAKE IT AT HOME: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2014/12/12/tapsilog-recipe/

Only one of a few Silogs, as you'll see below!