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Ben Thanh Market - Ho Chi Minh city

Ben Thanh Market - Ho Chi Minh city
Ben Thanh market has long been one of Saigon's most famous landmark. The market has been in existence since the French occupation. The original market was located on the shores of Ben Nghe river by old fort Gia Dinh. Its proximity to the fort and the river where merchants and soldiers would land was reason for its name (Ben meaning pier or port and Thanh meaning fort).
In 1859, when the French invaded Saigon and overtook fort Gia Dinh, Ben Thanh Market was destroyed. It was rebuilt shortly thereafter and remained standing until it was moved to its present location in 1899. Built on a landfill of what was once a swamp named Bo Ret (Marais Boresse), the new Ben Thanh Market is located in the center of the city. Under the French government, the area around Ben Thanh Market was called Cu Nhac circle (Rond point Cuniac), named after Mr. Cuniac, the person who proposed filling the swamp to create this area. The area was later renamed Cong truong Dien Hong.

Address: Le Loi St., Dist.1, HCMC

- Tel: 8225699

Cu Chi Tunnels - Ho Chi Minh city

Cu Chi Tunnels - Ho Chi Minh city
The sobering War Remnants Museum was established in September 1975 in Ho Chi Minh City. It contains countless artifacts, photographs and pictures documenting some of the less heroic activities carried out by the US army in Vietnam.
Displays illustrate the killing of civilians, the spreading of toxic defoliant, the torturing of prisoners and the effects of the war in the north. Planes, tanks, bombs and helicopters are also on display. Outside the museum are some rooms displaying cultural products of the Vietnamese culture. Over the last 29 years, over six million visitors have entered the museum. Nearly one million among them are from abroad.

Nhac Tre NO.1 - Ho Chi Minh city

Nhac Tre NO.1
Cafe Bar - Karaoke bar - live music - restaurant - video music - discothequeCome and enjoy fashionably modern styles.They will bring you funs with their comedies and special fashion shows. Especially, musical performance, drama, comedies are designed meticulously with the presence of the most famous singers, actors, actresses and models in Sai Gon.
Because this place gathers all best things in recreation: - Modern, unique and imposing bar - Hundreds of drinks, cocktails, wine and beer- Various European - Asian and Chinese food.- VIP Karaoke rooms have luxurious and cosy bars. -Service quality: customers are our kings.-With our team of bartenders: Charming - youthful and professional. Besides, we also have the attendance of 7 Dwarfs (Penguin group).With over 10 years' experience in business: Bar - Karaoke Technology, Entertainment Services, we are sure that this is the most unique recreation at Far East Pearl. Board of managers and staffs respectfully welcome you.

Address:

- 01 Le Thanh Ton St, Dist 1, HCMC, VN

Tel: (84-8) 822 9044

- 261 Nguyen Van Troi St, Phu Nhuan Dist, HCMC, VN

Tel: (84-8) 844 0183

- 97 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St, Dist 1, HCMC, VN

Tel: (84-8) 9252705.

Saigon Floating Restaurant server buffet lunch

The Saigon Floating Restaurant of Binh Quoi Tourist Village serves a buffet lunch of 40 dishes every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, including holidays.
The buffet will cost VND89, 000 per adult and VND59, 000 per child. The cruise also serves a US$10 set menu of six dishes and a-la-carte menu of seafood dishes like steamed lobster in coconut milk, seafood salad, steamed crab, fried shrimp sushi, and a variety of fish. The triple-decker boat charges a river cruise at VND10, 000 from the wharf to Nha Be Dist. Every night, customers can relax, dance and listen to music on decks 1 and 2. Deck 3 offers a more romantic and quiet space.

For more information, contact: (84-8) 823 0393

New lunch buffet at Omni

Omni Saigon Hotel has introduced a new lunch buffet concept at its Cafe Saigon, called the Pay What You Eat Lunch Buffet. It means that guests can have the choices to go for the full buffet or just pick out the dishes they like from the vast array.
"Diners can be business people who do not have much time for lunch and just want to pass by to have a quick lunch," said Nelson Yap, Cafe Saigon chef. "They have the ability to pick out their favorites in an extravagant buffet but only pay for the few dishes they pick." At US$11.50 a person, the buffet offers diners fresh, unprocessed seafood, and beef and vegetables. Moreover, they can create their own dish with the fresh food or mix their favorite food and have it cooked to their liking. In the buffet, the Omni is doing a joint promotion with Vietcombank, Metro and Maximark. The holders of Vietcombank, Metro, U-Max (Maximark) cards can enjoy a 15% discount for the lunch buffet from May to June 31. For more information, contact:

Omni Saigon

Hotel Tel: (84-8) 844 9222

May food delights at Renaissance

Highlights of the month for Renaissance diners start with a dedication to all moms at the Riverside Café on May 14. With a brunch buffet, including seafood, international dishes and mouthwatering desserts, this is a good opportunity for people to show their love for their mother.
The party includes champagne, cocktails, a red rose and chocolate gift for moms. It costs US$28 a person including soft drinks, beer, wine and a sparkling wine.Another highlight this month is the weekend seafood buffet dinner at the Riverside at US$26 a person. Lovers of seafood can really enjoy a seafood party on weekends with smoked fish, fresh lobster, oysters, king prawns, crabs, mussels and langoustine.Other May specials are a tropical BBQ at the Poolside on Saturday evening (US$24), and the Riverside Café luncheon buffet (US$16.50). For more information, contact

Renaissance Riverside

Hotel SaigonTel: (84-8) 822 0033

Late street party in Sai Gon - Ho Chi Minh city

Late street party in Sai Gon
By day, Sai Gon, the former name of Ho Chi Minh City, is in constant motion. But come dark, the city's residents unwind, whiling the night away at countless cafes and restaurants.
Sai Gon never sleeps. By day, the city's residents are hard at work, everyone in a rush to get somewhere. After dark, the frantic pace slows. The workday over, people gather at the cafes and bars that line avenues like Dong Khoi, Le Quy Don, Pham Ngoc Thach, and Vo Van Tan. Lovers stroll along Ton Duc Thang street or on the Bach Dang Wharf, or cruise aimlessly on motorbikes, enjoying the cool breeze. As the heat of the day fades, the appetite picks up. While Hanoi's late-night dining options are limited to the area around Hanoi Station (for cheap eats) and Cam Chi (for pricier fare), Sai Gon boasts thousands of choices for an after-hours feast.When the Saigonese think of a late-night snack, the first thing that comes to mind is chao, a bowl of rice gruel. While plain rice gruel doesn't sound very enticing, this disk is quick, tasty and easy on the stomach and the pocketbook.The most famous purveyor of chao in Sai Gon are on Ly Chinh Thang street, which many Saigonese still call by its former name, Yen Do. Here, a number of small stands operate well into the night, their fame revealed by the lack of advertising. One small signs simply states: Plain Rice Gruel.The stands actually offer much more. Customers can liven up their rice gruel with salted eggs, fried "three-colored eggs", white herring, dried white herring with sesame, salted shredded meat, or shrimp. Various herbs and vegetables are also available, allowing diners to create mixtures exactly to their taste.Another popular spot for a post-bar snack is Da Kao street, famous for its steamed rice pancakes. By night, small stands on Da Kao offer chao, noodles and rice pancakes.Perhaps the busiest late night food centre in all of Sai Gon is Ba Chieu market. Open all night, this wholesale market is bursting with activity, and a large number of food stalls have sprung up to sustain the porters, shopkeepers, drivers and traders who keep the place humming until daylight. The food kiosks open at around 8pm and, come mid-night, are packed. Since most of the customers are workers in the market, the fare is both cheap and quick to eat: a bowl of steaming noodles costs about VND3,000.For those in search of a more luxurious setting, there are plenty of fancier places catering to post-club crowds. The ABC Restaurant at 172H Nguyen Dinh Chieu street states on its menu that it stays open until 4am. Located in the city centre, this place attracts a lively crowd of actors and singers on their way home from performing in local clubs -along with their audiences.Here, diners pay about VND14,000 for a bowl of chao with salty egg that would cost about VND8,000 at the stalls only Chinh Thang street. Rice gruel with shrimp costs VND24,000. The extra dong buy a more relaxing and comfortable setting than that on the street, plus the chance to rub shoulders with Sai Gon's showbiz set. For something different, people with late night hunger pangs head to Hai Trieu street, near Ham Nghi street. This area, popularly known as Cam Chi (the name of a famous food street in Hanoi), specializes in northern-style dishes. Here, customers will find various northern-style noodle dishes, served with plates of bean sprouts to remind diners that they're in the south. Not surprisingly, among the crowds of native Saigonese at these stalls there are always a few homesick northerners happily slurping pho (noodle soup).While a day in Ho Chi Minh City can leave you worn out, be sure to muster enough energy for a night on the town. An evening spent eating, drinking and watching the world go by is one of the true pleasures of this vibrant city.

Modest meal in stand (Com Bui)

Modest meal in stand (Com Bui)
Com bui (literally "dust meal") is a recent coinage adopted by Vietnamese. It means to have a meal at one of those many popular eateries that have invaded in almost all sidewalks in the city.
Com bui, a sign of the time, indicates certain changes in the customs of the urban families. Eating at home was sacred in the old days. Now going out for com bui has become a habit. It is quite understandable when Vietnamese are so busy with their work. The introduction of the new system for working days of 8 hours a day allows just a short break at noon. Com bui is widely accepted thanks to its reasonable price and its variety of foods. But do not forget that despite its modest price, a meal at one of those sidewalk stands cost a great deal more than a lunch prepared by the woman of the family. This indicates democratisation in etiquette as well as an improvement in the customers' finances. Notably, quan com binh dan (popular stands) of this kind were very common in the former Sai Gon and also in some parts of Hanoi in the old days. But, unlikely their counterparts today, they were not frequentedby people of the middle class, government employees, students and such.

Vegeterian meal (Com Chay)

Vegeterian meal (Com Chay)
Vietnamese vegetarian cooking (an chay) has a long history and is an integral part of Vietnamese cuisine. In general, the focus of vegetarian cuisine in Vietnam has been on reproducing traditional dishes prepared with meat, chicken, seafood or egg without including these ingredients. Instead, tofu, mushrooms and raw, dreid, cooked and fermented vegetables are used.
A false meat banquet are patterned upon the typical lay banquet (cç) which is composed of an even number of dishes: four liquid dishes (various ingredients cooked in stock) and four solid ones. Generally, the former include: dried bamboo shoots with fat pork, vermicelli, squid and fish bladder. The latter include nem (spring rolls or imperial p©tÐ), ch¶ (fried pork pie), giß (boiled pork pie) and ném (sweet sour salad). Besides, one must also mention rice, ordinary rice or sticky (glutinous) rice, at times mixed with peas, beans, sesame and coloured with momordica pulp, as well as soy sauce (t­¬ng). The different bowls and dishes were laid on a round tray placed upon a mat. Most excitingly, the whole is real for the eyes with a variety of shapes and colours, without even mentioning the delicious taste and skilful composition of the food.Vegetarian meals are part of abstinence. Accordingly, the vegetarian regimen can help you have a pure and healthy heart. In addition, it help you to free yourself from the cycle of Karma, a dogma according to which the destiny of a living being is determined by the totality of his past actions and his past lives. In other word, the renunciation of meat help you avoid committing sins related to the killing of living beings". Compared with a vegetarian banquet, a monastic diet is much more austere. To have the purity of the soul monks will not even consume vegetables that smell strongly like onion or garlic. To eat dog meat is held to be the worst impiety, imputable to only hypocritical monks known ass S­ hæ mang (cobra monks). The everyday diet at pagodas consists of boiled water morning glory, pickled vegetables and grilled sesame mixed with salt. Soy sauce (tuong) is used in the place of fish sauce (nuoc mam).

It’s a wrap

Wrap and Roll (no, not rock 'n' roll) specialises in one of Vietnam's most popular traditional fast foods - the spring roll. With a menu offering about 35 varieties of rolls, including prerolled and roll-it-yourself varieties, the restaurant is well worth a visit for fans of this perennial favourite.
Designed in the form of a cylinder, with large windows looking out onto the street, a skylight set in the high, sloping roof to let in a little sunlight, and polished cement floors, Wrap and Roll feels chic, modern and fresh. Decorated in yellow, green and orange, the restaurant reflects the fresh colours of its specialties. In the morning, Wrap and Roll serves steamed rice crepes (banh cuon) for breakfast. You can select from a list of six varieties of steamed rice crepes with different fillings, including shrimp, pork, vegetarian and mixed crepes. I opt for the shrimp filling (VND22,000), which combines well with some small pieces of Vietnamese pork sausage (VND8,000). Without fish sauce, this dish could be a little bland. As a side dish I try crispy fried tofu (VND5,000), which is crispy and well-done, but the lack of marjoram and mam tom (shrimp paste) which are the traditional accompaniments let it down. From the roll-it-yourself menu, pork and pickled shrimp rolls (VND58,000) is a good selection. The shrimp are really tasty, sour and spicy, combining perfectly with the thinly sliced boiled pork, vegetables and rice vermicelli, all of which is rolled in rice paper and served with delicious fish sauce, making for a perfect fusion of flavours. Bamboo shoot salad (VND32,000) served with crispy rice paper can be added. The drink list at Wrap and Roll is not extensive, but includes traditional teas and fruit juices, as well as red wine - although I'm not sure if this would go so well with these kinds of traditional dishes. Wrap and Roll's service is friendly and attentive. The ambience is cool and fresh - perhaps even a little cold. It would be perfect if the founder knew how to make it a little warmerWrap and RollAdd: 62 Hai Ba Trung St, Dist 1Tel: (84-8) 823 4030