Where Top Chefs Eat in Ho Chi Minh City, From Street Stalls to Tasting Menus

A Chef's Guide to Saigon, One Meal at a Time

Peter Cuong Franklin, founder of Michelin starred Anan Saigon, goes to Bo Ne Le Hong for sizzling beef steak. Ian Ortiz Lozano of Sol Group seeks out fresh noodle pho at Pho Viet Nam. Quang Dung, founder of Tales by Chapter, recommends the pork chops and broken rice at Com Tam Nguyen Van Cu. Their choices reveal a city whose most ambitious chefs remain closely attached to its everyday cooking.

As of August 21, 2025, Ho Chi Minh City's dining scene stretches from street carts and family restaurants to intimate tasting menus and restaurants with sweeping city views. Four restaurants hold one Michelin star each: Anan Saigon, Akuna, CieL Dining & Lounge and Long Trieu. Alongside them are dozens of venues recognised through the Bib Gourmand and Michelin Selected categories.

Ho Chi Minh City, still affectionately called Saigon by locals, draws much of its culinary character from the movement between those settings. A chef might experiment with Vietnamese ingredients in a sophisticated kitchen, then spend a free evening eating noodles on a low plastic stool or visiting a favourite neighbourhood bar.

A new generation of chefs, many trained abroad, is bringing international techniques to Vietnamese flavours while keeping family recipes, local markets and childhood meals close at hand. Their personal recommendations offer a practical way into that mix: where to find a bowl of spicy beef noodles, a traditional banquet, a vegetarian meal or a menu that unfolds over 14 courses.

Street Food Remains the Daily Reference Point

Saigon's narrow alleys and busy boulevards are lined with food carts and eateries open to the street, many run by families for generations. Diners gather over steaming noodles and crisp banh mi sandwiches, often sitting close together on low plastic stools. Affordability, shared tables and familiar recipes are central to the experience.

Franklin's regular choices extend beyond Bo Ne Le Hong. He recommends Bun Bo Hue on Ton That Dam for spicy beef noodles and Tiem Com Chuyen Ky for Cantonese rice bowls. For a drink in a dive bar with plenty of character, his choice is Birdy.

Lozano's list covers several everyday staples. He goes to Truong Tuyen for grilled pork noodle bowls and Pho Viet Nam for pho made with fresh noodles. Banh Mi Xanh and Banh Mi Huynh Hoa are his two sandwich recommendations. For classic Vietnamese coffee, he suggests Ca Phe Linh, a longstanding shop beloved by locals.

A collection of chefs' street food recommendations similarly points diners towards pho, bun bo Hue, banh mi and com tam, or broken rice. Chefs, food enthusiasts, bartenders and restaurateurs each have preferred vendors scattered across the city's districts.

Michael Huynh, a Vietnamese chef based in New York, described his preference for simple places in a 2010 Saigon food account:

The most authentic food is found at street carts and simple restaurants, as trendy places focus more on style than substance.

Huynh recalled caramelized pork belly, braised catfish and sticky rice, with meals for two costing less than $20. His recollection connects the appeal of inexpensive eating with something beyond price: dishes and gathering places that preserve culinary heritage and community.

From Michelin's Arrival to Four Starred Restaurants

The Michelin Guide arrived in 2023, giving Ho Chi Minh City's restaurants a new international platform. Anan Saigon earned the city's first Michelin star, bringing particular attention to Franklin's inventive treatment of Vietnamese street food.

By the 2025 edition, the city's four restaurants with one star were Anan Saigon, Akuna, CieL Dining & Lounge and Long Trieu. The guide also recognised dozens of other restaurants with Bib Gourmand or Michelin Selected status. Bib Gourmand identifies places valued for good cooking at affordable prices, while Michelin Selected marks restaurants included in the guide.

The main milestones show how quickly international recognition developed:

• 2023: The Michelin Guide arrived, and Anan Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City's first restaurant with a Michelin star.
• 2024: Du Yen received Michelin Selected recognition.
• 2025: The Michelin selection included four restaurants with one star in the city, while CieL Dining also appeared in an international list of the best new restaurants.

Michelin described the country's dining momentum in its 2025 Vietnam star selection:

Vietnam's culinary landscape is thriving and raising the bar with every bite. With its fast-growing dining scene and a wave of exciting new openings, Vietnam is quickly becoming a rising star in the world of food and drink.

The recognition has brought global attention to the city and encouraged a new generation of chefs to aim higher. A discussion of Vietnam's first Michelin stars described the development as a "sea change", reflecting wider attention to fine dining and innovation alongside the noodles and banh mi already associated with Vietnamese food.

What Cuisine Moi Brings to the Table

Franklin's Anan Saigon helped pioneer an approach often called "cuisine moi", meaning new cuisine. It brings creativity and personal expression to Vietnamese food, using local ingredients and flavours as the starting point for dishes shaped by broader culinary experience.

Chefs who trained overseas and returned to Vietnam are central to this movement. Their cooking celebrates local terroir, meaning the qualities a place gives its ingredients, while drawing on techniques learned elsewhere. At Anan Saigon, that can mean banh mi topped with caviar or pho presented as a fine dining experience.

Franklin credits his mother's noodle shop in Dalat as his greatest influence. The connection helps explain why street food and elaborate restaurant cooking remain so closely linked in his work: a familiar dish can provide the foundation for a different presentation without losing its place in the chef's personal history.

An examination of Saigon's cuisine moi restaurants describes a generation bringing the world to Vietnam and Vietnamese food to an international audience. The restaurants associate their work with storytelling, sustainability and testing the possibilities of Vietnamese cooking, rather than luxury alone.

Tasting Menus Built Around Place and Technique

CieL Dining & Lounge, led by chef Viet Hong, serves a tasting menu of 14 courses combining Vietnamese ingredients with French and other international techniques. Its warm, modern setting and open kitchen create an intimate experience, with dishes including abalone rice and sweet potato with black truffle.

CieL also appeared in a 2025 restaurant Hot List recognising the world's best new restaurants. Its combination of local ingredients and global techniques was a focus of that recognition. Park Hyatt Saigon chef Martin Robl also recommends it for its city views.

At Nephele, chef Francis Tran runs a private fine dining restaurant guided by the rhythm of nature. A menu of 10 courses uses seasonal ingredients and cooking over wood fires, served in an elegant villa in the Indochina Art Nouveau style. Robl also recommends Nephele for dishes he describes as Greek inspired.

Akuna, atop Le Méridien Saigon, is the creation of chef Sam Aisbett, whose work has earned Michelin recognition. Its tasting menu combines Vietnamese ingredients with Japanese touches and reflects the city's "beautiful chaos". Akuna is both one of the city's four restaurants with a Michelin star and a personal recommendation from chef Kirk Westaway of The Albion.

ORYZ Saigon, led by chef Chris Fong, takes another route in a minimalist setting. Its menu draws on East Asian flavours, slow cooking and fermentation. Fermentation changes ingredients over time and is one of the techniques shaping the restaurant's approach. ORYZ is also known for inventive dishes and artistic presentation.

Aiii Restaurant brings chef Alain Pham's artistic approach to modern Vietnamese cuisine. Its tasting menus place visual presentation alongside experimentation, adding another expression of the city's growing range of ambitious restaurants.

Fire, Seafood and Vietnamese Ingredients

Quince has helped establish cooking over wood fires as a distinctive part of Saigon's restaurant scene. Its bold flavours, open kitchen and natural wine list have made it a favourite among chefs and food enthusiasts, with a more casual atmosphere than a formal tasting menu restaurant.

Westaway recommends Quince specifically for its cooking over open flames. His other choices include Akuna for refined dining, Monkey Gallery for inventive cuisine and Cuc Gach Quan for nostalgic Vietnamese home cooking. He also points diners towards classic street stalls serving pho and com tam.

Monkey Gallery's experimental menus and artistic presentation place it alongside ORYZ among restaurants taking an inventive approach. Cuc Gach Quan offers a different attraction within Westaway's list: meals connected to the comfort and familiarity of home cooking.

Logan Hester, formerly of Chôm Chôm and a longtime Saigon resident, recommends Elgin for its use of Vietnamese ingredients through an international lens. His choice for cooking over live fire and local seafood is Esta. Both restaurants show how international influences and fire can shape meals built around Vietnamese produce.

Hester's recommendations also lead to Phở Lệ Le in District 5, where he goes for hearty Southern style pho. His selections move between contemporary restaurants and an established noodle dish, illustrating the range a visitor can experience without choosing exclusively between traditional and modern cooking.

Crab, Banquets, Wine and a Neighbourhood Bar

Quang Dung's recommendations span several kinds of meals. Alongside Com Tam Nguyen Van Cu for broken rice and pork chops, the Tales by Chapter founder chooses Thuy 94 for crab street food, Lua for French style bistro cooking and Tan Nha for traditional Vietnamese banquets.

Dung's list makes room for both a straightforward plate of rice and a larger shared feast. It also places a French style bistro beside Vietnamese specialists, reflecting how chefs move comfortably across different cuisines in their time away from work.

Robl's preferences are similarly varied. The Park Hyatt Saigon chef enjoys modern Vietnamese cooking at Anan Saigon, the Greek inspired dishes he identifies at Nephele, and wine and charcuterie at Mad Wine. Charcuterie refers to prepared meats commonly served with wine. CieL Dining & Lounge rounds out his recommendations with its city views.

Franklin's Birdy recommendation adds a dive bar to the picture. Taken together, the chefs' choices extend beyond restaurants designed for a long evening of formal dining. Coffee shops, wine venues, casual bars and places serving a single favourite dish are all part of their routines.

Vegetarian Tables Have Their Own Range

Ho Chi Minh City's vegetarian dining scene offers an alternative to meals centred on pork, beef or seafood. Chefs and food writers point to restaurants serving creative menus in tranquil settings, with choices suited to families and people dining alone.

A selection of eight vegetarian restaurant recommendations highlights the breadth of that scene. Among the named venues are Du Yen, Be An Vegetarian Cafe, Shamballa Vegetarian, Hum Dining and Chay Garden.

Du Yen, recognised as Michelin Selected in 2024, is known for lotus salad and butterfly pea rice paper rolls. Be An Vegetarian Cafe serves a macrobiotic menu of Vietnamese classics and international dishes made only with vegetables. Its menu brings those different culinary traditions into the same vegetarian setting.

Shamballa Vegetarian serves a fusion menu centred on balance and ingredients from plants in a setting resembling a lounge. Hum Dining draws inspiration from Southeast Asian cuisine and has ranked among TripAdvisor's top 10 vegetarian restaurants in the world.

Chay Garden appears in the Michelin Bib Gourmand selection, serving vegetarian dishes described as affordable and high quality in a garden setting. Together, these restaurants show the city's openness to changing dining preferences while offering distinct approaches rather than a single version of vegetarian food.

The Connection Between Family Recipes and New Ideas

Saigon's chefs continue to draw on local markets, family cooking and childhood flavours as the restaurant scene changes. Franklin's memories of his mother's Dalat noodle shop sit alongside his experiments at Anan Saigon. Westaway's recommendations encompass both inventive restaurant cooking and familiar bowls of pho or plates of broken rice.

Elgin and Esta bring international influences and fire to local ingredients. Monkey Gallery and ORYZ give experimentation an artistic form. Family eateries and street vendors continue serving dishes that chefs return to when their own kitchens close.

Hester, the former Chôm Chôm chef and longtime resident, encourages visitors to look beyond the most obvious dining addresses:

Vietnam offers something for everyone. Explore its alleyways and side streets for culinary discoveries.

His advice captures the common thread running through these recommendations. A hearty Southern style pho in District 5, crab at Thuy 94, a vegetarian meal in a garden and a tasting menu of 14 courses at CieL belong to the same city's food culture. The chefs' favourites make that range concrete, giving diners names and dishes to seek out rather than a choice between tradition and experimentation.

At a Glance

• As of August 21, 2025, Anan Saigon, Akuna, CieL Dining & Lounge and Long Trieu each hold one Michelin star.
• Peter Cuong Franklin recommends Bo Ne Le Hong, Bun Bo Hue on Ton That Dam, Tiem Com Chuyen Ky and Birdy.
• Ian Ortiz Lozano's choices include Truong Tuyen, Pho Viet Nam, Banh Mi Xanh, Banh Mi Huynh Hoa and Ca Phe Linh.
• Quang Dung recommends Lua, Thuy 94, Com Tam Nguyen Van Cu and Tan Nha.
• Cuisine moi combines Vietnamese ingredients and traditions with personal expression and international techniques.
• Quince, Elgin and Esta feature among recommendations for cooking shaped by fire or international influences.
• Vegetarian choices include Du Yen, Be An Vegetarian Cafe, Shamballa Vegetarian, Hum Dining and Chay Garden.
• The chefs' recommendations span street stalls, coffee shops, bars, home style meals and elaborate tasting menus.