Thanh Da is not the name of the restaurant. It used to be the name of a ward where many duck porridge kiosks converged. Eventually, it became the name of the duck porridge. There aren’t many kiosks in operation now, but the most famous one is the Thu Nga duck porridge restaurant. Here you can enjoy the taste of porridge, paired with steam duck and a special sweet and sour ginger sauce.

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This restaurant was once a French colonial mansion, and was redecorated by Tran Binh Architecture. Bringing the uniqueness of the countryside into this building, it boasts things like antique wooden furniture and a reel-to-reel tape machine. It is also home to  an interior fish pond and a floating staircase. Furthermore, all food items are served on antique dishes, accompanied with antique cutlery as well.

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Crunchy with layers of luncheon meat, topped with mayonnaise and herbs, this is the Vietnamese bread. There are thousands of banh mi stalls in Saigon, but they’re always with long queues. Located at District 1, Banh Mi Huynh Hoa sells its bread at VND 40,000 each, which makes it one of the more expensive places in Saigon to get banh mi. Nonetheless, people flock there day after day because their thick meat layers are truly unparalleled.

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Located on Vo Van Kiet Boulevard, Ut Ut was an instant hit with locals and expats alike because of its name and dining style. Ut Ut, which translates to “Oink Oink Street Café”, is known an American-style barbecue and beer restaurant. Here, you can have large servings of pork dishes with signature sauces, and many choices of beer. If you don’t want to be on their waiting list, be sure to get there early as they operate on a “first-come first-served” basis.

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