{"id":11,"date":"2015-08-06T03:42:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T03:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/?p=11"},"modified":"2015-08-10T17:34:30","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T10:34:30","slug":"food-touring-taking-the-tast-buds-for-a-stroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/food-touring-taking-the-tast-buds-for-a-stroll\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Touring \u2013 taking the tast buds for a stroll"},"content":{"rendered":"

So there it was\u2026 Time to pig out in style.
\nWhen I heard about this little Saturday outing, as a total street food fan, I just could not resist and tagged along.
\nI briefly knew what to expect, and had an idea of what I would discover\/rediscover, and from what I was going to get into, skipping lunch was a must!<\/span><\/p>\n

A friend of mine just started a food Tour around Saigon, and I got to be a part of the very frist outing! A big convoy of motorbikes driven by the staff, all dressed in yellow, with the clients at the back snaked it\u2019s way to the meeting point: \u00ab\u00a0best Banh Mi place\u00a0\u00bb in Saigon, 26 Le Thi Rieng.<\/p>\n

Driving around in Saigon is a touristic tour on it\u2019s own I have to say\u2026 So even before you\u2019ve tasted anything, you get an immediate feel of the city just by sitting on a bike!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1521\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know about \u00ab\u00a0the best\u00a0\u00bb as I\u2019m not too familiar with what makes a great Banh Mi according to Vietnamese\u2026 But as I had reached early, I did get to witness the massive flow of clients\u2026 This place was famous alright!! It\u2019s the first time I see people coming to pick up 5 of those gigantic sandwiches\u2026 They are definitely worth the try, addiction might be right at the corner of your taste buds!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1525\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After eating off the street this massive half piece of wonderland for the taste buds, it was time to go for some more serious business, and sit down for some beef hot.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1531\"<\/a>You access the place driving through some narrow alleys, and get to think you\u2019re James Bond at times, with bikes popping out of no wear and having to maneuver the two wheel as if you were being chased constantly! But surprisingly, you always reach alive.<\/p>\n

Let the tiger flow!!
\nI guess anyone who\u2019s been in Vietnam for at least 2 weeks has already had hot-pot, with whatever local delicatessen.
\nSome even serve them with home made rice noodles, fresh and just out of the semi manual machine\u2026 It wasn\u2019t the case this time, as we had some of the more \u00ab\u00a0instant noodle\u00a0\u00bb type stuff.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1545\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The hot-pot\u2019s broth was really tasty, and I\u2019m a real fan of those big dishes put in the middle of the table for everyone to share, especially during a food tour where you don\u2019t know anyone.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1573\"<\/a>After all this meet, we took off to have some desert, and it was definitely a first for me! I\u2019d always thought Vietnamese weren\u2019t that much into sweet things, and this place definitely proved me wrong. I really don\u2019t have a sweet tooth, yet I really wanted a taste of everything in order to see what are Vietnamese sweet craves about\u2026<\/p>\n

And it was quite a discovery! The textures, ingredients are so far away from my European standards\u2026 And you can hardly make out what you\u2019re actually eating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG_1615\"<\/a>A variety of coconut based flans, some sweet red been sort of smoothie, banana mixed with condensed milk and other odd ingredients\u2026 It was definitely worth trying out!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1599\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet, I didn\u2019t get my sweetness quick back on track, and as much as I fancied the new tastes, I won\u2019t wake up at night dreaming about it\u2026 And I\u2019ll go on with the salty dishes.<\/p>\n

It was time to take off again, and head to the night market in District 4. The traffic starts to get more fluid, it\u2019s not rush hour anymore, and you get used to the horning and the lack of discipline of the streets\u2026 Saigon is sinking into you.<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed this as we stopped at a fruit stall and picked out all the fruits you don\u2019t find in Europe, and I just fell in love with some of them\u2026 It was a very smart stop, and helped us digest what we had already eaten, in order to make space for the final stop\u2026 The all you can eat and drink BBQ place: V\u0129nh Kh\u00e1nh Street, Qu\u1eadn 4)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1621\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now\u2026 It\u2019s no myth; you gotta save best for last. And I was really looking forward to this stop!!<\/p>\n

I absolutely LOVE this type of restaurants.<\/p>\n

A huge table was waiting for us, with cases of Saigon beers, ready to be served.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same concept as the hot-pot, expect it\u2019s better in my opinion.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1647\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Each group of four has a bbq grill. And the plate ballet starts\u2026 As if it was going to go on like this for ever!<\/p>\n

Marinated beef, brochettes, pork, squid (oh squid\u2026 I could write a love song on the squid around here\u2026), frog legs, morning glory (one of my favorite discovery, especially as they stir fry it with a lot of garlic\u2026), you can be sure you won\u2019t go home hungry!!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1668\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Being French, it was quite funny to taste frog legs for the first time in Vietnam, and I have to say that it tastes divine!<\/p>\n

After far to many beers and happily full of all this delicious food, it was time to part\u2026<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t eaten so much in a long time, but I have to say that I\u2019ve enjoyed every bite.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re traveling to Saigon and want an overview of what the streets have to offer, it\u2019s definitely a must do! You get to meet locals, expats, other tourists, with a great fusion of different nationalities, and have a great overview of what Saigon has to feed you\u2026 Be sure to starve yourself a bit before hand, you\u2019ll enjoy the ride even more!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For booking, it\u2019s over here:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/saigonfoodtour<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.saigonfoodtour.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

-le Mulot-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So there it was\u2026 Time to pig out in style. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/43"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saigonfoodtour.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}