I was lucky enough to be hosted by two friends in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and have many wonderful eateries recommended to me by their Vietnamese friends and themselves.

The eateries here will not be on any guide books, many are tucked away, and some are very much off the beaten track. They are all good food, recognised by locals and foreigners alike, give them a try when you find yourself in the neighbourhood.

If I was a professional food critic, I would furnish you with the Vietnamese names for the dishes so you could order it on your own, but alas, I am but a tourist pampered by my hosts.

Hoang Ty

Address: 106 Cao Thang, Ward 4, District 3; Telephone: 08.3833 2077

Genre: Traditional Vietnamese hand rolls and noodle soup

The first place my host, and his Vietnamese friend brought us for dinner on our first night was Hoang Ty, they said we were going to “eat grass”. As a card carrying Meatitarian, I put my palate in their hands and went on the ride.

Hoang Ty is a local eatery, I do not think they are used to serving tourists. The tile and concrete floor are greasy and slippery in parts. The tables are stainless steel, and the plates are melamine.

What struck me first was the trays piled high with greens. They were all fresh green herbs, my hosts explained. Plucking the fresh leaves off and taking a chew, they were a large variety (maybe 8 different) of fragrant herbs. The sort traditional Asian cooking would throw into soups or chop up to garnish meats.

Next came  rice paper wraps. The rice paper wraps are similar to the Po Piah skins that we get in Singapore. Apparently the secret to Hoang Ty’s rice paper wraps is that they are left to absorb the morning dew to moisten them. Romantic until you remember that HCMC is home to millions of motorcycles.

Boiling is not exactly what I would consider the most delicious way to prepare pork, but it is one of the most common ways they do it in Vietnam. The pork is boiled until it is white and sliced very thin.

In true Po Piah style, we had to prepare the food ourselves. Placing a slice of boiled pork on our rice paper wrap we proceed to add a little cooked rice noodle, as many herbs as one wishes and to wrap it all up into a hand roll. This is dipped into a condiment of fish sauce and chilli.

As I was about to discover about Vietnamese food, the first impression was underwelming, I thought that the handroll was slightly on the bland side, despite the myriad of herbal tastes. Being used to Thai, Malay, Indonesian and S.E. Asian Chinese food, I had expected an assault of my senses.

However, as the evening went on, and my palate started to get coated by the grease of the pork and the chewed herbs, the hand rolls started getting tastier and tastier. It was not oily or heavy, the boiled pork tasted sweet and the herbs were refreshing.

The meal was completed by a bowl of pork noodle soup. The noodles were the white rice noodles we would call Kway Teow, and the pork was boiled. This looked more like normal food. The soup however, tasted amazing. It is prepared by double boiling pork bones.

It was a tentative start to my gastronomical tour of Ho Chi Minh City, my view is perhaps jaundiced by my Meatitarianism, but in retrospect, it was a unique tasty meal and it was healthy to boot.

Anh Phan

Address: 60 Nguyen Thai Binh, District 1; Telephone: 3821 2839

Genre: Fruit Juice and Smoothies

We cabbed off to have a supper of fruit smoothies. This is in District 1, so you really have no reason not to go try it if you go to HCMC. The fruit smoothies are fresh and simply divine.

Hoi An Quan

Address: 308/26 Hoang Van Thu St.,Ward 4, Tan Binh District; Website: hoianquan.com

Genre: Central Vietnam Hoi An food

Hoi An Quan is a restaurant with two branches in Ho Chi Minh City, with the decor and service of an international standard. The one I went to was Hoi An Inn 1, in Tan Binh District, the same district as the HCMC airport. I went up there to visit a friend at his office, and he took us out to this restaurant, owned by one of his colleague’s relatives.

Hoi An is a province in Central Vietnam, and the restaurant imports fresh ingredients from Hoi An, to have the authentic taste which attracts even Hoi An people living in HCMC.

The meal was started by what looks like prawn cracker. Perhaps its the Vietnamese equivalent of a poppadom. However, I was to eat it with some tiny fried shellfish of some sort. The result was slightly oily, crunchy and slightly fishy or shellfishy. Its not bad at all.

One of the other starters that my friend ordered was some kind of dumpling. The dumpling skin was soft and the filling was tasty, we ended up eating two plates of those.

Then came the hand roll. Having experienced it once the night before, I was prepared for it this time. However, the Vietnamese never fail to amaze with their variety of spring rolls. The wrap for this roll was so thin it was nearly transparent. It has to be seperated by a plastic mesh specifically designed for that purpose. The wrap was moist and sticky.

Into the wrap we placed a slice of what looked like luncheon meat of some variety, and a roll of spring onion and what looked like shrimp. To this was added some fresh herbs, although nowhere near the variety and quantity witnessed in Hoang Ty. This hand roll was of a different texture completely, owing to this ultra thin wrap and the meatier contents.

The meal was completed by a bowl of dry yellow wheat noodles with roasted pork as compared to the boiled pork rice noodle soup in Hoang Ty. It was variation of the same theme, but the differences were there. Another satisfying and tasty meal.

Mi Chu Tac

Address: 20-6A Ky Dong, Ward 9, District 3; Telephone: 9 318 966

Genre: Chinese braised herbal duck noodles

We finally got our taste of Vietnamese Chinese food, and what a taste it was. A long taxi ride got us to Mi Chu Tac. I am sure this Chinese eatery serves a wide range of Chinese dishes but we were here for one thing, and one thing only: their braised herbal duck noodles.

This is not a dish unique to this restaurant, but as our Vietnamese guide told us, this is the restaurant that got it all right, the duck, the herbal soup and the noodles.

The noodles is hand made yellow wheat noodles. It was served dry with seasoning and vegetables. The duck, a whole drumstick and hind quarter each, was served in a stainless steal bowl inside a brown herbal soup of the Chinese variety.

The duck was soft and tasty, without the “duck taste” that some might not like, and the soup was a hearty, and heaty Chinese herbal soup. The end result was a very full but satisfied stomach. My first, and by no means last, encounter with Vietnamese Chinese food was a good one.

Stay tuned for more of my gastronomical escapades in HCMC.