Compared to what you would pay for fine Vietnamese food abroad, HCMC's better Vietnamese restaurants arc a bargain. It's possible to eat like royalty in a fancy upmarket restaurant for around US$10 for lunch - or US$25 for dinner - per person. Aspiring interior designers will enjoy checking out the ethnic decor at many of the better places.
Lemon Grass
Add: 4 Nguyen Thiep street
Tel: 822 0496
One of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the city centre. You would be hard-pressed to find anything bad on the menu, so if you can't decide what to order just pick something at random. Two women in traditional costume play musical instruments while you eat.
Mandarine
Add: 11A Ngo Van Nam street
Tel: 822 9783
The fine selection of traditional dishes on offer draws from southern, central and northern cooking styles. The food is superb, and the pleasant decor and traditional music performances make it an all-round good bet. A house speciality worth trying is the Hanoi-style cha ca.
Hoi An
Add: 11D Le Thanh Ton street
Tel: 823 7694
Email: [email protected]
Just down the street from Mandarine - and run by the same people -is this lovely, Chinese-style place decorated in a classical, antique motif. Hoi An specialises in central Vietnamese and imperial Hue-style dishes, and has the heaviest wooden chairs in Vietnam!
Indochine
Add: 32 Pham Ngoc Thach street, District 3
Tel: 823 9256
Email: [email protected]
Set menu: US$8-20
Nestled in a French-style villa, with wait-staff dressed in tradilional garb, Indochine's atmosphere is serene and elegant. Try the grilled prawn cakes, or the banana-flower salad (goi bap chuoi); there's an excellent wine list as well. Traditional music is performed from 7.30pm to 9.30pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening.
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