It’s no secret that I am a passionate ‘foodie’ and one of the biggest draws to Vietnam, for me, was its food culture. Any country that promises steaming bowls of comforting noodle soup with a pile of DIY herbs and condiments for less than £2 or generously stuffed fresh baguettes for less than £1…sounds like heaven to me!
However, having had more than my fair share of Phở and Bánh mì, I was keen to get out on the street and discover all the other fabulous dishes on offer. Cô Giang street turned out to be the perfect place to do just that. An easy walking distance from our hostel in the backpacking district of HCMC, yet away from the booming cheap drink bars and westernised restaurants it was an easy-to-navigate street with a good selection of different authentic Vietnamese dishes.
We had a very delicious 2 hours where we had starter, main and pudding all for the grand total of £5.58… for 2 people!!
Starter: Bò lá lôt @ Hoàng Yên: 25,000 VND per portion (approx 83p)
First stop, Bò lá lôt. These are kind of cylindrical beef meatballs, they cooked 2 versions, one wrapped in betel leaves, the other not. We ordered one of each! They were being grilled over a smoking hot BBQ with a special chimney sucking it all up and pumping the enticing aromas out to passers by.
They are served up on a platter with fresh rice noodles, a herby-lettucey salad, rice papers and a dipping sauce. To eat them, you basically grab a bit of beef, lay it in a rice paper alongside a pinch of rice noodles and a handful of greens, wrap it all up, dip it in the sauce and shove it in your mouth!
It tasted amazing. Juicy grilled meat, silky noodles, crisp salad and a punchy dipping sauce…oh my…I was in heaven. Making lots of ‘mmm’ and ‘yummy’ noises as Dan rolled his eyes, I made light work of about 4 rolls, even finishing off the remaining noodles, salad and rice paper once we’d demolished the meatballs.
Rating: 10/10
Main: Hû Tiên Xào @ Quán 79: 93,000 VND for total bill (approx £3.10p)
Next up, following a suggestion from another blog, we head to Quán 79 to sample the Hû Tiên Xào, described as ‘ thick Chinese-style fried noodles’ we ordered a portion to share with garlic stir fried morning glory (spinach) on the side and a coke and 7Up to wash it all down.
The noodles turned out to be fried with seafood and pork, but I found them a little bland especially following our fresh, melt-in-the-mouth starter. They were lacking in that bit of zing you often get in Vietnamese food. The star of the show turned out to be the simple, garlicky morning glory which I found totally delicious. I’d return to try some of the other stuff on the menu (there was some sort of fish and vegetable wrapped in foil parcels which looked pretty good) but the Hû Tiên Xào unfortunately did not blow me away. The Bò lá lôt turned out to be a hard act to follow.
Rating: 6/10
Pudding: Quán Kem Xôi Dùa @ Quán Kem Xôi Dùa Cô Giang : 25,000 VND (83p)
And for the finalè… Quán Kem Xôi Dùa aka Coconut Ice Cream with sticky rice, topped with toasted coconut and peanuts.
This. Was. Delicious. Simple as that. And so beautifully presented. The teeny tiny plastic stools and wooden tables only added to the charm with only a handful of spaces set up on the pavement.
Everything about this dish was superb. The cool, refreshing, creamy coconut ice cream, set on top of the chewy, vibrant, purple sticky rice with the sweet and savoury crunch of the coconuts and peanuts was just a delight. There was also the freshness of coconut meat as the whole thing was served in half a fresh coconut! And on top of all that…it was vegan! One for all you plant-based eaters out there. The perfect end to a fabulous evening dining on (or near) the pavements of Cô Giang Street, Ho Chi Minh City.
Rating: 100/10
STREET FOOD, I BELIEVE, IS THE SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE - Anthony Bourdain
