Travel to Ho Chi Minh City: Food crawl on motorbike and the ultimate hipster hangout

My next travel adventures brings me back to Vietnam for a month. Since the hubs combined several days worth of footage into just a few YouTube vlogs, I’ll run through the highlights of our extended holiday.

First meal out after landing in Saigon

• Com Tam Bui Saigon (Quan 1)

The hubs has an obsession with in-flight amenities kits. I think it’s because he’s been spoiled with flying business class. I find it cute, though, when he gets excited to open up a kit. The stuffing of three of them into his backpack before deplaning, however, is not so cute.Our first meal out in Ho Chi Minh City after arriving iscom tam, which is a broken rice plate. Basically, this dish uses all the rice grains that broke and can’t be sold as regular long-grained jasmine rice. As a people who don’t like to waste, the Vietnamese came up with a dish that uses these “grade B” grains.You can order a combination of proteins to accompany the broken rice, from grilled pork chop (soon nuong) to grilled pork or beef or chicken (thing nuong, bo nuong, ga nuong). I personally gravitate towards the pork chop (but I’ll get the grilled pork if I’m trying to eat like a lady), the shredded pork and pork skin dusted in toasted rice powder known as b to I, and the egg cake (cha trung). All plates come with pickled veg, scallion oil, and a healthy dose of Fish sauce vinaigrette which you pour over your plate before taking your first bite.The broken rice plate at this particular eatery, Com Tam Bui Saigon, was solid, but there are so many good broken rice plates in the city. My thoughts of Com Tam Bui were marred (scarred?) by a roach that decided to crawl on our table during mealtime.Now, I know this is considered normal in Vietnam, but I couldn’t help feeling a little grossed out, as being a born-and-bred American has taught me that roaches do not belong on the lunch table.

A food tour of Ho Chi Minh City on motorbike

• Back of the Bike tour
• Green papaya salad in Le Van Tam Park (Q1)
• Banh khot
• Banh Canh Ghe Muoi Ot Xanh (Q10)
• Hu Tieu Sa Ta Nai To Ky (Q5)
• Grilled bananas in Q10

[embed]https://youtu.be/XA5oY5fTA_g[/embed]The hubs and I embarked on a food crawl of lesser known places in Ho Chi Minh City on motorbikes. It was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had in Vietnam, and I highly recommend it. I’ve had people tell me on different occasions that they'd taken me up on the advice and thoroughly enjoyed their own personally curated food tour.

A fan meet-up at Station 3A

[embed]https://youtu.be/B_wPXF9SR_M[/embed]Per the request of fans, I held a little meet-up at this cool little artsy alley in Ho Chi Minh City called Station 3A (or .Nha Ga 3A in Vietnamese). Down a hidden street and around the corner, you’ll find boutiques, food stands, odds-and-ends shops, and a tea stall. It’s kind of the gathering place for hipsters. (More on this place later.)Vietnam always holds new adventures for us, and I’ve met so many ex-pats from all over the world who have fallen in love with its charm. I know I’m biased, but Vietnam is a must-visit in your lifetime. If you ever go, hit me up, and I’ll tell you all the foods you should try.