Saigon City Food

Bahn Xeo 46A  46A Dinh Cong Trang, D1
Food, food, food. I'm pretty sure we've both put on about 7lbs each.  The thing is, the food is light and fresh and by nature, not fattening. But we tend to eat places where we can't be sure of the amounts of MSG being used, and I think that may be a factor. I think we're just bloated! But in the quest for the best, we've had to sacrifice our bodies for taste and discovery! In the process, we have been both pleasantly surprised and completely disappointed. In most cases, though, our favorite places have altogether just "disappeared". Swearing by our memories of our most frequented eateries, we thought we were going crazy when whole city blocks had been removed of all familiar signs. poof! gone... sometimes leaving their signs behind, but the buildings were either something else or in the process of becoming something else. Signs of the faces of change in a fast-growing economy ( even in this world of downturns and recession). Even those eateries  mentioned in last month's issue of local ex-pat magazines like "The Word" or "Asia Life", had mysteriously disappeared! Whatever the case, it was beginning to become an annoyance, really. But we found some new favorites, particularly for those looking for a really good bahn xeo (Vietnamese crepe) and bahn cot ( Vietnamese mini rice pancakes  w/ shrimp). We actually found a place where all the veggies are washed w/ ozonated water and they even have ozone water for washing your hands! We also enjoyed an amazing bahn cuon ( steamed rice flour rolls stuffed w/ ground pork & mushrooms)  typically from Hue, and other Hue-style specialties. Both these places were MSG-free. Following are pics of the first good bahn xeo  eatery. It is an outdoor street-style restaurant in an alley. Clean and good. For $50,000VN ( apx $3 USD) you get a good bahn xeo ( we thought it was the best up until this point, until we tried the other place ( next blog). I have to say, however, that this place has awesome spring rolls, made to order. We definitely felt better about the amount of food we were eating when we saw three small Chinese women order one bahn xeo each and a full order of spring rolls (8!) and had no problem finishing all of it! note: one bahn xeo is the size of a cocktail tray, folded in half! Thien and I split one, a half order of spring rolls, and one beef skewer, and were quite stuffed!