Culinary street attracts young people in Ho Chi Minh City, diverse dishes from different regions

Đường Nguyễn Gia Trí, quận Bình Thạnh tấp nập xe cộ, đông đúc hàng quán - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Nguyen Gia Tri Street, Binh Thanh District is bustling with traffic and crowded with shops - Photo: THANH VU

From around 6pm, young people, especially students, stop by the restaurants along Nguyen Gia Tri Street. The colorful food stalls are bustling with young people sitting and eating, chatting animatedly.

There are many dishes on the street, and there are also many in the alley.

Along Nguyen Gia Tri Street, the most visible are probably vermicelli with fried tofu and vermicelli with grilled pork with more than a dozen shops. Some vermicelli with fried tofu shops also offer free vegetables and rice paper. The price of mixed vermicelli with fried tofu starts at 49,000 VND.

Restaurants serving vermicelli with pork fat, Hue beef noodle soup, Nha Trang fish noodle soup, Da Nang specialties, Ninh Hoa grilled spring rolls, Saigon broken rice, Hai Phong crab noodle soup, etc. are also present.

Some restaurant owners said that this area has many universities and a large student population. The diverse cuisine meets the eating needs of young people. Some websites also "review" so customers from other areas know quite a lot.

Các quán ăn nằm san sát nhau trên đường Nguyễn Gia Trí - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Restaurants are located close together on Nguyen Gia Tri Street - Photo: THANH VU

Trong những con hẻm nhánh cũng có nhiều hàng quán bán đồ ăn, nước uống - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — In the alleys there are also many shops selling food and drinks - Photo: THANH VU

Món ăn xứ Quảng - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Quang Nam cuisine - Photo: THANH VU

Young people in groups often visit hot pot restaurants and specialty restaurants. Mini hot pots start at 39,000 VND, chicken hot pot with perilla leaves starts at 79,000 VND. Buffets start at 139,000 VND. In addition, this area also has Korean, Thai, Taiwanese beef restaurants...

The busiest are the carts that are like a snack paradise. There are quite "hot" dishes such as stone-grilled sausages for 20,000 VND/stick, milo ice cream, cheese coin cakes, hand-pounded lemon tea... Interspersed with stalls of mixed rice paper, fried fish balls, and coconut sticky rice ice cream.

Món xúc xích nướng đá - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Stone grilled sausage - Photo: THANH VU

Những món ăn — "Hot trend" dishes are available at Nguyen Gia Tri food street - Photo: THANH VU

Prices meet many needs. There are "cheap" dishes, and there are also dishes with similar prices in the city center.

Mr. Tran Trung, owner of two carts selling grilled sausages and lemon tea, said these dishes are trendy. "I sell from 5pm every day. The customers are mainly students. This year, sales are slower because there are more vendors."

There are also many eateries in the alleys on this street. Mr. Dung, manager of a Quang Ngai restaurant in alley 36, said that the number of customers are students and young people. They often choose dishes such as corn ram, banh beo, banh dap, etc.

In particular, the cafes in the alley are quite quiet and cozy.

Các bạn trẻ, sinh viên ưu ái đến khu vực này vì giá cả vừa phải - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Young people and students prefer to come to this area because of its reasonable prices - Photo: THANH VU

Đủ các món của nhiều vùng miền để thực khách lựa chọn - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — A variety of dishes from many regions for diners to choose from - Photo: THANH VU

Khách hàng đứng đợi ở một quán đông khách - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — Customers waiting at a crowded restaurant - Photo: THANH VU

A "cool" place to meet and date

"Let's try this restaurant", Hung Minh's group of friends (29 years old, working in District 1) stopped by Ram Quang Ngon restaurant in alley 36. Ordering some of the restaurant's dishes such as grilled spring rolls with rice paper, mussels with rice paper, grilled beef wrapped in betel leaves, the group of friends were quite satisfied.

"This is the first time the group invited me to eat in this area. We also tried the stone-grilled sausages sold on the cart, then sat down to drink soursop tea," he said. The total cost was 100,000 VND per person. According to him, this price is quite reasonable for working people like him.

Trong một con hẻm nhánh yên tĩnh hiếm hoi ở đường Nguyễn Gia Trí - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — In a rare quiet alley on Nguyen Gia Tri Street - Photo: THANH VU

Có đủ các quán ăn của các vùng miền để thực khách thay đổi khẩu vị - Ảnh: THÀNH VŨ — There are enough restaurants from different regions for diners to change their taste - Photo: THANH VU

A few alleys away, two female students, after eating dry pho, sat down to drink smoothies nearby. Hong Ngan (a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport) shared that she lives near this street. In the evening, if she is not busy studying, she and her friends often come here to eat and drink dishes that cost 20,000 - 30,000 VND.

Ngan said: "There are many dishes in this area. We often meet friends here. If we have a big meal, we eat the more expensive dishes."

Similar to Ngan, many young people often choose Nguyen Gia Tri street and nearby streets such as Vo Oanh, Dien Bien Phu... as places to eat and gather.

Young people who want to experience the cuisine of Nguyen Gia Tri Street should visit around 7-9pm. If you want an airy space with reasonable prices, you can turn into alleys 29 and 35, where there are restaurants and cafes with different styles. The cafes have customers sitting outside on the sidewalk, with drinks priced from only 15,000 VND/cup.

If you want to go out to eat and then walk around town, you can park your motorbike in the parking lot in alley 157. This alley also has a youthful statue painting shop.