Feature Image: Entrance to Ben Thanh Street Food Market
Street Food
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time, but we had a dilemma. We wanted to experiment with local Vietnamese food, but didn’t recognize a lot of the options being served at the street food stalls. We didn’t want to stay within the familiar surrounding of the restaurants in backpacker street, so we ventured out to explore District One to find a good alternative.
Beh Thanh covered street food market is a collection of international food stalls created with tourists in mind. Yes it’s more expensive than the food stalls you’ll find on the streets, but it’s a good introduction to discover the variety of tastes and flavors available in the city.
It has rows of tables out front overlooking the street, and there’s also a smaller collection of tables and a public toilet at the back of the market. Twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday) they also host live music evenings.
Most of the menus are also written in English, and so it’s a good half-way point between the Vietnamese street food stalls and the tourist restaurants found near Backpacker Street. It’s tourist-friendly and attracts and international collection of customers from western and neighboring countries.
- Location: 26-28-30 Thủ Khoa Huân, Phường Bến Thành, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam
- Open from 9am to 11pm, seven days a week, and located on Thu Khoa Huan Street in Ho Chi Minh’s District One.
Our favourite stall was Got Bun? Their fried corn fritters were were wrapped in a light batter, and the filling had a spicy edge to it. Their Fried Fish bun was an exciting mix of flavors and textures—sweet, spicy, savory, crispy, and pillowy soft, all in one mouthful.
Got Bun? Pork Buns 
Got Bun? Corn Fritters 
Got Bun? Fried Fish Bun
It was so memorable that when we went back to Ben Thanh Street Food Market a second time to buy samosas from the Indian stall to take on our night bus trip to the islands in the south, we swung by Got Bun? again for another taste. At night there seemed to be a younger local crowd here, and it had a distinct trendy vibe to it.
Ben Thanh Market
Once you’ve eaten at the food stalls, you can head around the corner to shop at Ben Thanh Market, which is Vietnam’s biggest market. There’s everything you could possibly want to shop for on your travels—replacement clothes or footwear, bags, and souvenirs.
Many of the clothes and shoes that are sold in western shops are made in Vietnam and Cambodia, but that doesn’t mean the designer gear you pick up in Ben Thanh Market is an authentic brand-name time. Red had ruined his trainers during our Workaway gig in Cambodia, so he bought a name-brand pair at the market. They ended up getting thrown away before the end of our trip because they started to fall apart, but they served a purpose for a short time.
Food for Thought
During our travels we chatted to younger back packers who wore their street food experiences like badges of honor. They believed that if you don’t live off street food for your entire trip, you’re not a true budget traveller, and you’re somehow cheating on the backpacking experience.
When it comes to travel, there isn’t a one-size fits all. We all have different levels of comfort and acceptance, and not just about food. As a flash-packer, I appreciate the existence of international food markets like Ben Thanh. It introduced us to a food from the different regions of Vietnam, and the stall holders were able to answer questions and make suggestions based on our culinary preferences.
Food halls like this are a stepping stone towards becoming more confident about experimenting with local cuisine. On our second trip to Ho Chi Minh we stumbled across a large and crazy-busy street food market held along Phường Phạm Ngũ Lão (backpacker street) every Sunday. By then we were much more adventurous about trying different dishes, and realized how far we’d come since our first foray into Vietnamese buns at Ben Thanh.
On your next trip to #HoChiMinh make your way to District Ones Ben Thanh street food market to begin your Vietnamese culinary adventure. #Vietnam #flashpacking Click To TweetPin this Image
We went there and thought it was fabulous. What we like was that there was other food nationalities there, like Chinese and Indian. So you could eat around the world in one central spot. It reminded me of a huddle of food trucks we get in the States.
Oh I love me a food truck huddle. They’re so popular in Los Angeles, and I’ve seen them popping up more in Europe too.
Indulging in street food and exploring local food hubs are always on my list. This post takes back to the normal days of travel and it feels so comforting. I have heard so much about food in Vietnam. Don’t know how soon we will be able to go back to the old ways of traveling in this new normal.
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Yes, who knows what the new normal is going to look like. I’m waiting to see this year unfold and see where we can get to.
I just love food markets, dont you?
We found this supercute one in Budapest once, and ever since I have been obessed with them 🙂
To be honest, I had to google Ho Chi Minh City. I had no idea where in the world it was located 😀
We love any kind of markets, but food markets are our favorites. I’d much rather wander around a noisy local market to experience the culture and vibe of a place, than wander around the hushed confines of a museum.
We love the variety of street food you can find travelling. And sometimes it is hard to know where the best carts are. So a collection all in one place sounds like a great idea. We did a night market like that in Phuket in Thailand. I agree with your comment about food halls being a stepping stone to being more confident to try street carts. I still worry about hygiene in many of these options. But sometimes the experience makes a little risk worthwhile.
There’s always lots of restaurant recommendations, but often difficult to get recommendations about the best carts, because we found that the best ones move around and never seem to stay in the same spot for long, the ones that do, seem to be more geared towards tourists. We lucked out in Siem Reap, and found a fabulous little noodle stall, I lost count of the number of times we visited him for lunch!
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For me, food is always the trickiest part of traveling. My tongue is just not as adventurous as my soul is. So I really like the idea of this place. To have so many different options to choose from, and you could probably even try a few things for a few different stalls and figure out what I can/like to eat! And I think it would be fun in the evening when they had music too.
I love that Lia — your tongue is just not as adventurous as your soul … that’s so descriptive, and so true. I wish I could be a little less hesitant about trying new things. I think I’m pretty good about it, but if I can’t recognize whether something is animal or vegetable, I steer clear, as I don’t eat meat. But the good thing about Asia is that there are plenty of fresh vegetable options.
Those corn fritters! I would go for those! I sometimes have trouble finding food in other countries as I don’t eat meat, but those are perfect!
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I don’t eat meat either, but I do eat fish. But much prefer to eat vegetable dishes when I can. Especially in places where there isn’t much refrigeration .. like on the street food stalls, amid the traffic pollution and extreme heat. A carrot seems a lots safer than a piece of fish at this point!
OMG this Vietnamese food has me getting all kinds of hungry! Amazing options can’t wait to go and see for myself! How brilliant that all the stalls are under one room, not far to walk to go back for seconds haha!
That’s a good point .. I didn’t think of that. I just love that you can order multiple little snacks rather than having one large meal. That way you get to sample lots of different flavor profiles.
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Yum!! These are great helpful ideas to figure out how to enjoy street food! I like the “hot bun?” Place haha sounds amazing!
They had more than buns, but the buns were the best!
Wow, those buns are making me hungry!! I truly love street food so much and this was a yummy read – glad you had a good adventure there, so good you went back again, that’s a good sign 🙂
We had to go back because of transport to our next destination, but we were looking forward to it, and could quite easier have stayed longer if it hadn’t been for our visa restrictions.
Wow- I am officially hungry! Those buns look amazing! I never realized that you would be able to try so many different types of food in one place. I would love this check this street food out! The only thing that would give me anxiety is the closeness to all of the people there! I’m sure you can find amazing cultural food. I just wanted to add that those yellow frozen looking drinks in the photo of, Ben Thanh Street Food Market looks amazing and yummy!
There were options from all different parts of Vietnam, and also Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian food. So it was somewhere you could visit multiple times and eat something completely different each time.
I love this! I visited Ho Chi Minh this past January! Dying to go back to Vietnam!! Will surely be visiting this post again to remind me of this destination next time I go back to this country!
I think it’s a country that definitely draws you back in. It’s a big country to see in just one trip.
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It has long been a goal of ours to spend some time in a Vietnamese market just like this one. We love central markets found in Central America and Europe but I’d imagine this one is quite different!
Markets are always at the top of our sightseeing list… I don’t care whether it’s a food market, street market, night market, etc. I just love wandering around them.
Gosh that food all looks so incredibly delicious! I could tuck into it right now – reminds me of the wonderful street markets in China, bursting with good things to try!
A new country = A new food adventure. I love that equation, because it gets you out of your comfort zone and broadens your horizons.
Mmm I love trying street food when we travel and the dishes you shared look better than many of the others I’ve tried! I agree with those young backpackers in a sense that trying street food can really make a travel experience whole, but I think there are other ways to eat on a budget while traveling too. Sometimes we will just buy fresh ingredients from a local food stall or market and assemble our own meals. That can be a budget-friendly option too!
We took that approach for our night bus trips and for long day bus trips. There’s nothing worse than only having one food break on a long bus trip, and with limited food options. So we always buy local foods where there’s lots of choice, and take it along for a picnic along the journey.
Those corn fritters look UHHHHMAZING 😍 anything fried is always good haha street food is my preferred dining choice while traveling. I heard that the street food is on the decline these past couple years, as a lot of the younger generations are going in a different direction than their elders.
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I love that in the western world that Street Food is on the rise. I love it when towns and cities host a food truck day, and give people an opportunity of tasting different foods that they ordinarily wouldn’t try. I’m on lockdown at the moment at my Mum’s and I’ve heard about a food truck night in our local city, so hopefully that will be held before I have to leave.
Reading this & particularly seeing the photos got my juices flowing! I love trying street food when I travel & agree that it is great to find places like these to “ease yourself in”. These experiences are priceless & increase your confidence to go out & try the “dirtier” more authentic version. I’m definitely a fan!
We like trying local food. We don’t see the point of traveling to a foreign country, only to head straight towards a familiar looking high street fast-food chain. But when there’s the possibility of an upset stomach because you’re not used to the cuisine, it’s sometimes challenging to dive right in and eat off the street. This was a perfection mid-ground.
I’ve been to HCMC and did really like it. However, how did I miss this food market? Well, I hope there will be another trip to Viet Nam so that I can catch up 😉
We didn’t know about it before our trip, and I’d done a lot of research. But we just stumbled past it one day, on the way to the larger and better-known Ben Thanh market.
Ben Thanh Street Food Market looks great and I love such food markets who gives us authentic and traditional feel. That outdoor seating looks very interesting and I find outdoor seating system very vibrant too. I love corn and therefore corn fritters look very tempting to me.
Yes it definitely felt authentic and traditional.
I definitely would feel more comfortable in a place like this, than in a “true” street food market. I have a delicate tummy, and easily prone to indigestion. The last thing I’d want is to fall ill while traveling. Thanks for sharing this, I”ll look up this place if I ever visit Vietnam.
Yeah. It’s no fun being ill when you travel. It can be really draining.
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When I read the title, it sounded familiar to me. As I read through your post, than I remember it’s a name of the Vietnamese Supermarket that I like to visit. lol. Anyway, that corn fritters look so delicious. I can finish the whole portion by myself. The fried fish bun sounds and looks yummy, too, although I’m not sure with the soft bun. I will check it next time I go to Vietnamese Restaurant near where I live.
It’s got me wanting Vietnamese food again. It’s not something you see in a lot of cities around the world. But they do like their spice and garlic!
I can totally relate. We had the same experience too when we visited Thailand and I did not recognize the options available.
Thus, having this street food market is a wonderful idea. I would keep this in mind when we have the chance to visit Ho Chi Minh City. The fried fish bun looks delicious.
Thank you for sharing this.
I never struggle to find good things to eat in Thailand.
My all time favourite – Vietnamese food. Great reminder to go to the local markets and find the snacks and meals we don’t find back home (Australia). We’ve got some amazing Vietnamese food in Australia but we miss out on the assortment of local treats you only find at markets.
When we lived in Los Angeles there were always lots of Chinese and Thai restaurants, but very few Vietnamese restaurants, so it was a voyage of discovery during our trip to explore the culinary heritage of this destination, and see what foods we liked.
I love local food and Vietnamese food is one of my favourite. I haven’t tried corn fritters but the fried fish bun I had, and I found it to be delicious. I love the idea of being entertained with live music while having my dinner.
The corn fritters were delicious … we had them each time we visited. While we’re on the subject, I repeated my order for the fried fish bun too!