7 Best Restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Industrial chic meets art house tucked away in a colonial villa at this well-loved café. The food is reliably good, offering a range of contemporary café fusion fare including salads, sandwiches, cold cut platters, and Western favorites. Beautifully plated Vietnamese dishes include a very tasty caramelized pork and herb number and a solid broken rice with grilled pork. There is a second, larger restaurant with a bright upstairs retail space at 19 Le Thanh Ton.

Midway between the Reunification Palace and Notre Dame cathedral, overlooking the tall trees of April 30 Park, this is a great place to linger in exotic surroundings, whether for a meal or just a smoothie or coffee. The flavors are Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, the staff is attentive, and the location is prime. The appeal of Au Parc, in a restored colonial-era shopfront, is further enhanced by the children's playroom upstairs, which is supervised by a nanny on weekends from 11 am to 4 pm while brunch is served.

This Italian-style Gelateria Artigianale is well-loved for its authentic gelatos and sorbets, all made by hand and fresh from scratch daily with no preservatives or additives. While there are traditional flavors such as chocolate, black currant, cinnamon, and rum raisin, try the Vietnamese-inspired flavors, including fish sauce and pho. Seating is outside, under market umbrellas.

Serving a mishmash of international, Tex-Mex, and Vietnamese fare, Snap is an open-air family-oriented café-restaurant set in a large thatched hut overlooking a children's playground. Popular with the local expat community, Snap caters to non-families with its quieter library section tucked away on one side beside a manicured tropical garden. The restaurant tries hard to please all comers, with burger nights, quiz nights, live music, and an extensive menu. The staff is friendly, especially to kids. Snap is located in a complex with boutiques and other dining options, so leave some time to wander.

A pretty pink café specializing in cupcakes and macaroons, Sweet and Sour supplies many cafés and restaurants around town. Sweet and Sour has a little dollhouse to keep kids happy and a Champagne menu to keep the parents happy. They also serve great coffee. Elaborate cakes can be ordered with a few days' notice if you'll be celebrating a special day while you're in Saigon.

Sample some of Ho Chi Minh City's best street food from the vendors at the front of Tan Dinh Market (Cho Tan Dinh). The bun rieu (noodle soup with rice paddy crab and tofu) and suon nuong (grilled pork) are especially recommended, as is che, the Vietnamese dessert-in-a-glass that's a popular afternoon snack. The vendors here have limited English but they are familiar with the fine art of point-and-order.