The 250-m alley, starting from Xom Chieu Street to Alley 500 of Doan Van Bo Street is known as the paradise for Saigon foodies because it lined with dozens of food stalls and restaurants serving delicious and cheap Vietnamese foods. The C200 Alley (or 200 Alley, Alley 200) is a local wet market in the morning, there are stores and stalls selling raw foods and eateries. In the evening, the C200 Xom Chieu Food Alley in Ho Chi Minh City has become a food area.
This amazing alley has many eateries, including well-known long-standing ones. The alley is more crowded when the sun goes down, Saigon people have finished their works and go us for eating. Some eateries have kitchen dining areas in old houses in the alley. Most of the eateries place food trucks, food cabinet and even tables and chairs in front of houses. The narrow alley is filled with food stalls, tables and chairs, foodies and passengers who ride their motorbikes and bicycles.
Table of Contents
Location
Alley 200 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14 and 15, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
CLICK HERE to see the location of the street.
Co Chin Restaurant – Fried Chicken Rice (Quán Cô Chín – Cơm Gà Xối Mỡ)
Location: 200/25C Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14 and 15, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 15:00 – 22:00.
Prices: VND 20,000 – 60,000.
The staff is busy all the time because there are so many waiting customers. The signature of this restaurant is fried rice with fried chicken. It serves dozens of great dishes including fried rice with beef, shredded chicken fillet, chicken wings, char siu (BBQ pork), Yeung Chow fried rice, stir-fried noodles, pasta with beef or seafood.
The chef fries chicken thighs in a big pots and fry rice in a pan at the same time.
The food stall is always crowded with customers and shippers who buy and take away delicious foods. Customers can sit in the house or on the other side of the alley.
Pha Lau Co Oanh Restaurant – Organ Stew (Phá Lấu Cô Oanh)
Location: 200/20 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14 and 15, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 17:00 – 22:00.
Prices: VND 10,000 – 20,000.
This is one of the top places to eat organ stew in Ho Chi Minh City. The restaurant serves not only organ stew but also Dried beef and green papaya salad, Spring roll.
These beef organ meats including beef tripe, intestine, heart, thymus, kidney, stomach and lungs are cooked with coconut water and secret spices so that they turn yellow-brown, tender and crunchy at the same time.
The organ meats are cut into small pieces, covered with the broth, Vietnamese mints, served with plain bread and dipping fish sauce.
Bún Cá & Bún Riêu (Fish Noodle Soup & Crab Noodle Soup)
Location: 181/12 Xom Chieu Street, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: the evening.
Prices: from VND 30,000.
Ingredients are arranged in glass food cabinet in order to attract customer.
The signature of this eatery is Fish noodle soup which consists of flavorful broth, snakehead flesh, fried pork roll, fish cake, shredded morning glory and banana blossoms, bean sprouts, water lily stems, Thai basils.
Fermented fish noodle soup, Thai noodle soup & Dried beef salad (Bún Mắm, Bún Thái & Gỏi Khô Bò)
Location: 181/4 Xom Chieu Street, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 17:00 – 22:00.
Prices: VND 20,000 – 55,000.
The eatery is named as the foods which it serves: Fermented fish noodle soup, Thai noodle soup & Dried beef salad. For more information, the first dish is a traditional Vietnamese food which consist of the broth cooked from fermented fish, topped with meat and seafood, served with vegetables and herbs. If you dare to eat, you will feel that the broth is very tasty and smelling. Dried beef salad consists of shredded green papaya and dried beef liver.
Oc Sen Snail Restaurant (Ốc Sen)
Location: 200/40 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 16:00 – 23:00.
Prices: VND 7,000 – 50,000.
Oc Sen Snail Restaurant in C200 Xom Chieu Food Alley in Ho Chi Minh City is one of the best places to eat cheap and tasty snail and shellfish dishes. A chef can cook many dishes at the same time.
Fresh ingredients: clams, Anadara kagoshimensis (Sò lông), blood cockles, star fruit snail (Ốc khế), ocean crab legs, razor clam (ốc móng tay), scallops (sò điệp), mud creeper (ố len), etc.
Fertilized duck eggs and quail eggs are boiled in a pot on charcoal.
Grilled beef in wild betel & Rice noodle and grilled pork salad (Bò Lá Lốp & Bún Thịt Nướng)
Location: C200/32 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: the evening.
Prices: from VND 30,000.
The smell of Grilled beef in wild betel & Rice noodle and grilled pork salad spreads in the air around the eatery.
Chao Long Linh – Congee with Organ Meat (Cháo Lòng Linh)
Location: Alley 200 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 17:00 – 21:00.
Prices: VND 15,000 – 20,000.
This small stall sells congee, leaf wonton and instant noodles.
The signature is congee with pork organ meat, served with Youtio.
Hai Sin Nam Yeung clear rice noodle soup eatery (Hủ tiếu Nam Vang Hải Sìn)
Location: Alley 200 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 15:00 – 21:00.
Prices: VND 30,000 – 35,000.
Hai Sin eatery is crowded at night.
A portion of clear rice noodle soup consist of the broth cooked from bones, sticky chewy and tenter clear rice noodles, topped with lean pork, pork organ meats, shrimps, crispy fried onions, herbs, chopped green onions and served with bean sprouts.
Co Hop Congee Restaurant – Duck congee & salad (Cháo cô Hợp)
Location: Alley 200 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 15:00 – 22:30.
Prices: VND 20,000 – 40,000.
Duck congee is served with salad made from shredded cabbages, morning glory and duck meat.
Steamed bread & Fried rice noodles and beef (Bánh mì hấp & Bún thịt xào bò)
Location: C200/2 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: the evening.
Prices: VND 25,000 – 35,000.
Steamed bread is a new Vietnamese street food. Steamed pieces of bread are topped with pork or beef, green onion oil and eaten with fish sauce dip. Stir-fried rice noodles and beef is also a great food to try.
Burnt rice and braised kho quet (Cơm cháy kho quẹt)
Location: C200/2 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: the evening.
Prices: VND 25,000.
Burnt rice and braised kho quet are popular in the Vietnam’s countryside.
Bi Bo Sweet soup restaurant (Chè Bí Bo)
Location: 200/29 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 15:00 – 22:00.
Prices: VND 5,000 – 25,000.
The dessert restaurant serves Pomelo sweet soup, Mixed sweet soup, Cheese cube sweet soup, smoothies, flan cakes.
Ha Tram sweet soup restaurant (Chè Hà Trâm)
Location: 200/8 Xom Chieu Street, Ward 14, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City.
Opening hours: 13:00 – 22:00.
Prices: VND 10,000 – 25,000.
This is one of the most famous dessert restaurants in Saigon thanks to cheap prices and great tastes of the sweet soups. Ingredients include various beans, lotus roots, nipa palm fruit meat, chestnut, palmyra palm fruit meat, cendols, mock pomegranates, etc. Flan cake with Vietnamese coffee and ice is a great food and should not be missed.
The following stalls have no address and opening hours are not known exactly. However, all of them are open in the evening.
Mai sweet soup stall (Chè Mai)
Prices: VND 10,000 – 25,000.
This eatery sell the popular desserts at sweet soup stalls in Saigon. The signature of the stall are seven-flavored flan cakes and mixed fruits.
Crab soup cake with pork leg (Bánh canh cua giò heo)
Prices: from VND 35,000.
Crab soup cake with pork leg consists of viscous broth, thick rice noodles, topped with crab meat, crab cake (chả cua), shrimps, pork leg, lean pork slices.
Grilled fish wild vegetables (Cá nướng rau rừng)
Prices: from VND 30,000 – 50,000.
Grilled pork breasts, chicken claws, seawater fishes, salmon’s heads are served with wild vegetables.
Fried corn (Bắp xào)
Prices: VND 15,000 – 20,000.
Fried corn is a favorite street food consisting of corns, stir-fried with green onion oils, dried acetes and butter.
Pan-fried scrambled egg rice cake (Bột chiên)
Prices: from VND 20,000.
Pieces of boiled rice flour are fried with egg on a flat pan, topped with green onions, served with shredded green papaya and soy sauce dip.
Rice paper salad (Bánh tráng trộn)
Boiled banana and sweet potatoes (Chuối khoai luộc)
This banana is called Chuoi sap in Vietnam, it is rarely eaten raw but boil until it turns sweet and sticky. Boiled sweet potatoes are favorite snacks at night or good foods to eat for breakfast in the county.
Caramelized banana (Chuối ngào đường)
The vendor boil peeled unripe aple bananas before cook them with caramel, then top the food with toasted sesame.
Traditional cake stall
You can find various kinds of Vietnamese traditional cakes at this stall.
Grilled chicken egg and boiled corn (Trứng gà nướng và khoai luộc)
This moving street foods stall sells Grilled chicken egg and boiled corn – favorite night foods of Saigon people. This is a mix of motorbike and rolling cart. The motorbike food stall “travel” around the street with a speaker repeats “Grilled chicken egg, boiled corn” in order to offer customers to sell.
Japanese food stall
This Japanese food stall sells sushi and tokbokki.
A group of teenagers buys tokbokki at a Japanese food stall.
Local life
Coming to the C200 Xom Chieu Food Alley in Ho Chi Minh City, visitors can not find many eateries but also many strange things. Some vendors try to sell products at night because some people prefer to buy raw foods, cook at home and enjoy their night by eating.
Live chickens in cages for sale.
A vendor sells seafood on C200 Alley.
This shop sell clothes and accessories.
A conveniece store sells cosmetics, spices, eggs, rices.
Is it safe to eat in C200 Xom Chieu Food Alley in Ho Chi Minh City?
This question is similar to “Is it safe to eat street foods in Vietnam”. In fact, the majority of Vietnamese people eat street foods. That is the reason why street food stalls and restaurants have existed until today. Some people believe that street food stalls sell cheap foods so that they are always crowded. Not many people spend less to buy very bad products.
I believe that the foods in C200 Xom Chieu are flavorful and meet the taste of many Saigon people. Some vendors do not rent for restaurant space because they cook and serve foods in the alley. They use plastic kitchenware, tables and chairs. So that prices are lower than foods in restaurants with air conditioners in District 1, 2, 3, in shopping centers or on main streets. Some foreigners see that the stalls and restaurants are dirty.
Many food stalls have been open for more than 10 years. If you dare to eat in this alley, you will have an opportunity to enjoy a variety of great foods that are totally different from popular foods in the center.
