Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City food tour: Joining an adventure around the vibrant and stunning Saigon and sampling many local dishes are greatest experiences in Ho Chi Minh City in recent times. You can choose to do a food tour in the early morning, afternoon, and evening. Night food tours are more popular because many tourists are free after full day tours and street food vendors are usually open after dark. I would like to share with you some useful need-to-know and lesser-known information and tips on choosing and reserving the best Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour

Choosing the best menu and foods for your Ho Chi Minh City food tour

List of foods is one of the most important part of a Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour because you are going to be on a food journey. Here is the list of the most popular Vietnamese dishes and Saigon specialty foods for your choice:

• Banh mi – Vietnamese sandwich: This is the most famous Vietnamese street food and you should not miss it on your trip to Saigon. You can find the best Banh mi in Hanoi, Hoi An, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh where local people love to eat this food for their breakfasts, supper and light meals. On popular tours such as full-day Ho Chi Minh sightseeing tours, Cu Chi Tunnels tours, they do not serve Banh mi. Travelers usually buy Banh mi at Banh mi shops near their hotels or around visiting places, or take taxis to “the most famous” Banh mi shops to buy “the best Banh mi”.  Huynh Hoa, Hong Hoa, and Bui Thi Xuan are the top 3 Vietnamese sandwich shops in District 1. If you can buy a good Banh mi yourself, you can skip this food on your food tour. If you would like to try a portion of Vietnamese bread at a hidden local shop in a far district, choose a menu including Vietnamese Banh mi.
• Rice noodle soups: In my opinion, you should try at least one rice noodle soup dish thanks to its health benefits, comfortable broth, vegetables and herbs – good sources of vitamins and fibers, tender and a little chewy rice noodles, toppings from fresh meat,… In Vietnam, they cook the broth from many ingredients such as bone, onion, green onion, scallion, star anise, cinnamon, shrimp paste, daikon, sponge gourd,… Do not forget to tell them to serve you a small or medium portion because you will have many other dishes to try on the food tour. Some amazing rice noodle soups are Pho beef noodle soup, Clear rice noodle soup with seafood/chicken/pork, Vermicelli soup with chicken/duck, Crab soup/pork leg cake soup,…
• Savory cakes: Vietnam has many savory cakes and they are often served with dipping fish sauce, leaf vegetables and aromatic herbs, sometimes rice paper. The crispy Vietnamese pancake and mini pancake which are topped with shrimp, pork, mung bean are recommended to eat in Saigon. In addition, Stuffed rice roll with pork and wood ear which is classified as savory cake or roll in Vietnamese cuisine is worth trying. Seeing how chefs fry or steam these savory cakes are interesting enough.
• Vietnamese pizza: They grill a thin rice paper on charcoal, top it with various ingredients such as dried small shrimp/acetes, dried beef/pork, sausage, corn seed, mayonnaise, grill until it becomes crispy, and fold it in half. It is an addictive snack and you can find it is funny to see how they make this food.
• Seafood dishes: Steamed/grilled/stir-fried fish/crab/shrimp/ocean crab/oyster/clam are amazing and worth trying foods in Saigon although Ho Chi Minh is not a coastal city.
• Broken rice: This is a Vietnamese dish consisting of steamed broken rice (not whole rice), grilled pork, steamed pork and egg meatloaf, shredded pork skin, pickle, cucumber, tomato,.. Sweet and sour fish sauce is the soul of this amazing rice dish. You may not like eating steamed rice like Asian people, but you should try some broken rice to learn more about Vietnamese cuisine and find it taste great.
• Stewed beef in Vietnamese style: Beef stews are in world.
• Flan cake, ice cream with avocado, coconut, longan,…
• Sweet soups.
• Sugar cane juice, iced tea, lemon tea, Vietnamese coffee.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Vietnamese pancake and Fried roll

A food tour in Vietnam usually include 5 – 15 dishes. It is recommended to start with appetizers, light foods, then main dishes. Desserts should be served at the end of a food tour. After eating at a food stop, there should be time to weave the streets, alleys, explore some interesting places before continuing eating at another stop. Portions should not be too big, it is fine if they serve you one third or a half of Banh mi. Small portion of noodle soup or broken rice is usually ordered for tourists on food tours.

Which means of transportation?

Jeep, walking and motorbike food tours are the most popular in Ho Chi Minh City. Motorbike is one of the most effective and popular means of transportation in Vietnam. Riders and passengers on motorbikes can reach any corner and explore narrow alleys. Some stops are located in alleys and motorbike is the best way to go there. Most first-time passengers enjoy motorbike food tours and find it easy to sit on the back of motorbikes. Drivers are trained to drive slowly and carefully so you do not need to worry.

In case you are afraid of sitting on the back of a motorbike, you can choose a Ho Chi Minh walking food tour on which you are transferred to eating places by car or taxi. You will walk a few kilometers because it is difficult to reach some eating places by car or the guide would like to show you some interesting things in a local market or a residential area.

Similarly to walking food tour, guests travel around for sightseeing and foods by jeep and walking. Prices of jeep tours are expensive because of the high cost and the limited quantity of jeep vehicles in Ho Chi Minh City.

Although Vespa Ho Chi Minh food tours have not many differences from motorbike tours, prices of Vespa tours are more expensive. Tour companies must spend to much on purchasing and maintaining Vespa scooters. It needs experienced and skilled drivers to drive Vespa.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Motorbike food tour in Saigon

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Saigon Vespa food tour

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Jeep food tour in Saigon

How to book a Ho Chi Minh City food tour?

You can search for good and trusted Ho Chi Minh City food tour operators, suitable tour routes and programs, favorite menus on Google. On websites, there are contact information, email, and phone so you can ask them about the tours. You can also book or send an inquiry by filling forms on the websites.

If your family members or friends have joined a Saigon food tour, you should ask them about the operators and tour options. They will definitely give you useful advices and helpful tips.

You can easily book a Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour on OTA websites such as Viator, Get Your Guide, AirBnB, Klook, KKDay,… Prices are are competitive, there are coupons and promo codes. Reviews of experiences are available so you can choose good tours and operators on OTAs.

Reviews of tour operators can be read on Google Maps and they are more reliable than on OTAs. TripAdvisor is a good website to learn more about tour operators and hotels. Some people have said that TripAdvisor promote best-seller tours and tour companies on Viator.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Filling the form, contacting via instant chat, or send a text message or a WhatsApp message.

Which Ho Chi Minh City food tour for your choice?

• Saigon Night Food Tour: classic and popular choice, great street foods
• Saigon Sightseeing & Food Tour: a great mix of tourist attractions and street foods
• Saigon Unseen & Food Tour: a great mix of tourist attractions and street foods
• The AoDai Foodie: traveling with nice female riders in Ao Dai traditional dress
• Street Food Tour with local students: budget choice, going with talented local student, more simple but impressive menu
• Walking Ho Chi Minh City food tour: the most popular choice for travelers that wouldn’t like to sit on motorbikes
• Ho Chi Minh City food tour by vintage vespa: more expensive and unique experience
• Ho Chi Minh City food tour by jeep: more expensive and unique experience on open-air jeep
• Morning Saigon Street Food Tour: exploring the city and trying amazing foods that locals eat for breakfast and lunch
• Saigon Food Tour with Chef: going around and eating with a professional Vietnamese chef

Please contact Tracy Do & Bill Bui at +84938314386 (Whatsapp/iMessage/Viber/SMS) for detailed information about food tours in Ho Chi Minh City and best prices for your group.

Ho Chi Minh City food tour routes

You should choose a Saigon food tour including free pick up and drop off at your hotel. Some tour companies charge extra fees for picking up and dropping off outside of the city center. In my opinion, there are at least 3 food stops and 5 local dishes. Some tour companies offer 15 local dishes and more than 5 stops. Drivers must take you out of District 1 where there are many touristy restaurants and a large number of tourists are stuck. Eating places should be popular with local people, not tourists. They should arrange eating and sightseeing properly. A food tour in Ho Chi Minh City should last from 3 to 5 hours. Normal tours last 4 hours and tourists are not too tired being on the streets and enjoy the tours at the best. Desserts should be served at the end of the Saigon food tours.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Desserts should be served at the end of tour.

How much does a Ho Chi Minh City food tour cost?

Ho Chi Minh City food tour by motorbike and walking: Prices range from $23 USD to $75 USD. The cheapest tours are usually run by local students and guests are usually serve some cheap street foods at a few food stalls. The most expensive tours are run by experienced and reliable tour companies, tour guides are well-trained, many “high quality” foods are served. However, high prices do not mean the quality is high. Some motorbike food tours are overpriced and tourists are disappointed on these tours. A local student food tour that cost $40 USD is considered expensive. A tour with good reviews and a cost of $40 – $50 USD is a good choice.

Ho Chi Minh City food tour by vintage vespa: The cost of vespa and repairs are rather high so prices of Ho Chi Minh vespa food tours cost from $70 USD to $120 USD.

Ho Chi Minh City food tour by jeep: There are a few hundreds of jeeps around Ho Chi Minh City, prices of jeep tours are not low. A Ho Chi Minh City food tour by jeep costs from $100 USD, some tour operators say a minimum of 2 persons to book.

Prices of Ho Chi Minh City food tours depend not only on vehicles, tour durations, but also menus. Tours including seafood and snail dishes are usually more expensive. For examples, the price of a food tour including 15 local dishes and drinks is higher than the price of a food tour on which tourists are served 5 dishes. Normally, on 5-hour tours, there are more foods than on 3.5-hour tours. Saigon food tours with local students are usually cheap and have affordable prices.

Tips on booking Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour – Seafood and snail dishes are served on a food tour in Ho Chi Minh City.