This is my fifth time in Ho Chi Minh City. Effectively, it is the fourth time, given that my first time in 2013 I was basically bed-ridden with a stomach illness I picked up on the flight over. The one thing I did touristically that first time was go to Hoa Tuc for dinner my last night. Anyway, in the three prior real trips, it was basically doing the standard touristy stuff outside the city the first time (e.g. the Mekong Delta, the Cu Chi Tunnels) and then progressively finding more and more interesting things to do within city limits on the 2022 and 2023 trips. Coming here again, I wanted to challenge myself to find some new stuff. If I couldn't succeed, I probably needed to be asking myself is it worth coming back. Of course, I come back largely for the food and nightlife, but I gave myself a challenge, and today proved I can still succeed at such challenges.
If anything is weird about this trip, it is that I am starting with Ho Chi Minh City, instead of ending with it like I did in 2022 and 2023. It was a calculated decision, because if I was going to have jetlag ruin a few days, better it be in a place I've been to. But even there, it seems like my 24 hours of sleeping eight hours, two-to-three hours at a time worked, as I got a good nights sleep and woke up on time, leaving my really nice AirBNB at 10:30 - basically "early" as far as my vacations go.
Basically most of what I did on day one, at least pre-lunch (a late lunch, at 2pm) was new. The raging humidity was not new of course. It may be "just" 85 degrees, but the humidity is still overwhelming. Not just to me - I will say I've never seen so many sweaty tourists as I do here. Usually it is just me. Anyway... to the sights!
The first sight was one that I probably shoudl be embarrassed that I haven't seen so far, and that was the Independence Palace (formerly known as the Reunification Palace), which adorns a beautiful green stretch of land right in the heart of the city. I've been close to it before, of course. I tried to remember why I hadn't been here previously. I think in 2022 there were still Covid-era reservations required, and in 2023 I arrived too late in teh day. Not so today. And it was well worth it.
The palace is a modern era building that housed South Vietnam's president from 1965 through the end of the war. It is beautiful, with large staterooms, neatly adorned as it was in that time. Some great artwork, chandeliers, colors, rugs. Everything, really. The grounds were also nicely laid out, including having three beautiful coffee shops strewn around. The interesting part of this place is that the palace housed the President of South Vietnam - i.e. the part of Vietnam that lost, that is now seen as rebellious. The place was largely devoid of any propaganda, even to the point of allowing people to go to the bunker, where effectively the "enemy" hid. It's nice that Vietnam is not opposed to at least recognizing this half of the former country.
The next "new" spot was the Book Street - hidden right behind a still scaffolded-to-shit Notre Dame Cathedral, which has basically been under these same thick scaffolds since at least 2019. Book Street is a lovely little pedestrian only street with book stands and coffee shops on either side. Those words don't really do it justice, to be honest. I could have spent an hour just traipsing up and down this street - granted, the shade from some really nice trees on either side helped.
Lunch was also at a new spot, nicely located two blocks away from my AirBNB. It's called Bep Me In, which serves "home style" Vietnamese food - the place is designed to resemble a street-side stand. It was really excellent, to be honest. I got a dish of stewed Morning Glory (a Chinese spinach variation) with ginger and sesame, which was excellent, and then a fried pork knuckle with sauce. Describing that second dish as "fried pork knuckle with sauce" is doing it qutie a disservice however. The sauce was unbelievably good - basically a thicker version of tom yum soup. The pork knuckle was incredible crunchy and well cooked. It was one of the better dishes I've had at a place like this, to be honest. I'm not planning on going there for lunch tomorrow, but given the quality and its proximity, I'm at least giving it consideration.
The afternoon was supposed to continue my trend of "new" things, but I called an audible since the final new thing was closer to some of the pagoda's (and lunch) I plan to visit tomorrow. Instead, I stayed within walking distance of my AirBNB, which I've come to realize is super centrally located and absolutely the place I will stay on my inevitable sixth visit here.
The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Art is about five minutes away, so it was my first post-lunch stop. I will say, the main building of the museum is largely unchanged from my visit... **check's notes**... fourteen months ago. It still has some beautiful artwork, all by Vietnamese artists. The throughline that this limited art lover can tell is how the pain of the war is seeping from the place. The "Building 2" which hosts rotating exhibits was fully new though, featuring some really great, large artwork by a young Vietnamese woman artist. All in all, a nice way to spend an hour avoiding the humidity.
From there, is a 15-minute walk to the Bitexco Tower, where i went to the observatory floor. It is quick, cheap and quite a great view. It will never not amaze me how sparse Ho Chi Minh City is south of the river. I don't know if there's a specific reason for this. But the city to the North side does extend beautifully in every direction.
Nearby is a bunch of great eateries, coffee shops, and handicraft shops, of which I perused many and purchased from a few. All in the direction of Pasteur Street Brewery, one of my favorite craft breweries outside the US period. Southeast Asian beer sucks in large - the Tigers of the world... - but Vietnam's craft scene is a wholesale exception to that. Pasteur was one of the O.G.'s on the scene, and still remains excellent, as I tried half-pours of its Pomelo IPA, Jasmine IPA and Cyclo Stout, among graet air conditioning and crowd.
Dinner was at Hoa Toc (surprise, reliving my 2013 trip for a second), which was as tasty and lively as ever. The place if anything is more crowded now, probably a result of them being a Michelin Bib Giourmand place for a few years. I got my normal starter of beef in betel leaf wraps. The only disappointment, if you will, is the dish now comes with pre-made wraps, taking a little bit of the fun of making your own away. It was still phenomenally tasty, of course. For a main, I got a really perfectly, flakily grilled swordfish in a lemongrass and sambal char with shallots. It wasn't too big but so immaculately cooked.
From there I headed to Summer Experiment, which was surprisingly not too crowded but just a great vibe. As like every place in HCMC, it is down an alley and up two flights of stairs, but once you enter it is just a mystical place of concoctions, my favorite being a methi and coconut gin cocktail that they liquid nitrogenify into ice cream. That or an Enoki Mushroom Miso cocktail with actual mushroom in it. It is maybe one step away from Cause Effect in terms of whimsy, but does what it does so well.
Speaking of doing what it does well - I give you The Observatory, which was as great, as magical as always. The outer part which is fully done up now was emptier than usual for a Friday, but the inside, back club, was busier, darker, deeper and just perfect - as were the balloons, the drinks and the crowd. It's just a really friendly, inviting and convivial place - meeting my fair share of Europeans, locals, Japanese, everything. No better way to end a night - that and of course Pho Quynh. Ho Chi Minh City was pure comfort food as a way to start the trip, and one day in it is fully living up to that - with a sprinkling of newness thrown in.
