The Pho Trail – a morning walking tour
Start your day slurping a bowl of Vietnam’s unofficial national dish, phở.
Not just any old phở, either. The best pho in Ho Chi Minh City. We’ll even teach you how to pronounce it properly.
We will take you out of the tourist area for a food walk through the “real” Saigon. We’ll start at a pho place that’s been serving noodle soup for more than 40 years. This place is one of Saigon’s best kept secrets … and it also serves great Vietnamese coffee.
After breakfast, we’ll wander around the backstreets, past food stalls, cơm tấm (broken rice) restaurants and other intriguing local shops. As we walk we’ll start collecting snacks to sample later.
We’ll walk through a chaotic local wet market, where tiny stall sell dried, pickled and fresh produce, as well as live seafood, frogs and fresh meat. We’ll stop in the noisy eating area to soak in the craziness, and learn about vegetables, the tropical fruits in season at the time. We will stop for local drinks (sugar cane juice, coconut juice or fruit juice) and will have a snack (pork noodle salad aka Bún Thị Nướng).
A short walk from the market is a peaceful park, and a temple famous for its fortune telling and its Saigon history. After this stop we’ll enjoy a family-style meal in a nearby rice restaurant.
This tour, suitable for families, is a great introduction to Vietnam. During the tour you’s learn some of the basics that will make your visit to Vietnam enjoyable, including how to cross the road!
While it’s not physically possible to eat everything you see on the tour, when we’re finished with you, you should be able to identify a range of local dishes and know how to order them. We also hope you’ll have a deeper understanding of Vietnamese culture and history.
(4.5 hour morning tour, starting around 8am, US$55 per person, maximum 6 people, small surcharge for pickups outside Districts 1 and 3.)
Price: US$55 per person. Maximum 6 people.
Time: 4-4.5 hour morning tour, starting around 8.00am
We will confirm your booking via email within 48 hours. (If you don’t hear from us, make sure you check your spam folder. If there’s nothing there, send a follow-up email to saigonstreeteats (at) gmail (dot) com.)
Give us as much contact information as you have. We will confirm your booking by email but we’d like a phone number just in case we need to contact you urgently.
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Please book at least ONE day ahead. (We know it’s hard to plan ahead when you’re traveling but we do need a bit of notice. If you book late at night for the Pho Trail breakfast tour the next day we may not see your booking in time.)
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Start your day slurping a bowl of Vietnam’s unofficial national dish, phở.
Not just any old phở, either. The best pho in Ho Chi Minh City. We’ll even teach you how to pronounce it properly.
Ốc is the Vietnamese word that’s shorthand for all crustaceans. So you will be able to sample a variety of seafood — the best seafood in HCMC, no less — including sea snails that are eaten with a safety pin, mussels, scallops and tasty prawns-on-a-stick.
This tour is designed to give you the confidence to go out and try street food on your own once you’re released back into the wilds of Ho Chi Minh City. We hope you’ll also have a deeper understanding of Vietnamese culture and history.
Got a special eating interest? Vegetarian? Picky eater? A chef? Team building? Never fear, there IS food for you on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and we can help you find it … and have lots of fun along the way. Let us know what you’re interested in and we’ll pitch you some ideas