Amidst all the many street food heavens we stumbled upon during our trip to Vietnam, there were many intriguing cafes and eateries—ones that actually had proper service and air-conditioning—that truly impressed us. Mâm Bac was one such eatery.

Specialising in a variety of Vietnamese dishes from the classic pho, grilled meat dishes to some pretty exotic items as well, Mâm Bac is a 2-storey eatery in Ho Chi Minh’s District 1 that is worth visiting for a pleasant introduction to local flavours in a modern and comfortable setting.

Looking rather shabby and underwhelming from the outside, this eatery leaves much to be desired in terms of aesthetics. But venture inside and you’ll find that it boasts 2 levels of seating areas.

The first level is humid and filled with the sounds of chatter and passing motorised vehicles whereas the top level is air-conditioned and serene, comparable to a cafe.

Seeing as to how amazing beef pho—or pho bo, as it’s called in Vietnam—is on the streets, we decided to give their version a go too.

Their Beef Noodle Soup (VND59,000 for small, VND75,000 for large) was simple tasting with a rather generous amount of freshly sliced beef neatly arranged over top. The broth boasted a deep beefy flavour with heady notes of spices but in comparison to the ones we had on the streets—at a much cheaper price at that—it was rather lacklustre.

Perhaps they were trying to go for a much ‘cleaner’ approach with a lighter broth and neater presentation, but for what it was worth, we would much rather our beef pho elsewhere in future.

Feeling ballsy, we opted for the Steamed Snail & Pork Paste (VND69,000). Submerged in a sourish soup, the snails were slightly chewy with a pleasant earthy taste to them. Contrary to our initial expectations, the snails were not foul tasting in any way.

In fact, the hot sour soup coupled with the tender snail flesh and pork melded incredibly well, providing comfort as well as flavour in a single, unassuming bowl.

A popular breakfast item is broken rice and meat, and what better way to live the way the Vietnamese do than to order up their Broken Rice with Grilled Pork Chop, Shredded Pork Skin & Fried Egg (VND88,000).

We were pretty confused as to what the term broken meant at first given that the rice we had seemed similar to regular steamed white rice. But we realised soon after that the term ‘broken rice’ refers to damaged batches of rice which were often discarded, yet, at the same time was a common staple among Vietnam’s poorer class of people.

Whatever the rationale is, for whatever component of the dish that was ‘broken’, the grilled pork definitely managed to fix. The grilled pork was sweet, smoky and nicely spiced—nicely complementing every single item on the plate from the fried egg to the pickles on the side.

Mâm Bac 
94 Ho Tung Mau, Quan 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 90 130 15 08
Daily: 7am – 11pm

For more recommendations, read our Ho Chi Minh City’s guides to discover the best places to visit in the city.

When visiting Ho Chi Minh City, no one ever leaves without paying the acclaimed Lunch Lady a visit. This internationally-renowned street food stall—located just a few steps away from popular pho joint, Pho Phuong 25—is famous for their down-to-Earth, rustic charm and menu that rotates daily.

The stall made its mark less than a decade ago after the late, great Anthony Bourdain visited them as part of his food programme, No Reservations. Until today, Lunch Lady is still highly patronised by locals, tourists, as well as food bloggers from around the world—like us.

The humble stall is owned and run by Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh, also known as the Lunch Lady. An international street food icon, her modest stall in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 is packed daily and for good reason–her food is truly out of this world. Period.

The moment you get yourself seated down, you are welcomed with an abundance of side dishes from deep-fried prawn fritters to an assortment of traditional Vietnamese spring rolls. Feeling rather stuffed, and with our stomach’s set on trying Ms Nguyen’s ever-popular Thursday Noodles, we decided to give the sides a miss.

For those of you pining for a taste of legit Vietnamese spring rolls, you’ll be happy to know that the snack is available here too. Having it alone won’t leave much of an impression, but accompanying it is a special dip that you simply must try.

A beautiful harmony of sweet, savoury and umami notes with an assertive characteristic of dried shrimp and roasted peanuts, the sauce really does elevate the taste of the spring roll, allowing the fresh herbaceous qualities from the basil to really shine through.

Lunch Lady specialises in serving noodle dishes with a different variant on the menu every day. We got ourselves what she calls, the Thursday Noodles (50,000 VND), and what it is is basically noodle soup dish with generous amounts of roasted pork belly, sliced pork, large prawns, fish cake, morning glory (kang kong) as well as cuttlefish.

The ingredients were fresh and for what the dish was worth, we were utterly shocked by how generous she was with her ingredients, but more so by how incredibly tasty the entire dish was from the rich broth to its individual components.

The broth was a hearty mix of deep, meaty flavours with a hint of savoury seafood, perfectly melded together to form a concentrated yet deeply satisfying combination of flavours. Despite it being so simple, the manipulation of skill and passion really showed, and every spoonful of the flavourful broth propelled our tastebuds into gastronomic nirvana.

Lunch Lady
23 Hoang Sa Street
Phuong Da Kao, District 1 (Quan 1)
Tel: +84 93 388 79 22
Daily: 9am – 3pm

For more recommendations, read our Ho Chi Minh City’s guides to discover the best places to visit in the city.