Restaurant Review
10 Jan 2026

The Best Dishes I Ate in Quy Nhơn

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Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Consider this post a roaring endorsement for visiting Quy Nhon on your next trip to Vietnam. The Astronomer and I booked our stay based purely on vibes, and it turned out to be ideal for pristine waters, vibrant regional cooking, and palpable local energy. Located halfway between popular beach destinations Nha Trang and Da Nang, Quy Nhon is a prominent vacation spot for Vietnamese people, but is still under the radar among international tourists. The beauty of Quy Nhon is in its balance, so let’s keep this letter of recommendation between us, okay?

The weather was sunny and steamy during our stay, but that didn’t stop me from strolling the wide streets and coastline in the mid-afternoon while locals were napping or relaxing in the shade. After lunch, I often sent The Astronomer and June back to the hotel in a cab so that I could meander the streets at a leisurely pace. Discovering these little figurines underneath a bonsai tree (hòn nam bộ) reminded me of my grandpa; he used to travel to Quy Nhon often while in the merchant marines.

The Best Dishes - Quy Nhon

Quy Nhon’s culinary scene is tremendous. While I recognized many of the dishes and dining formats, some nuances, including the use of local ingredients and the abundance of unique sauces, made eating here a novel and exciting experience. I barely scratched the surface of regional specialties during my five-night, six-day stay.

Here’s a rundown of the best dishes I ate in Quy Nhon (see IG stories for the geotag of all the locations mentioned in this post):

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Restaurant Review
02 Jan 2026

The Best Dishes I Ate in Saigon

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Best of Saigon Eats 2025

Last summer’s trip to Vietnam was nothing short of wonderful. Our two-week stay in the country began and ended in Saigon, with a six-day side trip to Quy Nhon in between. We’ve been meaning to return to Vietnam for the past 14 years, but it took Cousin Jimmy’s wedding to finally make it happen. Coincidentally, it was also the 50th anniversary of when my family left Vietnam following the war. The timing and occasion seemed poetic in some way.

Whether traveling domestically or internationally, I usually arrive with an ambitious spreadsheet of restaurants or specific dishes that I need to try. For Vietnam, I had two reservations at Michelin-starred spots, a short list of old haunts to revisit, and a few family commitments to attend. Otherwise, our calendar was free to wander and eat whatever looked good.

Following our nose and good sense did not lead us astray once. Here’s a rundown of the best dishes we ate in Saigon:

As much as Vietnam has advanced on all fronts, I love that the most efficient way to obtain the local currency remains exchanging crisp Benjamins at a local jewelry store. While in the heart of District 1 to change our dollars into dong, we stepped into a random noodle shop for a bite to eat; see IG stories for the geotag of all the locations mentioned in this post.

Even though we were smack dab in tourist central, the crowded dining room and bustling operation signaled that these porky noodles were going to be solid. The Astronomer and I shared a bowl with kidneys, livers, wide rice noodles, and broth served on the side, while June’s bowl had thin egg noodles, ground and sliced pork, and no green flecks in sight. Both bowls hit the spot.

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Restaurant Review
17 Dec 2025

Michelin-Starred Ăn Ăn – Ho Chi Minh City

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An An - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

My final stop on the Saigon Michelin star tour took me to chef Peter Cuong Franklin’s Ăn Ăn. Among the restaurant’s many accolades, Ăn Ăn (translated as “eat eat”) holds the title of being Vietnam’s first-ever Michelin-starred restaurant, which it earned in 2023. Located on the first floor of a quintessentially tall and narrow Saigon building — a result of historical tax policies based on street frontage and high land prices — the energy inside and out was palpable. Stuffy fine dining this was not.

Our party of eight was seated by the front entrance and ordered a round of cocktails before the meal started. After much hemming and hawing, I settled on the tamarind whiskey sour ($14++). No doubt I was eyeing my cousins’ Old Fashioneds the entire meal — this happens to me all the time.

An An - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Chef Peter is a real one. Born in Vietnam and raised in Connecticut, he attended Yale and worked in finance before leaving it all behind for a cook’s life. The chef opened a pair of restaurants in Hong Kong before establishing Ăn Ăn in 2017. He also operates Nhau Nhau cocktail bar and Pot Au Pho noodle bar in the same building as Ăn Ăn.

The chef’s tasting menu ($135++) is self-described as a “homage to a new Vietnam” and “a culinary journey from North to South.” Whereas chef Viet Hong’s menu at Ciel approaches New Vietnamese cooking through a global lens, Ăn Ăn brings together classic Vietnamese culinary traditions with modern flourishes. Each of the evening’s 10 courses was inspired by a specific Vietnamese city or region as noted in parenthesis.

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