Despite visiting Nha Trang for many years I have yet to put the pen down onStreet Food Nha Trang scene. And while the scene has indeed changed over the years as the city has grown, there is still vibrant scene here and you will not go hungry.
So, where is there to eat and drink for street food lovers in Nah Trang? Here is the TSFG Guide
To read about getting from Nha Tran from Saigon click here.
Head to the beachside…….
Nha Trang has now grown from a sleazy beach town to one which is family and well, Russian friendly, which has also raised the prices. This means that the waterfront is now littered with big booming and expensive restaurants. These are largely aimed at Russian and Chinese.
BUT, once you go one street or so back and start coming the backstreets and even s “street food streets”, you will find stuff to eat.
Street Food Nha Trang – The Best Restaurants
When it comes to the best seafood in Nha Trang, you can of course go to the big fancy restaurants, but better in my mind is top find the real Vietnamese style outdoor restaurants that exist. These places are all around the lesser hotels of the central beach area and essentially at the entrance of “the strip”, but can also be found in other place sir you look hards.
These are semi-outdoor restaurants with fresh fish everywhere hat serve well priced seafood that you cook BBQ style on your plate. Its indoor street food, its always busy, but its much cheaper, authentic and Vietnamese than going into one of the posh BBQ’s,
You will also find small mom and pop restaurants quite literally everywhere, selling Bun Rhieu, Ban Xiao, Pho and pretty much every other Vietnamese dish that you would expect. These small joints are inside, but again offer authentic food, often with a seafood flair.
Street Food Nha Trang – The Streets
Next on the lust are the slightly contrived street food streets, that have largely been set up for tourists and are thus a bit busier when you hit things like Chinese New Year.
As well as Vietnamese classics these streets offer a lot more fusion stuff, such as Bang Mi with a difference, hamburgers, and fried ice-cream, which we were to discover also included “durian” – indeed one of my favorites.
Aside from crepes, which seemed tp be popular there were also a few pother outliers. For some god only knows reason take-away Greek food is everywhere, with me still none the wiser about why Greeks do street food in Nha Trang, but hell if I had been in the mood I would have done.
My other great discovery was Mr Mac, a franchise, but hey who cares when you get a 4 cheese Mac and cheese.
Nha Trang Street Food
So, what for actual real deal street food? There are less food stalls than you would hope for or like, but also some real gems. We found one doing proper kebab sticks, as well as an array of other fried stuff, some sweet and sausages. Real local flair and pretty damned cheap, even though it was a holiday.
Other than this there were carts doing Vietnamese BBQ, which was really not all that different from Khmer BBQ and was for all intents meat and fish balls on a stick with spicy sauce. Something you truly can never go wrong with. And as for Nha Trang Street Food quite literally ON the street, we saw hawkers selling flat breads, sweet corn and potatoes, but the most imaginative part truly was seeing women cooking quite literal whole lobsters on the floor. Alas how busy it was precluded me from trying this, but I will be back.
I will though not be back during Lunar New Year and suggest others follow my lead here…..