Despite not being “authentic”, or my usual cup of tea, Ben Nghe Street Food Market in Saigon is truly one of my favorite places to dine, not just in Saigon, but also the whole of Vietnam. Why though is this?
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Real vs Fake Street Food
So, when it comes to street food I’m usually what you might call a zealot in that I like real street food, I mean I am The Street Food Guy after all. Said zealousness usually means that anything with the name “street food”, that is not a stall on the street is phony.
And I have seen this phony shit the world over, from airports with restaurants selling “street food”, to all manor of fusion cuisines that simply try to gentrify some of the best good on the planet.
So, what is different with Ben Nghe Street Food Market? In essence not all that much, with it indeed being a cleaner, more expensive sanitized version of street food.
But, with that being said they do a very decent job here, both with range, location, price and of course food and drinks.
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Where the Ben Nghe Street Food Market?
Ben Nghe Street Food Market Address;
134 Đ. Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa,
Bến Nghé,
Quận 1,
Thành phố
Hồ Chí Minh,
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
So, Zone 1 (Saigon) and just a mere 15, or so mounts walk from Walking Street and the hustle and bustle of downtown Saigon.
What the Ben Nghe Street Food Market?
In essence this has much more in common with a food court than a food market,, with it kind of reminding me of a similar gig I found with the street food of Hua Hin.
The basic premise is lots and lots of food stalls, selling all minor of street foods, but snugly under one roof, and with tables and even music on occasion. They also have stalks concentrating on street drinks, largely meaning that everything one might desire of an evening is covered at Ben Nghe Street Food Market.
And the food?
Think of any Vietnamese food from Pho to BBQ and Banh Mi, then add sushi, fresh seafood, Mexicans, Thai and even hamburgers and you will be there. This is basically a place where they have taken the best street foods of Vietnam, but then sublimated them with the best of the rest form the rest of the world.
Not only this, but the whole gig with the drinks is the same, with cool kid drinks like bubble tea and vegan friendly smoothies supplemented by beers and the like. Spy Wine Cooler anyone?
You then order your food, get one of those “food alarms” and then wait for the thing to go off. You then sit on the communal type benches, of which there are plenty and go for gold.
You can see me chowing down below.
Verdict on Ben Nghe?
Vietnam as I have often said has the best street food in the world and whilst you are there the best way to sample this is to explore, explore, explore. Go down dark alleys, pick weird stuff and put your stomach at peril. This will get you trying the best food in the world.
BUT, if you need something more reliable and indeed more chilled that is like halfway house between a clean restaurant and legit street food, then you truly cannot go wrong with Ben Nghe……