Korean tourists love banh cuon priced at 71,000 VND, saying 'must eat when coming to Ho Chi Minh City'

Tina Yong is a beauty and fashion content creator who currently lives in Korea with her husband and young daughter Lyla. On her personal YouTube channel with over 3.7 million followers, Tina often posts videos about her travel and culinary experiences in some of the countries she has had the opportunity to visit.

Recently, Tina and her husband and children had a short trip in Vietnam. In addition to exploring Hoi An ( Quang Nam ), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), they also chose to stop in Ho Chi Minh City to explore the unique street food. Among the dishes they ate, Tina was most impressed with the banh cuon with minced meat.

Tina Yong and her husband take photos during their trip to Hoi An

To enjoy this dish, she went to a restaurant on 3/2 Street, District 10. The restaurant has been open for nearly 40 years, specializing in banh cuon and banh uot. This is also a familiar dining address for many local people and foreign tourists when coming to Ho Chi Minh City.

Tina said that what impressed her most when coming here was being able to directly observe the process of making banh cuon from the open kitchen area.

“I like watching them make banh cuon. They do it very quickly and professionally. One person is in charge of steaming the banh cuon, the other person takes care of other tasks such as adding raw vegetables and side dishes to complete the dish and serve it to customers,” she said.

Diners can observe the process of making banh cuon with their own eyes.

At the restaurant, Tina ordered two special rice rolls, priced at 71,000 VND each. Each serving was served with 3 egg rice rolls, 2 slices of pork sausage, 2 slices of cinnamon sausage and shredded pork, served with bean sprouts to reduce the richness.

The filling is made from minced meat, stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms (also known as black fungus) and shredded radish, seasoned with rich spices.

When the customer orders, the owner just starts making the pancake so the dish is still hot and has an attractive aroma.

Vietnamese rice rolls were once voted by the travel website Traveller (Australia) as one of the 10 best meals in the world (2023). In 2024, this dish was also in the top 100 best breakfasts in the world voted by the culinary website Taste Atlas.

To fully enjoy the taste of the rice cake, Tina decided to take a big bite. She picked up a piece of cake, added all the ingredients such as pork floss, bean sprouts, fried onions and then put it in her mouth to enjoy.

“The filling is perfectly seasoned, and I also drizzle fish sauce on top, so the flavor melts in your mouth. The rice rolls are soft and smooth on the outside, full of filling and rich in flavor on the inside,” commented a Korean female tourist.

The rice rolls are thin, soft, and fragrant with the smell of rice flour. The golden, crispy fried onions sprinkled on top make the dish even more flavorful.

Korean female tourist ate a big piece of banh cuon and was surprised by the delicious taste

She also praised the two dishes of pork roll and cinnamon roll, and commented that the accompanying ingredients all had harmonious flavors, combined with the rice rolls very attractively.

The female YouTuber’s husband also appreciated the hot rice rolls, praising “this is the best rice rolls I have ever eaten”. He said he had eaten Vietnamese rice rolls before but had never tried this dish with eggs. This was also the first time the Korean man had seen rice rolls made so big and round.

Tina's husband could not hide his delight and satisfaction at this familiar Vietnamese breakfast dish.

The two guests even let their little daughter try the familiar Vietnamese breakfast dish. Seeing her daughter enjoy the meal, Tina was even more convinced that the rice rolls were truly delicious and of good quality.

“The restaurant’s banh cuon dish has received enthusiastic responses from Lyla, so this is definitely a popular place, worth enjoying. If you have never had banh cuon, you should definitely add this dish to the list of dishes to try when traveling to Ho Chi Minh City,” she said.

The couple enjoyed banh mi at a famous shop on Nguyen Van Trang street, Ben Thanh ward, district 1 and praised it as "the best banh mi they have ever eaten".

In addition to banh cuon, Tina and her husband and their little daughter also enjoyed many other delicious dishes during their trip to Ho Chi Minh City such as: Hong Hoa bread, Binh Dinh pancakes... and drank coffee.

Tina revealed that the above dishes were all suggested by her "gourmet" friends and acquaintances in Vietnam and she was very satisfied with the delicious flavors of the street foods here.

“Sitting and eating crispy bread while watching the cars passing by added to our enjoyable experience here. And of course, the combination that makes the bread even more perfect is the Vietnamese iced milk coffee,” Tina shared.

Photo: Tina Yong

Although the appearance is not very attractive and the way to eat is a bit time-consuming, this specialty is very popular in Hai Phong because the meat is soft and sweet, and the legs are crispy. All are mixed in a hot, thick sauce.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khach-han-me-banh-cuon-gia-71-000-dong-noi-nhat-dinh-toi-tphcm-phai-an-2307452.html