Quan An Ngon

This is the best restaurant we visited in Ho Chi Minh City. Here you can have the real Vietnamese cosine.

Quan An Ngon
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia
Quan Mot, TP
Ho Chi Minh City

We were recommended the restaurant one day when we used a cyclo to take us to Rex Hotel.

The concept behind this open air restaurant is unusual but genial. The owner has recruited the most popular street food vendors to cook the food in the street fair style. Here you eat and drink with the locals. And as we all know, where the locals eat you will have the best food.
The restaurant serves all kind of finger food, noodles, rice dishes, pork, chicken, fish, all kind of sea food……………………

The menu is in Vietnamese and English. No problem to understand what you are ordering, the problem is what to order as you has lots of dishes to choose among. And if you can’t decide what to have, ask the staff to recommend something for you.

The place was crowded the last evening we visited, we had to line up in a cue for 15 minutes. But we know from the last time we visited the restaurant, the food is worth waiting for.

The main building is surrounded by cooking stations, each serving a regional speciality. By the way building isn’t the right word, because you dine outdoor with the feeling of dining indoors.

The service isn’t the best, but they are learning. You’re not in a hurry; Sit down, enjoy the surroundings, listen to the staff shouting out the orders, you’re waiting for a great meal.

For those with only a few days in Saigon, I reccommend stopping in Quan An Ngon..so does Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and I'm sure others, so there will be other travelers present.

But, regardless, this restaurant offers Vietnamese specialized street food in a formal restaurant setting. For example, their menu includes pho, bun xeo, bun bo hue, etc, which can be found on the street, but not in one location. This makes it ideal for those with a group who is willing to share: the best way to experience this restaurant is to order many small dishes and share them among the group.

The price is right too, very cheap for a restaurant setting in District 1, especially a location so close to many of the tourist stops. The various "vendors" are set up around the restaurant preparing their specialities. Thusly, you can take a stroll and observe the different dishes as they are prepared.