Juicy Grilled Glory

Meat-lovers will not want to miss the beer and barbecue at The Rooftop BBQ in District 1 Opened in June, what sets The Rooftop BBQ (2nd floor of M Plaza at 39 Le Duan, D1; www.facebook.com/therooftopbbq or therooftopbbq.com) apart, an open-air restaurant, are a few distinct features. First, unlike other BBQ places where you cook

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Rediscover A Classic

A long-time favorite, Xu is still going strong with its ambitious, mostly assured nouvelle Vietnamese cooking Xu Restaurant Lounge (71-75 Hai Ba Trung, D1) is in the heart of the upscale area of District 1. Xu is trendy and a place filled to the brim with the hopes that something story-worthy will happen that night—similar

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Garden Of The Senses

From Montpellier to Saigon, the three-Michelin starred Pourcel brothers have recreated their famed fine dining experience at Jardin Des Sens Saigon Within a 100-year-old French colonial villa, on the corner of Dien Bien Phu and Le Quy Don, is the latest gastronomic venture of twin brothers Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, bringing Vietnam its first fine

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Dinnertime Interlude

Italian fine dining with a touch of romance at Romeo & Juliet’s Tucked away in the basement of The Reverie Saigon is one of the best fine dining experiences in Ho Chi Minh City. The R&J Italian Lounge & Restaurant (B1 & Ground Level | Times Square Building, Enter via The Long @ Times Square, 22-36 Nguyen Hue, D1 & 57-69F Dong Khoi,

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Chef’s Choice

Kasen offers a more traditional Japanese dining experience through an omakase, hinged on warm rice and pristine fish Those who are already taken with Japanese cuisine will find plenty to be impressed with at Kasen (101 Le Thi Rieng, D1), a new venue serving up a contemporary sushi you will rarely see in Saigon. Kasen’s menu offers next-generation sushi, a pared-back, subtler form of the popular dish

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San Diego Meets Saigon

The marriage of Southern California and Vietnamese cuisines for a fresh and bold take on fusion Already having cemented it’s reputation for their incredible selection of craft beers, however, East West Brewing Company’s (181–185 Ly Tu Trong, D1) food is not to be overlooked. We visited the huge industrial chic space that manages to avoid hipster territory with an upbeat

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Beefing it Up

True to its name, MANZO celebrates all things beef Oizumi foods is a big name in Japan—they run over 300 restaurants and izakaya pubs throughout the country—and they’ve been taking steps to set up base in Vietnam since opening Pizza Logic at Takashimaya back in 2016. Butcher MANZO & Craft Beer Bar (17/13 and 17/14 Le Thanh Ton, D1) is their next move,

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Cuisine of the Soil

A Michelin-star experience at L’Escale By Thierry Drapeau A shiver of delight struck food lovers in Asia when Michelin released its first restaurant guide to Bangkok just a few months ago. However, in a case of “so close, yet so far”, a Michelin-starred meal for gastro-minded Saigonese still meant getting on a plane to Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong. “Maybe within 5-10

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Eating History

Rewriting the rule book at Caravelle’s Reflections Restaurant Traditions are great. They create structure and stability, and give us a sense of familiarity and safety. That applies to everything from centuries-old institutions, say the British monarchy, to your favorite restaurant where you can always count on your usual table being available, service just the way you like it, and your go-to meal tasting exactly the

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Let’s Go For Dim Sum

Gather a hungry crew to feast on dumplings, steam buns, egg tarts and more In her 2010 article for the Wall Street Journal, Samantha Cooper wrote of exploring Saigon’s Chinatown, a part of the city that even today is rarely ventured into by fine diners for its culinary offerings—even though it’s widely (and correctly) presumed that some of the best Chinese food in the

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