Local Pho Restaurant

I usually don't eat around district 4. Friends and locals don't even bother to take me their either to specifically eat. I don't know if that means much.

You'll like Pho 99 on Nguyen Trai in District 1. The owners apparently from California or so I heard. The Pho is good and a good steak with great value. Restaurant is nice and clean and redecorated earlier this year. Great spot to hit up late at night when places close.

139, Nguyễn Trãi P. Bến Thành, Quận 1, TP. HCM.

If someone recommends you to check out Pho Hoa on Pasteur, don't bother. I was there two nights ago and their pho is not as good as it use to be. It's a popular spot for locals and foreigners but I don't get the hype about it anymore.

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You might want to try Mi Vit Tiem if you haven't had it before. I'll try to find the address of one place I know in District 4 that my cousin took me to over a year ago. If you don't mind eating on the street, it's worth trying. I'm lucky enough to have one place close to me in Binh Thanh.

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As for direction, I recommend you using this site over Google Maps.

http://www.diadiem.com/

Cam On!

That place looks great and google says it just a short 20 min walk over the Cầu Ông Lãnh!

Will you be in HCMC in December?

Not sure yet depending on business, family, etc. but I probably will be here in December.

If we meet up, I'll definitely show you around town.

That would be much appreciated!  Thanks again for the info.

Another tip, bring plenty of Pepto Bismol. I didn't think I needed any, but boy was I wrong for the first week.

Yeah, we have some medicine to take care of that, but better safe than sorry.

Yeah my fiancee got sick the last time she went back home for the first week and advised me to bring plenty of stomach reliever.

You won't be able to walk anywhere without seeing a bunch of local Pho places. Everyone has their favorites but if you're already on Nguyen Trai there's another famous place a little up the street called Pho Hung. It's always packed with locals and expats. Ask anyone that's been there for a while where to eat Pho and this restaurant is usually near the top of the list.

Since you're already there, at the corner of Nguyen Trai and Cong Quynh there's a really good Hu Tieu. It's one of the best bowls in the city and a very well regarded place. The restaurant is called Hu Tieu Nam Vang; it's pretty hard to miss.

Phi, I also do not enjoy Pho Hoa on Pasteur. I'm glad someone else agrees with me

Phi Long wrote:

Another tip, bring plenty of Pepto Bismol. I didn't think I needed any, but boy was I wrong for the first week.

There is a very effective local cure for stomach upsets - RAU MAU - made from a vegetable plant, tastes good, better when cold, and oes the job\S

Sold all over, around VND10,000.

zztonedefzz wrote:

I will be living in Quan 4 Phuong 2 and I was wondering if there were any Pho, Bo Kho, or Hu Tieu restaurants in walking distance.

I have not often heard of someone sussing out restaurants before they even land.

To select a good restaurant in any new area is to use the locals, If a restaurant is crowded, with locals, it means they don't (usually/often) get sick. Being busy means that the food hasn't sat around with flies, etc., defecating on it.

Use your nose. If it smells genuinely good, it usually means the the ingredients are good. One place I ate at once had greasy smells, and the grease didn't smell too fresh. The food was bad.

Use your eyes. Where is the water taken from - dirty container or a tap? Does the food preparation area look clean? Do they use clean or murky water to wash the used dishes?

Adopting a food stand say for breakfast, daily, often results in better service. Foreigners eating there can be used as a promotion.

Pho pork broth takes about 4 hours to prepare properly because VN farmers do not use anti-biotics in pig food and some diseases hide out in the bone marrow - hence long cook times.

There are some good (fixed) restaurants in Quan 4, and some good street vendors, too.

zztonedefzz wrote:

I have heard that there are a few parts of Quan 4 that I should probably not go near.  If anyone could give me some specifics on where these areas are located it would be greatly appreciated.

The fact that you have heard, overseas, indicates something about Quan 4. It was the dock area of TP HCM until they started moving the docks to Thu Thiem.

Dock areas the world over are generally considered not the greatest, and Quan 4 definitely did it's best to uphold that reputation. 20 years ago it was a No Go area for Foreigners and any VNese, these days there are only bad areas or 'hoods in Q4.

Phuong, or Ward, 2 in Quan 4 lies in between two bridge connections to Quan 1; it lies to the southwest of Kahn Hoa, a main drag to Quan 7 and Phu My Hung.

On the northwest perimeter of Ward 2 is the new waterside express way that facilitates quick egress from the area. The water. alongside which it runs, is a tidal sewage canal - hot days and low tides really let you know it's there.

On the southeast side of Phuong 2 is a scruffy road that connects to Kahn Hoa.

The area is mainly Vietnamese, and generally of older construction. Several (many?) streets are known to flood at high tide or in heavy rain conditions.

It will take you an hour, minimum, to walk to Quan 1, regardless of which exit you choose. There is a basic transit service through Phuong 2 to Ben Thanh market.

Crime is high in Quan 4. Guess it is a carry over from the old times, I see many undercover policemen in the area, many more than in other areas.

Motorcyclists, wanna-be-gang types, gather on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at the south end of Phuong 2 and, usually around 03.00-04.00H make their slow parade back along Khan Hoa and Tan Vinh to Cau Cakmette and into Quan 1.

The noise will only likely affect you if you are living on the west perimeter of Phuong 2.

There are no supermarkets in your area, only VN convenience stores.

From the map < https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&q … CBAQ8gEwAA > you can see (satellite view) it is dense city residential area.

JVo18 wrote:

Phi, I also do not enjoy Pho Hoa on Pasteur. I'm glad someone else agrees with me

Pho 24 is a poor pho restaurant chain. They cook their food in a central kitchen in the evening of the day prior to it's sale. The noodles are also cooked them and stored in plastic bags which are stored unrefrigerated until around 03.00H.

At that time their few grubby mini-trucks pick up containers of pho broth and bags of noodles and bean sprouts which are delivered to the stores.

The whole lot is reheated and served when customers arrive.

Good pho requires that fresh ingredients be used, not some tuff that was cooked the day before.

Avoid Pho 24. ((It's so genuine, it's owned by Australians)

Phi Long wrote:

You'll like Pho 99 on Nguyen Trai in District 1. The owners apparently from California or so I heard. The Pho is good and a good steak with great value. Restaurant is nice and clean and redecorated earlier this year. Great spot to hit up late at night when places close.

139, Nguyễn Trãi P. Bến Thành, Quận 1, TP. HCM.

If someone recommends you to check out Pho Hoa on Pasteur, don't bother. I was there two nights ago and their pho is not as good as it use to be. It's a popular spot for locals and foreigners but I don't get the hype about it anymore.

You might want to try Mi Vit Tiem if you haven't had it before. I'll try to find the address of one place I know in District 4 that my cousin took me to over a year ago. If you don't mind eating on the street, it's worth trying. I'm lucky enough to have one place close to me in Binh Thanh.

...

As for direction, I recommend you using this site over Google Maps.

http://www.diadiem.com/

Pho Hung 10 Nguyễn Thị Nghĩa is another popular place.

Mi Vit Tiem at the corner Hoang Dieu and Nguyen tat Thanh. I think it is 10 Hoang Dieu. Anyway, you can't miss it.

Talking about mappping out the restaurants, there is one dedicated blogger mapping out all the vegetarian restaurants in District 1. I have used the one (Âu Lạc 60 Tân Vĩnh) mentioned there countless times and know the staff there very well.

People I know living in D4 normally go to D1 or Pham Ngu Lao area if they want good meal.

As mentioned in several threads in this forum, the Ben Van Don and Vo van Kiet streets are not good area to venture out at night. It is quite relevant for the backpackers staying in Pham ngu Lao area.

BTW, diadiem.com is OK, but I am quite annoyed with all the ads. Google is quite good, especially in SGN.

Jaitch wrote:

Phi Long wrote:

Another tip, bring plenty of Pepto Bismol. I didn't think I needed any, but boy was I wrong for the first week.

There is a very effective local cure for stomach upsets - RAU MAU - made from a vegetable plant, tastes good, better when cold, and oes the job\S

Sold all over, around VND10,000.

Luckily I haven't had too much problem in this area to try it.

But I have offered it to my friends and relatives from the States and it doesn't always work for them.

We also have these black little pills that does the trick some times.

Anatta wrote:

BTW, diadiem.com is OK, but I am quite annoyed with all the ads. Google is quite good, especially in SGN.

Diadiem did get those annoying ads, but I guess that's to keep the site up and running. I remember they went down for a month or so before.

Google is good, but sometimes get annoyed when they can't find a certain street due to spelling.

Anatta wrote:

Pho Hung 10 Nguyễn Thị Nghĩa is another popular place.

Mi Vit Tiem at the corner Hoang Dieu and Nguyen tat Thanh. I think it is 10 Hoang Dieu. Anyway, you can't miss it.

Yes Pho Hung is good too. I use to go there a lot when my cousin who had a shop on Nguyen Trai took me there for lunch. Personally, a friend and I seems to like Pho 99 more so I have forgotten about Pho Hung.

That might be the Mi Vit Tiem place I was refering too. And now I do recall getting a stomach ache from eating there so thats probably why I didn't go back.

Jaitch wrote:

Avoid Pho 24. ((It's so genuine, it's owned by Australians)

Agreed. Instant Pho is better than Pho 24.

Phi Long wrote:

Jaitch wrote:

Avoid Pho 24. ((It's so genuine, it's owned by Australians)

Agreed. Instant Pho is better than Pho 24.

ANYTHING is better than Pho 24

Thank you everyone for all of the great information an advice.  I will be staying on Ben Van Don Street but luckily I will be living with about a dozen of my in-laws but I will make sure to be safe.

And thanks especially for the reccomendations for Pho restaurants.  I will be hitting these places immediately upon touchdown in HCMC.

I will put a map together of all these places and I'll share it when I complete it.

Ive never used diadiem but I will give it a shot.

Thanks again!