Vietnam unquestionably has the best street in the food world and perhaps even the best cuisine. And Saigon – AKA Ho Chi Minh City arguable sits at the top of the Vietnamese pile. Where though is the best of the best Saigon street food? I would now say at Ho Thin Ky Food Street……
And this is against some super serious competition, which you can read about in my Saigon street food guide, nightlife guide, as well as my article on the main street food market.
What the Ho Thin Ky Food Market?
Located in downtown it also doubles up as the Ho Thin Ky Flower market, with the entrance being floral and nasal rather than street food heaven. They are though one and the same places and getting a grab to the flower market will get you to the food market.
It is essentially located on the outskirts of District 1 and depending on the traffic less than 10 minutes from Hoang Phi Hotel and walking street.
Ho Thin Ky Food Street Address
Address: VN Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Quận 10 Tổ 56-khu4 89d, 70350, Vietnam
Province: Ho Chi Minh City
What can you eat at Ho Thin Ky Food Street?
As soon as you pass the initial flowers you will be greeted almost immediately by what is the opening to the food street. Said opening goes onto the main food block, as well as veering off into many backstreets, again all filled with all manor of cuisines.
And what food do they have at Ho Thin Ky Food Street? Well if you can think of a Vietnamese street food, or even favorites from Cambodia, Thailand, China and the western world then it is most probably here. Initially at least though what hits you are the big seafood BBQ stalls with some really lobsters!
This whole area has huge squid, not unlike in Phu Quoc, absolutely massive lobster and everything in between. The squid is cut with scissors and grazed with a mini-flame thrower while being soaked in hot sauce. Less than $6 and frankly some of the most epic squid I have had in the world.
Lobster wise again it was some of the fresh I have ever had with prices ranging from $15 for a small to $30+ for a huge one. And of course as this is Vietnam there is a also a huge range of slightly weirder stuff like sea snails and sea urchin. The later of which I was a but perturbed to be told not to have it raw, but instead cooked with egg, spring onion, garlic and butter – known locally as …………, a surprise, but a massive success. I could have just carried on eating seafood, but instead decided to go down the rabbit hole of another street.
The best of the rest at Ho Thin Ky Food Market
As you head down the smaller streets food does become a bit more normal to a degree, well Vietnamese street food normal, but with a. Few outliers as well that really impressed.
On the normal Vietnamese street food trail I was particularly impressed by the Banh Trang Nuong and the Banh Mi Nuong Muoi Ot. I have tried this through Vietnam, most notably in Nha Trang, but this is like a crisp/poppadom wit the ingredients of a pizza on top. I will give this its own article at some point, but a great Saigon street food snack. The BBQ was also extremely good, particularly the sausages in spicy Vietnamese sauce and of course pho, which while well represented I did not have the stomach to try on this occasion.
There were also some cool imports as well, such as the spin frozen bottles of coke, which Ho Thin Ky boasted as being “fresh from Bangkok” – something you can see from video.
TikTok.
I did though not have this instead opting for a The Nhan Trio Ky Tic Thai Lan. Alas I do not speak Vietnamese, but it got me a sweet tea like drink that was half full of lychee fruit.
And of course there was sushi, dim sum and Korean food, but alas it was not the day for that and it was to be some fertilized egg that caught my eye!
For anyone that is familiar with balut, or pong tia kun (ពងទាកូន) you will know that fertilized duck egg is a thing. What I discovered though was a whole restaurant at Ho Thin Ky food street devoted to this art. There were numerous ways of having the dish, but I decided to go down the most obscure route. Usually this dish is all about crackling the egg and putting salt, vinegar and spices on it. This version though had it beings even with Vietnamese herbs, but also being seven two to a bowl, de-shelled and cooked in tamarind. For some reason and much like other strange Vietnamese dishes like salted strawberries in Dalat, it just works.
Desert and drinks at Ho Thin Ky
Towards the end of the street there started to be more sweet drink options, such as the aforementioned Thai Coke spinner, but also fine gelato style ice-cream, fried iced-cream and cakes, but also some very Khmer looking desserts.
Of course they are not completely Khmer with Cambodian and Vietnamese cuisine very much having a continuum, but also Vietnamese cuisine at least having some effect from the Khmer Krom – ethnic Cambodians that live in Vietnam.
I have written a bit about these kind of desserts before, with me this time getting a small smorgasbord of what there was to offer, with jelly and coconut, as always being the primary ingredients.
Getting out of the street though is les of an easy feat with you now being evolved by zigzag of back streets that make Ho Thin Ky so small. It is though the further you get out on these backstreets where you see the restaurants that locals frequent that are not only somewhat cheaper, but also see a fair bit of Bia Hoi being consumed.
Overall Ho Thin Ky is not only well worth the visit, but also much more than just some quaint flower show. The best Saigon street food? This place might even be able to argue as being some of the best street food in Vietnam.
You can check out my Vietnam tours here.