The Foodie Tour is a Requirement!
Last summer I went to Vietnam with my family to visit friends who live and work there. It was a phenomenal experience. Although we stayed for two weeks – it still wasn’t long enough to take in everything that Vietnam has to offer. We hope to return soon.
One of my favorite experiences in Vietnam was the Foodie Tour in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). If you are planning a trip to Ho Chi Minh City – this should be on your top five list of things to do while there.
The Foodie Tour is designed to give tourists a unique experience and to show the true culture of Vietnam. While a lot of the other Vietnam food tours focus on popular dishes such as Pho, Vietnamese pancakes, and spring rolls (which are all wonderful) – the Foodie Tour focuses on street food dishes that most tourists have not had before.
Vietnamese Food and Fun
The Foodie Tour was voted one of the top 9 Food Tours in the world by Forbes.
One of the best parts about the Foodie Tour is that you get transported by motorbike! Motorbikes are the most popular means of transportation in Vietnam. Vietnam’s population is around 92 million people. And, according to the Ministry of Transportation, there are 45 million registered motorbikes and counting. The Foodie Tour is only available in the evenings as that is when most of the street vendors are open for business. Riding on a motorbike through the crowded streets of Vietnam was both fun and terrifying at the same time. It really is something to see how the thousands of motorbikes just flow throughout the city.
Don’t tell my husband this, but I almost fell off the motorbike while on the tour. My jet lag picked that day to kick-in and it was raining so I was riding on the bike with my eyes closed when the rain got to be too much for my eyes. Let me tell you that it is not a winning combination when you add jet lag, closed eyes, and swerving around on a motorbike together. Luckily, I was able to stop myself from becoming a Vietnamese pancake on the busy streets of Vietnam by holding on to my driver and the bike for dear life.
The Foodie Tour frequents the most popular street stalls and hidden away alleyways in the city. The tour is as authentic as it gets as it focuses on delicious and authentic Vietnamese food where the locals eat.
At least eight entrees are included with the tour along with dessert. All of the food is fresh, the portions are extremely generous, and they will continue to order food until everyone in the group has had their fill.
Some of the dishes that we enjoyed were:
- Garlic Scallops
- Crab Claws
- Skewered shrimp and chicken (You get to cook the items yourself at the table!)
- Bun bo nam bo (vermicelli noodles w/o broth, beef, peanuts, fresh herbs, crisp dried shallots and chili pepper)
The Foodie Tour is also a great way to see parts of the city that tourists usually don’t take the time to see. Ho Chi Minh City is divided into 24 districts. Most of the tourist attractions (museums, hotels, bars, popular restaurants, etc.) are in District 1 and District 3. The Foodie Tour takes you to five popular districts where tourists can experience how Vietnamese people live, work and eat.
The tour lasts around 4.5 hours. The guides are extremely knowledgeable and they provide extensive detail about the history and culture of Vietnam. I can’t recommend this tour enough – it was simply amazing!
I have not visited Vietnam, but I love going to get street food in any country. They’re such a great way to learn about a country’s cuisine and to be in a vibrant atmosphere!
What an amazing experience to be able to eat like the locals and sample street food. The bike ride sounds like an experience in its self.
I was also told by my friend that food is great and very affordable in Ho Chi Minh. Honestly, I want to go there just for a food trip!
I am such a foodie, I couldn’t think of a better way to get to know a city! It all looks so delicious!
Wow! What a great tour. That food looks delicious. But I’m not so good at riding a scooter!
wow this sounds like an amazing experience. Always great to explore new areas from a locals perspective finding restaurants that the locals go to! Always better food!
We are planning a Thailand trip next year and this makes me even more excited!
oh my goodness, its heaven on earth. I love the images of the food. looks like you guys had an amazing experience. Vietnam is on my travel bucket list
A foodie tour of Vietnam?! That sounds AMAZING! What an incredible experience. My husband would be dying to do this.
Anything with dinner tour in the title has my attention! This sounds like such a fun trip!
As a fellow foodie myself, I know this is something I would greatly enjoy! What a blast of an experience. I’ll have to check this out further!
The foodie tour sounds amazing! The food you listed sounds good. I hope to one day be able to go to Vietnam and if I do the foodie tour will be something I must do.
That’s really interesting to hop on some delicacies during the night time in Vitenam. I especially love their mango salad , which is super yumm.
Holy cow! That sounds beyond amazing and is not on my bucket list.
omg your picture made me crave all that deliciousness ! I would love to have a foodie tour where I get to delight myself with all that
What a lovely city this seems and food looks super delicious …
This looks like an amazing trip!
I am a huge food lover and these foods sound delicious! It looks like you had a great time in Vietnam.
It sounds like you had such a great time at the foodie tour. The motorbikes look terrifying though especially if you nearly fell off. I hope you manage to re-visit with enough time to see everything!
Wow looks like you had such a fab fun foodie tour. I do love a good food tour x
Seems like you guys had a lot of fun. And of course, the food! OMG HEAVEN! I’ve always wanted to go to Vietnam, I might hopefully this year. Thank you very much for sharing! <3
wow what a great read this was- i loved all the photos!
What an excellent way to enjoy dinner in Vietnam. I am loving the options you had here, I haven’t been to Vietnam before, I haven’t even been further than the East Coast of the United States, where I live. I look forward to seeing where else you experience!