Arthurus (from Lithuania) has lived in Ho Chi Minh City for about 5 years and is currently a travel content creator. He owns a personal YouTube channel with more than 11,000 followers, known to Vietnamese netizens as Mr Abroad.

In a video posted earlier this year, he revealed the reason for returning to Vietnam after visiting his home country in Northern Europe. That is, he wanted to enjoy many delicious Vietnamese dishes, including banh chung.

So when arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Arthurus immediately went to Nguyen Thuong Hien Street (District 3) to experience rustic dishes.

“I want to try the traditional banh chung wrapped in banana leaves. I also want to drink coffee and taste some other street food here.”

Screenshot 2024 10 31 104147.png
Arthurus returned to Vietnam because he wanted to continue enjoying street food.

The Western tourist revealed that he chose this street as a stopover because he knew that this place is considered a " culinary paradise" for young people in Ho Chi Minh City.

Although he visited at noon, not the opening hours of Nguyen Thuong Hien food street (7-11pm), he was still surprised by the bustling atmosphere with many shops serving a variety of dishes.

While walking down the street in search of a snack for lunch, Arthurus saw a shop selling Northwest roast meat and was quickly drawn in by the hot, fragrant skewers.

After asking the price, the foreign YouTuber decided to order a skewer of roasted meat and enjoy it right there. He was surprised that the dish he had “never tried before” had such a delicious taste and kept exclaiming.

“I have been in Vietnam for a long time but I did not know this dish. This is the first time I have enjoyed it. It is really delicious,” Arthurus told the roast meat restaurant owner.

Northwestern Roast Pork.gif
Western customer bought a skewer of Northwest-style grilled meat for 30,000 VND and kept praising it as delicious.

A European guest commented that the grilled meat was “perfectly cooked, looked beautiful, tasted a bit sweet and served with herbs and a delicious dipping sauce.”

He was also impressed by the attentiveness of the seller when he served a full side dish even though he only bought one skewer of meat. The seller even repeatedly asked the customer if the dish was to his liking.

“He was a friendly guy and was interested in whether I liked the food he cooked. Of course I liked this snack,” the Western guest said.

Arthurus continued walking and found a shop selling ham and sausage. Seeing the food wrapped in banana leaves, the Western visitor thought it was banh chung. However, the seller introduced it as beef sausage.

Although it wasn't banh chung he was looking for, he still bought beef sausage, nem chua, and spring rolls (made from pork) and tried them to see how they tasted.

father and son 1.png
Foreign YouTubers are excited at the stall selling dishes like beef patties and fermented pork rolls.

He was impressed because the beef patties “had a crispy and smooth texture,” and the spring rolls “went really well with the sauce.”

The Western guest also enjoyed the nem chua and commented that the dish had a "light sour taste". He happily ate a few more pieces, continuously praising the delicious nem chua.

While exploring the cuisine on this street, the Lithuanian YouTuber also tried fried dumplings with savory filling (including quail eggs, minced meat, and wood ear mushrooms) with hot banh quai vac.

“The buns don’t look appealing on the outside, but the filling inside is quite delicious. The banh quai vac is fresh because it has just been taken out, and has a rich, delicious flavor,” he shared.

Banh Quai Vac.gif
Arthurus enjoys a hot cauldron cake

When paying, the Western customer was surprised to receive a free fried doughnut from the seller. This touched him and he kept saying thank you.

“They have to work very hard to make a living but are always willing to give away some free stuff to foreigners like me,” he said.

Arthurus said that even though he couldn't find and try the banh chung today as he wanted, he was still happy to be able to experience some delicious street food.

According to this guest, street food in Vietnam is not only diverse, delicious, affordable but can also be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Photo: Mr Abroad

A delicious, crispy and unique noodle dish in Hai Phong, not everyone knows about Hai Phong's vermicelli soup, which costs about 30,000 VND/bowl, with many side dishes such as shrimp, mantis shrimp, grilled betel leaves, fish cakes, etc. The noodles are large and crispy, mixed with a sweet broth, rich in shrimp flavor.