5-star delicacies at surprisingly cheap prices at Vietnam's most spectacular food festival

Today (March 30), the last day of the Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival with more than 600 delicious dishes selected from all over the country at Van Thanh tourist area (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City). This is an event that has been voted the most unique food festival in the world for 2 consecutive years.

According to records, on the evening of March 29, which was the weekend, the number of visitors to the festival increased dramatically and was crowded. Diners could not help but admire the super-grand culinary festival that was invested in and organized meticulously.

Crowded with visitors to the food festival on weekend evening

PHOTO: VU PHUONG

5 star food at affordable prices

As a regular visitor to the festival, Mr. Dang Vu (living in Binh Thanh District) brings his whole family to visit and enjoy delicious food every year. This year, his family came to have dinner for all 3 days. The delicious dishes that his family gave absolute scores to at the festival include: Majestic beef rib pho, Moc Bach Diep Lien Hoa sausage from the Continental Saigon Hotel, Bun Rieu from Thu Duc Golf Course, Black chicken stewed with Chinese yam from the Rex Saigon Hotel, grilled seafood from the Saigon - Mui Ne Hotel, grilled chicken from the Central Highlands...

He shared: "If you eat in a hotel, the above dishes will cost at least 200,000 VND or more, not including tax. Here, each meal costs about 50,000 - 60,000 VND, some dishes are priced lower or higher but the quality is the same as eating in a hotel."

5-star quality food at affordable prices at the festival

PHOTO: VU PHUONG

Mr. Dang Vu said that the cool festival space at Van Thanh tourist area, the staff cleaning tables and chairs, the cleaning staff constantly clearing trash... are the things that make his family feel comfortable when coming to the festival.

During the three nights of the program, the booth of the Majestic Saigon Hotel was always crowded with customers lining up to buy beef rib pho, grilled shrimp, and tamarind-lime tea. The staff here said that in the hotel, a cup of tamarind tea costs 180,000 VND, a bowl of beef rib pho costs 250,000 VND, excluding tax; but during the festival, tamarind tea is sold for 30,000 VND, beef rib pho costs 60,000 VND...

In terms of ingredients, the flavors remain the same as the recipe at the hotel. In terms of quantity, each portion of food and drink is only slightly less so that guests can enjoy many other delicious dishes during the festival.

Many delicious dishes captivate diners at the festival

PHOTO: VU PHUONG

The price compared to the quality makes diners very satisfied. Ms. Thanh Huong (living in Tan Binh District) excitedly shared: "I am especially impressed with the taste of Majestic's beef rib pho, a quality bowl of pho with large ribs, fragrant meat, and sweet broth. After eating, I wondered to my family: selling a bowl for 60,000 VND like that, will the hotel make a profit?".

Special things at the festival

After each organization, the number of dishes, visitors and highlights of this super-grand culinary festival gradually increased. It can be seen that at the 2 entrances, folk cultural activities, floating markets, 2 main snake mascots on Nguyen Hue flower street made a strong impression on the people and tourists.

Along the food courts, cultural and artistic performance spaces from three regions are arranged under the trees, serving visitors to enjoy delicious food and access folk culture.

Appearing for the first time, water puppetry delighted diners, especially young guests.

PHOTO: VU PHUONG

In particular, the water puppet show appeared for the first time, attracting a large number of diners, many people sat waiting to watch the performance.

Ms. Thai Thi Thanh Hoa, a chef with 20 years of experience at the 4-star Saigon - Kim Lien Hotel (Nghe An) said that this year the hotel has a dish called eel soup with wet rice cakes that was voted by the organizers to be in the top 10 regional specialties that must be tried.

To serve Saigon diners, the hotel prepares all the ingredients from Nghe An, transfers them here to be processed, and changes the taste a bit to serve local diners. "Our group has 2 experienced chefs, the goal is to introduce the hotel's famous dishes to the people of the city. We attend every year, but this year I see more guests, the chefs are working non-stop", Ms. Hoa shared.

Within the framework of the festival, Rex Saigon Hotel introduces a special menu with the theme of Green Tourism - Green Cuisine with dishes that utilize natural ingredients, simple but creative processing methods, fully preserving traditional values ​​such as: dried snakehead fish salad, Long An fish cakes, steamed snails with lemongrass leaves and dipped in salt and basil, black chicken stewed with Chinese yam - steamed noodles...

This year, the organizers devoted a lot of effort to designing booth areas and experiences to promote culinary culture.

PHOTO: VU PHUONG

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, Deputy Head of the festival organizing committee, said that this year's festival is organized on the largest scale ever, and the organizing committee has devoted much effort to promoting the culinary culture of the three regions to international friends.

After 4 successful events, Saigontourist Group is planning to take the festival "overseas" to serve overseas Vietnamese and guests.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mon-ngon-5-sao-gia-re-bat-ngo-o-le-hoi-am-thuc-hoanh-trang-nhat-viet-nam-18525033014091129.htm