Vietnamese cuisine is not only pho, bun cha, banh mi... but also many, many other delicious dishes. More than 600 dishes will be introduced at the Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival 2025.
Saigontourist Group's Food Culture and Delicacies Festival is attractive and creates a big buzz domestically and internationally - Photo: SGG
On the occasion of the Saigontourist Group 2025 Food and Culture Festival, which is about to take place at Van Thanh Tourist Area (HCMC), Mr. Pham Huy Binh - Chairman of the Board of Members of Saigon Tourist Corporation (Saigontourist Group), head of the festival's steering committee - shared the group's efforts in promoting Vietnamese cuisine to tourists, especially international visitors.
Introducing more "unique" dishes from different regions
* Saigontourist Group's Food Culture and Delicacies Festival has become one of the most anticipated annual culinary events for domestic and international tourists in Vietnam. Can you share the special features of the 2025 festival ?
- Saigontourist Group's 2025 Food and Drink Culture Festival will have many innovations and attractions. First, we will expand the scale of the festival with more food stalls and more dishes, with over 600 delicious dishes from the North - Central - South, thereby introducing a variety of special dishes from all regions of Vietnam.
In addition, we focus on enhancing the experience for attendees through interactive activities, art performances and activities to learn how to make many types of traditional cakes guided by famous chefs and artisans. In particular, we will promote "unique" dishes from different regions, "nostalgic" dishes made from local specialties.
If nothing changes, we will bring the "international version" of the Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival to participate in the Japan Expo 2025 exhibition event in Osaka city scheduled to take place in June 2025, followed by the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 event scheduled to be held in September 2025 in Singapore.
In particular, the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 event, co-organized by Saigontourist Group and Tuoi Tre newspaper, is also the third time a large-scale Vietnamese pho promotion event has been held abroad.
* Can you tell us the significance of preserving and developing Vietnamese cuisine through the organization of the Saigontourist Group Food Culture and Delicious Dishes Festival?
- Cuisine is one of the strong service areas of Saigontourist Group. Cuisine is also the fastest, most vivid and effective way to introduce the attractiveness of national tourism to friends around the world.
Every year, we organize the Saigontourist Group Food Culture Festival and Delicious Dishes. We want to affirm the Saigontourist Group culinary brand to domestic and international diners with experience, organizational "technology", diversity in style, culinary flavors from all regions, professional staff and the difference in unique flavors of the Saigontourist Group brand.
The deeper we explore, the more we see that Vietnamese cuisine is a world of rich flavors. From 300 dishes, 350 dishes, then more than 400 dishes in the three festivals in 2022, 2023 and 2024, to this year's festival with more than 600 dishes. The list of delicious dishes in the treasure trove of Vietnamese cuisine will be further enriched by us through the following festivals.
* The journey of collecting, selecting and introducing delicious Vietnamese dishes at this festival is probably an interesting story?
- Festival is all the enthusiasm, love, and passion of the Saigontourist Group. We have found a common voice and the wholehearted support of the leaders, culinary department heads, and a team of skilled and experienced chefs from member units of the Saigontourist Group system in Ho Chi Minh City as well as other localities.
Mr. Pham Huy Binh, Chairman of Saigontourist Group, head of the steering committee, beat the drum to open the 2024 festival - Photo: SGG
The process of collecting, selecting and introducing delicious Vietnamese dishes is an exciting journey for those who have devoted their hearts and great love to Vietnamese cuisine.
For example, to bring Kon Tum leaf salad with 60 types of leaves and wild vegetables to the upcoming culinary festival, the staff, employees and chefs of Binh Quoi Tourist Village took the trouble to travel all the way to Kon Tum to learn, survey and experience how the people of the Central Highlands made this dish.
Through the times of going into the forest to clear the fields, the indigenous people picked forest leaves to eat for lunch, then brought them home for dinner. Gradually, they developed it into a specialty, choosing forest leaves combined with side dishes to become this interesting dish.
Surrounding the salad's filling of thinly sliced boiled meat, small boiled shrimp, pork skin mixed with rice powder, whole peppercorns, salt and chili peppers are countless types of lush green forest leaves covering the entire table, creating a culinary picture that is both strange and attractive.
Among them are many types of leaves that are only found in the Central Highlands, preserving the characteristic flavor of the mountains and forests for leaf salad such as galangal leaves, ginseng leaves, ivy leaves, myrtle leaves, bear bile leaves, sesame leaves, and diep tan leaves...
This special dish will be introduced at this year’s Festival . To preserve the original flavor, the unit has specially ordered special leaves from the Ngoc Linh old forest, such as frog thigh leaves, wild watercress, wild mustard greens, wild watercress, ground mustard leaves, ripe noodles…, promising to bring diners unique and unforgettable culinary experiences.
There are many more interesting stories like that. Diners come to this year's Festival to directly enjoy this "unique, strange" dish and countless other "unique, strange" delicacies selected and introduced by member units of the Saigontourist Group system in Ho Chi Minh City and localities across the country.
Bringing Vietnamese cuisine to the world
* In the context of Vietnam's tourism growing, what strategies does Saigontourist Group have to bring Vietnamese cuisine to the world?
- We are well aware of the role of cuisine in attracting international tourists. Therefore, we have been implementing many strategies to promote Vietnamese cuisine to the world. At Saigontourist Group's hotels and restaurants, we always prioritize introducing Vietnamese dishes on the menu.
We also participate in international food fairs, organize Vietnamese food weeks abroad and cooperate with international chefs to introduce Vietnamese cuisine to friends around the world.
2. The 2025 event introduces more than 600 delicious Vietnamese dishes along with programs combining culture, art...
Our message in organizing and participating in these culinary events is: "Come to us to enrich your experience, while enjoying delicious Vietnamese dishes, and learning about the culture and people of our country".
* Does the group plan to elevate the festival to an international culinary event and take this unique festival abroad?
- We are determined to carry out that ambitious plan, aiming to contribute to promoting Vietnamese cuisine to the world, creating a highlight to attract more international tourists to Vietnam. When going abroad, we realize that foreigners like to explore and experience the culinary cultures of other countries, including Vietnamese cuisine.
But Vietnamese cuisine is not just pho, bun cha, banh mi…, which are dishes that have gradually become familiar to the international diner community around the world. Vietnam still has many, many delicious, attractive, unique dishes that can be processed to suit the taste, presented attractively to conquer the world's gourmets.
The Saigontourist Group 2025 Food and Culture Festival, organized by Saigontourist Group, will take place from March 27 to 30, 2025 at Van Thanh Tourist Area, with the participation of 4-5 star hotels, resorts, and restaurants belonging to the Saigontourist Group system in Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities nationwide.
In addition, the event also had the participation of many prestigious partners, representatives of culinary brands from several localities. To participate in the festival, visitors buy entrance tickets with coupons attached to use the service, with a package ticket price of 200,000 VND/adult, accompanying children are free.
The program has opened ticket sales, with an attractive 10% discount for early buyers, 20% discount for customers whose birthday is August 1, 1975, the founding date of Saigontourist Group, with a maximum of 10 tickets per customer, applicable from now until March 25, 2025.
Contact the official ticket sales points: Binh Quoi Tourist Area 1: 0901 889 701; Binh Quoi Tourist Area 2: 0901 889 702; Binh Quoi Tourist Area 3: 0901 889 703; Tan Cang Tourist Area: 0901 889 704; Van Thanh Tourist Area: 0901 889 705. Or contact the hotline: 0901 889 709 - 0855 556 879.
Detailed information about the Festival at website: www.saigontourist.com.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/no-luc-quang-ba-am-thuc-viet-tam-quoc-te-cua-saigontourist-group-20250305152339407.htm
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