When visiting Ho Chi Minh City, I urge you to try Vietnamese cuisine! To get you started, you can see my list in 2012 which yes, I have to update. Vietnamese food is just so good, I tell yah! Here’s my list of favorite Vietnamese food.

If you’re traveling to HCMC and not quite sure what to eat, I can understand why you’d opt to eat at a tried and tested fastfood. We did that when we traveled to Hongkong. But seriously, that was a mistake. I knew I should have gone local instead.

So anyhoo, to appease the would-be travelers and to dissuade bringing in cup noodles after noodles or protein bars (LOL), here’s a list of Western fastfood in HCMC (eating into the local Vietnamese food scene).

KFC

Craving for chicken? Yup there’s KFC alright. In fact, it’s been in Vietnam for a very long time. Back in 2009, KFC and Pizza Hut were the only Western Fastfood in Vietnam. Our family love Papa’s Chicken though and would rather order Papa’s thank KFC.

Pizza Hut

Honestly, I can count in one hand the number of times we’ve eaten in Pizza Hut. There are lots of other options for pizza here! Scoozi and 4Ps top my list! You will not regret it!

Carl’s Jr.

Burgers! I have to admit that we do drop by Carl’s Jr. every now and then but still, there are way better burgers in other restaurants. Elbow Room, Burger Oi, Boom Boom Burgers, Black Cat, and The Workshop come to mind.

Popeye’s

Okay the biscuits are good and yeah the chicken is tasty. But still, you’ve got way more options in HCMC than dropping by Popeye’s.

Texas Chicken

If you’re still not yet stuffed with chicken, yup there’s good ole Texas Chicken.

Burger King

Burger King is growing quite rapidly in HCMC but I find their burgers really pricey for the size of the burgers. I’d rather go to Carl’s.

Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts is lording over doughnuts in HCMC. There isn’t really any competition. So yeah, if you don’t mind the calories, there’s Dunkin.

McDonald’s

So last year, McDonald’s opened shop in HCMC. I think it now has 3 or 4 sites in HCMC. If you’re staying in District 1, there’s one near Ben Thanh Market.

Baskin Robbins

Ice cream! Before Baskin Robbins, do try the local ice cream, Fanny.

Subway

Before going Western, go local and try the banh mi first. But yeah, I eat at Subway. It’s the easiest meal I have access to where I work. 😛

and… seriously you have got to try local coffee first before going to Gloria Jeans, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Starbucks. I mean there’s Phuc Long, Highlands Coffee, and Trung Nguyen. But the best ca phe da and ca phe sua da can be found by the sidewalk at just a fraction of the price you’d be paying in Starbucks.

So are you ready to travel to Ho Chi Minh City?

😀