Once in awhile Hai and I get feedback from an Eating Saigon! follower that makes our blogging all worthwhile. In this case, John from Wellington, New Zealand, shared his thoughts about Hai’s restaurant in a Tripadvisor review on April 23, 2015. We thought you might enjoy reading John’s review here – we certainly loved it!
“Absolutely worth the trip from District 1”
The very first day we arrived in Vietnam, my wife and I made a beeline for Đông Hoa Xuân which is situated a decently long way from our hotel in District 1, on high recommendation from Eating Saigon! blog.
The taxi there and back was $12USD return. We have been in Vietnam for a week now (our trip is 4 weeks in total) and it is still the best food we’ve come across. In a way it’s ruined us for food since eating there. Even though Vietnamese food elsewhere has been great, excellent even, this one restaurant produces the most flavoursome, beautiful, interesting food we’ve ever tasted.
In the end we returned two days later, squeezing one last lunch in before catching our bus down to the Mekong. Again, that mad rush around town was well worth it.
Over our two meals we had the following dishes:
Cá Kho Tộ – Fish steak in a spicy caramelized sauce
- Cá lóc kho tộ: caramelized catfish. This is an absolute must-have dish. This will rock your world!
- Sườn non nướng: amazing pork ribs!
Hai’s ever-popular sườn nướng (bbq pork ribs)
- Cá thu sốt cà: tomato fish dish, which again, is amazing!
- Cơm tấm: south-Vietnamese ‘broken rice’. Great base to eat with all the dishes.
Cơm Tâm with pork
- Canh cải nhúng với thịt xay: a mellow yet tasty ‘vegetable soup’ (we’re sure it had traces of meat!) to finish off afterwards.
If you are in Saigon, and only have time for one meal, it should be here. Seriously!
You know what they say, the most authentic food is the furthest from the tourist district.
John, New Zealand
April 23, 2015
[Cám Ơn Nhiều, John (thank you, thank you). We’re so glad you enjoyed your meals at Hai’s restaurant – Đông Hoa Xuân. And we hope you continue to enjoy more wonderful eating adventures as you travel through Vietnam].
Read more about Đông Hoa Xuân Restaurant here.
[…] Once in awhile Hai and I get feedback from an Eating Saigon! follower that makes our blogging all worthwhile. In this case, John from Wellington, New Zealand, shared his thoughts about Hai’s restaurant in a Tripadvisor review on April 23, 2015. We thought you might enjoy reading John’s review here – we certainly loved it! [Read on …] […]