Dim sum in Chinatown in Saigon (by Duc Le - my guest posting)

Since relocated to Saigon  4 years ago, I've always been scouting for a good local dim sum restaurant.  Saigon is not lacking of the sumptuous Chinese breakfast places.  On the contrary, there are plenty of Dim Sum restaurants such as Ocean Palace Restaurant, Hoang Long Restaurant, Royal Garden, Shang Palace, Li Bai in Sheraton, Windsor plaza, Kabin in Renaissance Riverside or the famous Singaporean chain Crystal Jade in Legend Hotel, to name a few.  But mostly these restaurants are high-end and a bit pricey for an average Vietnamese to enjoy. Some of my local friends suggested me to explore Chinese cuisine in District 5 (a.k.a Cho Lon) area.  District 5 is well known for Chinese Vietnamese community settlement.  It is literally the "China Town" equivalent to San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles' Chinatown.  

In the States, If you need to have good Dim Sum or traditional wonton noodles soup, you go to Chinatown.  If you want to find good shredded pork with thousand-year-old black egg porridge, you go to Chinatown.  In Saigon, its the same.  If you crave for good Chinese dessert with affordable price, you go to district 5.  You want to find an authentic Chinese noodles soup, district 5 is where you should go. You got the picture.  

Sweet fermented rice (cơm rượu)

I didn't try the rice pudding, or maybe I did, I can't remember! When I heard about the rice pudding as dessert, my reaction was quite strange - Dessert from rice?
Then I suddenly recall that we also have something sweet from rice, I wouldn't call it dessert but it's really sweet and now as a new trend, back to the tradition, at some Vietnamese restaurants we serve it as dessert, a speciality, especially to curious foreigners.

                      Sweet fermented rice 

Bến Thành market

Bến Thành market is very famous, it's like the historic image, the symbol of Sài Gòn, but to be honest, it's not in my heart. Probably because we have so many markets in Saigon, traditional ones, right in our neighbourhood, where we always go early in the morning to buy some stuff either for breakfast or for a family lunch. And we do that since our childhood. Bến Thành is far away for me.

                 One of the most popular symbols of Sài Gòn - Bến Thành market.