L'usine - a good cafe place with the shop-in-shop concept

The coffee-shop style in Saigon is something really incredible! Probably nowhere in the world has that much to offer like here. Everywhere - from right on the street, very cheap one, to those huge places, good and popular for the majority…up to the real classy for young trendsetters.
Whatever taste you have, you definitely find something suitable, I guess. Before people just need a cup of black coffee to start a working day…but now having a coffee at a nice place could be a new lifestyle, a true pleasure.

            A corner at L'usine - a nice place to have coffee and light food in Saigon. 

Christmas weekend in Saigon

Only a few days left to Christmas. Weeks before we already feel the holiday atmosphere, the hurry-up mood everywhere in the city, especially this morning, probably thanks to the cold air from North, Saigon's weather is suddenly and unusually getting colder . Perfect for X-mas time. In the North, up to Sapa, the highland, it's recently heavily snowing. Imagine…snowing in Vietnam, it's not a global warming!?  

             To avoid the night crowd many young people prefer the morning shoot.  

Walking along the evergreen streets in Saigon

Saigon used to be a beautifully green city, maybe still green but the image of a charming city has gone. Back in 70s, I was just a little kid, but still remember the image of Saigon in the old days.
Not much traffic, much cleaner, less populated, less polluted and it seemed people at that time behaved more properly.

                  Nguyen Van Cu street with the narrow alleys along two sides of the main street.

Bread stall since 1950s in Saigon

We talk a lot about our bread, we know how it's popular, how people prefer it, our bread has been even selected as one of the best street foods in Asia, but we may not know that somewhere in Saigon we still have a place where they serve bread in another way since 1950s.

I was told about this place quite sometime ago, I keep in my mind "I should go there" but by somehow only last week I've been there for the first time. It's not far from my old parents house and the stall was there probably long before 1975. It's an old stall right at the corner near to Cao Thang and Nguyen Dinh Chieu's intersection - with a faded signboard "Bánh mỳ Hòa Mã"

It's not take-away shop as other places, they have tiny old metallic chairs, small, low tables along the passageway. If more customers they put more chairs and tables, if not they clear them up, not to disturb the traffic in this alley.

                  A plate of the variety of cold ham, sausage, homemade mayonnaise and pâté.

Saigon 38 years later with some flashback stories

30th of April, 1975. 
Special day for all Vietnamese, especially for those who lived in Saigon at that historical moment. I was there, a young kid, without knowing about the war, I was packing, with joy, my favorite toys for "the escape". But it didn't happen, our family stayed and...tomorrow, 38 years later, we celebrate the date that many of us don't know how to call - either "Saigon liberation" or "Saigon fall".  
I don't want to go into the details what was good and what was bad for us, before and after that real turbulent date, it's too much political, I'm not into that. I was a very young kid before 1975, I hardly remember everything but there is always something that I never forget...in my city.

The 1st story
The classy Continental hotel, after 1975, has turned into a cheap "state cooperative eatery" (hợp tác xã ăn uống). The living conditions were very hard. One day my mom, as habit from the good old times, took us there to enjoy a Yang Chow fried rice (cơm chiên Dương Châu) with her tiny earnings after selling some dress from her wardrobe, my mother used to be a teacher so she got a big collection of áo dài, sometime she gave away her dress, sometime she just traded for an extra money. It happened only once, no second time. Now, it's good that the Continental regain the old look and I already know where is the better place for the fried rice.

              The Continental hotel - one of the luxury hotels managed by Saigon Tourist - a state company.  

PS: By the way, these days I saw they are selling the Yang Chow fried rice as a street food.

The 2nd story
Saigon was much more quiet, less people, less traffic before 1975. Our parents bought their first house long before I was born. It was very narrow, slightly more than 2 m wide but it was a shelter to many of our relatives who moved from Central to Saigon. The house has been renovated once and it was sold in 1970, after my parents got another one - much bigger.
I do remember the ice cream vendor, who always stopped in front of this house, he first played with kids and after that convinced them to buy his cheap sirup ice cream. One day I was sitting behind the balcony (as you see from the photo), I really loved to get some ice cream but no pocket money, so the young vendor tried to convince me to exchange something, I didn't know whose idea, but I finally exchanged it with a pack of french pretzels that I took from a very nice tin box. And that was a present from a friend to my mother.

           I grew up here, in my parents first house(center). It surprisingly remained the same as in the old days.   

Saigon's baguette (bánh mỳ Sài gòn)

Vietnamese love bread, especially baguette! It probably comes from our history when French culture, cuisine have influence on our lifestyle! I'm not an exception! I used love baking bread!

If beef noodle, broken rice are our favorite breakfast, bread or as we say "bánh mỳ" is on the top, because it' mobile, easy to take away! We love our bánh mỳ and we can have it around the clock!

Before we have bread only with Vietnamese pork ham (chả lụa), pâté, chicken floss, sunny side up egg...but now more choices!

From canned fish with tomato sauce, traditional pork skin (bánh mỳ bì) with fish sauce, meat ball (bánh mỳ xíu mại), fish cake (bánh mỳ chả cá), roasted pork (bánh mỳ thịt quay),  stew intestine (bánh mỳ phá lấu), grilled pork (bánh mỳ thịt nướng) with sweet black soy sauce, chili sauce. The other day I saw a stall selling bread with stew beef liver (khô bò đen) which usually goes with famous papaya salad! Worth to try!
 
By the way, just got a news that our bánh mỳ has been considered as one of the world's best street food by Lonely Planet after long survey across the globe! Sounds nice!

Bread with favorite sunny side up egg (bánh mỳ ốp la)

But whatever we have now, I and many others are still loyal to the tradition, that's why many bread stalls  in Sàigòn are famous for their bread with fantastic pâté, ham, pork or chicken...If you take a walk around some quarters in Saigon, you may find several small bread stalls, street vendors! 

                                                                Bread with fish cake! 

Here you go! Right in the heart of Sài gòn, opposite Saigon Center building. On Pasteur street!
Simple street stall of bread with stew intestine (bánh mỳ phá lấu)!
I remember before only one stall but yesterday I found two! Competition!

Stew intestine (phá lấu) is good if the pork intestine is fresh and well marinated with five-spice powder! Then it should be well cooked, not too soft but chewy enough!
Most important is the combination of thick sweet soy sauce and chili sauce! Some shreds of pickled carrot & white radish, fresh cucumber! Very good!