Did Saigon’s bar and restaurant scene just reach escape velocity? It feels no longer bound by the old gravity — predictable neighborhoods, safe concepts, the same wine list in every restaurant.
They draw you in through magic portals. Dark wooden double doors. A winding red staircase. A back door you can’t see into. A blue door that seals off a soundproofed room. Spaces that separate the street from something special happening inside.
And, often, they’re being built by people coming home. Sam Tran south from Gia Hanoi, making gelato that tastes like streetfood. Hoang Duc Duy trained for a decade in Japan, returned to bring authentic Japanese flavors back to Vietnam. Nê traveling 2,000km from Hanoi. Or maybe, like Jonathan Koh, they’re making home here, and becoming attuned to what that tastes like. Because the city is drawing in talent right now and it’s changing forever how the city eats and drinks.
Take Salon Saigon – a modern Mexican diner with pastel tiles, vintage TVs playing 80s World Cup matches and loud Latino music. Or Eire on Ton That Dam, a proper Irish pub nestled among the neonlit shady hostess bars of the area, without cliches and live screened sports, but with Guinness on tap, live bands and genuine craic guaranteed.
Two ends of the spectrum less than a kilometer apart across downtown District 1.
Nê Cocktail Bar, a true Hanoi original, a cocktail bar that birthed the pho cocktail, has opened Nê Saigon, with its weird winding staircase long counter and modern classic menu (handily divided into ‘opening notes,’ ‘deep structure’ and ‘lasting impressions’) is more than simply a cut and paste of the original.
Sam Tran, the MICHELIN-star chef from Gia Hanoi has come south too – her new gelato spot, Chung Gelato, improbably incorporates streetfood flavors.
Then there’s Bar Rơm in Thao Dien — a binchotan grill and bar where the owner’s kitchen simply moved into the dining room. Skewers and small plates grilled over charcoal. Menu rewrites itself daily. Cocktails from regional herbs and orange wine curated by a friend.
Speaking of friends, places like Tí Nỵ Bar and Fluid share an affinity, whimsical spaces, small plates of comfort food, and savvy wine lists – Tí Nỵ Bar’s Chef Thao – who also runs Saigonese Eatery in Phu Quoc and is formerly of Nage – and Fluid’s Chef Thach have already collaborated, proving the bond.
Dining got finer in Thao Dien, with the opening of Jonathan Koh’s soothing and spontaneous Voyage – his daily trip through the produce box to make a fine dining menu that adds finesse and fun to the fresh ingredients.
Around the corner, an Italian concept that could be predictable, Olio & Terra, feels alive with freshness, with freshly-cut parma ham that form a special menu, two kinds of signature martinis, and a terrace overlooking the strolling dog walkers and returning homers of Ngo Quang Huy.
These spots are just part of our latest round-up of the best new places to eat and drink in Ho Chi Minh City right now.
Nê Saigon Cocktail Bar
The Hanoi original – which ranked No.76 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2021 list – introduced the pho cocktail to Southeast Asia’s bar scene. Now, this southern outpost has opened that respects the original without copying it – although the pho cocktail is still on the menu, before you ask.
The winding staircase anchors the space, backlit shelves rising behind the counter and that menu divided into ‘opening notes,’ ‘deep structure,’ and ‘lasting impressions.’
Opening notes are aperitifs – bright, saline, designed to wake the palate. Deep structure is where the bar’s technique surfaces: drinks built on stock, infusions, and full of umami – hours of prep for minutes of drinking. Lasting impressions close out the menu with richer spirits and longer finishes.
And Nê Saigon Cocktail Bar leaves a lasting impression too.
In Short: The Hanoi OG cocktail bar comes south, hitting all the right opening notes.
Location: 109 Le Thanh Ton, District 1
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Daily 6:30PM – 01:30AM
Fluid
At Fluid, Ben Phạm, the Creative Director, designs the room, Chef Thạch Tạ drives the philosophy and Chef Na Bong executes it. The division of labor matters because it’s visible the moment you walk in – every element from lighting to plating to the elf-looking staff has been considered separately, then woven into a single mood.
Candlelight dominates, breathing light onto white tablecloths. There’s a sofa that feels softer than it should, angled so you see the whole room but stay contained in your own corner.
This is the kind of place that makes couples linger over dinner, but it also works for a solo diner at the bar ordering Shrimp Curry Ramyun and a Yogurt Soft Serve, or a group claiming one of the big corner tables for a birthday.
The menu is built around a homemade chilli paste – all mouthfeel, heat, fragrance and depth – and once the kitchen starts using it, it becomes impossible to stop reaching for – the whipped Tofu Salad and the wonton Pasta.
There’s a Gin & Tonic that tastes like someone spent time thinking about it. And every night, a soup of the day arrives unannounced – to close the meal the way Vietnamese tradition demands.
All the while, Fluid refuses to pin itself down. The team speaks about staying responsive to what guests need, and to what the city is becoming. But the comfort food DNA stays the same. Everything else adapts around it. It’s a smaller commitment than it sounds, infinitely more difficult to execute, and undoubtedly something restless, continually evolving, like the name Fluid suggests.
In Short: Creative-director-dreamt-up candlelit space that serves precisely-tuned, ever-changing dishes with the same comfort food DNA.
Location: 39 Nguyen Thi Dieu, District 3
Contact: Instagram | +84 938 341539
When: Tuesday – Sunday | 17:30 – late
Voyage
Jonathan Koh spent years in Michelin-starred kitchens learning that true refinement isn’t about complexity or luxury for its own sake. “It’s about restraint, balance and allowing every ingredient to speak for itself,” he’s decided. His cooking is rooted in classical French technique, guided by Japanese precision.
Then he arrived in Saigon. “Vietnam has completely changed the way I think about ingredients,” he tells us. Da Lat vegetables. Vietnamese herbs. Seafood from coastlines he’s still learning. He discovered that extraordinary ingredients don’t need to travel halfway around the world.
Voyage occupies a restored French-inspired villa. The menu changes daily – whatever arrives at market that morning and whatever the season is offering. A dish guests loved last week might not exist today. “Some people find that frustrating,” Koh admits. “Our regulars find it exciting. They know that returning to Voyage isn’t about repeating a meal they already had. It’s about discovering what the kitchen is inspired by today.”
The sommelier doesn’t work from a pairing list. She talks to each table first, then pulls from the cellar. After the last course, Jonathan invites guests into the drawing room where desserts and digestifs arrive without urgency.
His philosophy stays the same between floors: cook with respect and serve with sincerity. Everything else adapts around it.
In Short: Fine dining in Thao Dien just got finer with Jonathan Koh’s daily-changing menu full of French precision and the joy of Vietnamese discovery.
Location: 51 Le Van Mien, Thao Dien
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: 18:00-23:00 except Mondays
Salon Saigon
A modern diner done like a memory of Mexico City. Pastel tiles. Vintage TVs playing World Cup matches from the 80s. Latino music loud enough to make you move faster than night in the barrio breathes.
The tacos are built, by Chef Alonso and Chef William, on fundamentals. Tortilla, protein and salsa for that balance of acidity, spice and texture.
“A great taco isn’t about having the most ingredients,” Dixon Ong, the operations director behind Salon, explains. “It’s about getting every element right. When every component is made with care, the taco speaks for itself.”
Behind the bar sit thirty types of tequila and mezcal. Clase Azul Plata. 1800 Cristallino. 818 reposado. But the menu leads with what guests mostly order – the Mezcal Mangonada Slushie built with blanco tequila, mezcal, kaffir and lemongrass shrub, mango, passionfruit, spicy shrimp salt. Then their Naranja Paloma with vanilla-infused Jose Cuervo, housemade osmanthus cordial, orange blend soda, smoke salt. And the 24K Margarita that costs what it sounds like it costs.
Just then we notice a door at the back. Dixon won’t say what’s through there. “Come have tacos and find out,” he tells us to tell you.
In Short: “Come have tacos and find out,” about this spirited downtown taqueria with Mezcal Mangonada Slushies and 80s World Cup matches.
Location: 16-18-20 Thu Khoa Huan, District 1
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When:
House of Irori
The owners behind House of Merlin have built a bar around a Japanese hearth – an irori, the sunken fireplace of old farmhouses where entire households once gathered. It lives down an alley off Nguyen Thi Minh Khai. On arrival: a hot towel. On departure: miso soup. The bookends matter because the team insists the feeling of arriving and leaving should matter as much as anything in between.
That meticulous attention surfaces everywhere. The bar counter is deliberately brighter than expected – closing distance between bartender and guest rather than letting dim light do the work. The wooden interior was hand-finished on site, grain and texture adjusted until it matched what was in their heads. Most of the Chichibu is single cask, hunted down bottle by bottle in Japan. The Noritake china was picked piece by piece.
The cocktails anchor on signatures like the Lullaby of Life – chamomile rum and fino sherry with Scarlet Menta amaro leaning bitter-herbal – and twists like the Irori Manhattan, which swaps Wild Turkey for rye and adds Herbs Mirin to push the bourbon toward umami. The food moves between izakaya orthodoxy – chicken hearts, liver, gizzard charred hard – and hybrid flights: Viet-Japanese crab pizzas with kanimiso, beef tongue in red wine and black miso, katsu sando with truffle.
By night’s end, Khoi plays piano beneath the Van Goghs. Regulars drift toward the irori without deciding to, whisky in hand, as he settles into his seat, the stumbling notes taking form like the fire in the hearth catching light.
In Short: An immersive Japanese-style bar that’s for both the connoisseur and the curious.
Location: 39 Nguyen Thi Dieu, District 3
Contact: Instagram | +84 938 341539
When: Tuesday – Sunday | 17:30 – late
Kirimen
Tatsuo, who you might recognize from FUME, manages Kirimen. His journey took him from Japan to Canada to Vietnam, which led him to Shozo’s kitchen. And Hoang Duc Duy trained in Japan for more than ten years, then came home to bring authentic Japanese flavors back to Vietnam. They combine experiences and exchange ideas.
At Kirimen, their philosophy is simple: “There is Kirimen, and then there is everything else,” they declare.
The signature is Kiritama – ramen with one egg, handmade noodles from seven premium Hokkaido wheat flours, house-made broth, a tare that builds the foundation and chicken oil to finish it. People ask how a bowl with just one egg can be special. For Tatsuo, the answer is, “A great bowl of ramen is about balance and harmony. Every element matters – the broth, the tare, the toppings, and most importantly, the noodles.”
In Vietnam, Tatsuo discovered shrimp paste. The first time, the aroma startled him. But once he understood the depth and complexity it brought, something clicked. “Sometimes the most challenging ingredients are the most rewarding,” he reflects. That’s how Kirimen works in Saigon – Japanese technique meeting Vietnamese discovery.
Despite that confluence of cultures, the restaurant is designed to feel authentically Japanese. It’s a place to drop in for a bowl at lunch or after work, or to sit with friends for an easy meal.
In Short: Every element matters – the broth, the tare, the toppings, and most importantly, the noodles – at Kirimen.
Location: 8/14 Le Thanh Ton, District 1
Contact: Instagram | Facebook | +84 93 829 17 71
When:
Club Rivage
Alex built Marcel, then worked with An on Bon Asian Soul Kitchen. Agathe came from hospitality and marketing. They found a tucked-away riverside space in Thao Dien and decided it needed to feel like a destination — somewhere you arrive for a drink and stay for dinner, or arrive for dinner and stay until late.
The space is deliberate. An’s family owns a furniture factory. Working with Rem Studio, they custom-built almost everything in wood. “We wanted something elegant without being pretentious, beautiful without feeling exclusive,” Alex says. The goal was simple: create somewhere people instantly feel relaxed.
The menu is Asian-influenced, built around sharing and cooking over fire. Chef Luan has collaborated with Alex for years. The dishes sound approachable but carry more thought underneath than people expect.
The Fire Cabbage Millefeuille came from Vitello Tonnato — the classic Italian combination of veal and tuna sauce. They loved the flavor combination but knew it might feel unfamiliar, so they reimagined it. Layers of cabbage assembled like a millefeuille, grilled over fire, served with tuna sauce. It surprises almost everyone.
Then there’s the Pho Beef Tacos. Short ribs slow-cooked in pho-style broth, packed into tacos with fresh herbs. Familiar and unexpected at the same time.
The signature oysters arrive topped with homemade crème fraîche, Asian mignonette, fresh calamansi juice. And pairs them with a Calamansi Daiquiri. “Absolute chef’s kiss,” he says.
In Short: A tucked-away riverside space in Thao Dien that feels like a destination.
Location: 513e Street 11, Thao Dien
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Tue – Sun 16:00-00:00
Olio & Terra
Thao Dien’s new Olio & Terra is an Italian restaurant and Pasta Lab. The lab makes fresh shapes daily – fusilli and ravioli and pappardelle appear based on what the season offers and what the kitchen decides today.
Guest chefs cycle through with special menus. When Domenico Truglia arrived he brought 22-month cave-aged Parma ham. He cut it himself into the thinnest of sheets. Proper age and proper thickness so you actually taste what the cure did. “Just pork leg and salt,” the chef explained, “and time.”
The Parma Ham dinner explored the ingredient across dishes. There was crostini topped with it and homemade salami and cheese. And then there was tagliatelle with the ham and lemon. And orecchiette and zucchini with prosciutto. And saltinbocca: veal and sage and that ham – clean, not drowning in anything.
Back on the regular menu: O&T Pasta Mediterranea with cherry tomato, olives, lemon. Cacio e Pepe. Ravioli Doppio with truffle and mushroom. Pizzas that don’t overreach – Tartufata with cream and truffle, Alla Ventricina with Ventricina Salame.
All served across two floors, featuring a terrace upstairs where you drink red wine slowly and watch the street – catching sight of curious District 2 dog walkers glancing in and kids from after-school class on the back of mom’s bike getting a whiff of fresh baked pizza.
The cocktails are curious – Green Gold Martini with gin, dry vermouth, olive and fresh basil. They’re experimenting with them, which matters more than whether they always land.
In Short: Breezy new two-floor Italian in Thao Dien with signature menus like the one featuring aged Parma ham and Green Gold Martinis.
Location: 9 Ngo Quang Huy, An Khanh Ward
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Sunday – Wednesday 10AM – 10PM | Thursday – Saturday: 10AM – 11PM
CUR8 Saigon Music Cafe Bar
The name’s the whole philosophy here – CUR8, read as ‘curate.’ Walk in and records line the walls. “We can play any that you want to hear,” Annie, the manager, explains, bringing the concept instantly to life.
There’s ‘The Sound of Music’ next to ‘Grease.’ A Glenn Miller original next to Eric Clapton in concert. There are Beatles reissues with Japanese text running alongside English. K-pop and cinema soundtracks.
There’s more below the speakers at the far end of the room – with its white brick, chipboard and timber, everything warm and welcoming.
CUR8 has three zones built on that single idea: an all-day café and bar, the Sound Lab where the night belongs to DJs and their chosen sounds, and soon a record shop.
There’s a terrace up top for some fresh air or a quick smoke. And in between, the blue door closes on that Sound Lab, curated and often featuring DJ Waai and likely featuring R&B, boom bap and hip-hop, funk, disco, house and UK garage., depending on the weekend.
The menu offers coffee and cocktails – Soft Signal with passionfruit, pineapple, mint and vanilla; Rhythm Chaos built on hibiscus, lemongrass, rose and lime. And there are snacks: dumplings, wontons and olives, so you never, really, have to leave. Lost weekends…loading.
In Short: Curate-your-own-adventure vinyl cafe and bar, with a Sound Lab upstairs for lost weekends.
Location: 49 Pho Duc Chinh, Ben Thanh
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Sunday – Wednesday 10AM – 10PM; Thursday – Saturday: 10AM – 11PM
Éire – Eatery & Bar
Eire occupies a sliver of Ton That Dam, an area that reads like Saigon in microcosm – the apartment building across the street full of fashion boutiques, hostess bars that come garishly alive after dark, Belgo pouring craft beer to the sound of motorbikes, and spas and hotels pressed shoulder to shoulder.
At Éire – Eatery & Bar, you’re met with the deliberate restraint of a refined Irish bar – no sports screens and no clichés. The framed photos throughout are odes to proprietor Antoin’s Irish heroes – and a few from further afield.
Some have taken a sepia tinge. “Those used to hang at my bar at home,” he explains. The crisp black and white images are new additions, made especially for the bar.
There’s Björk and the Cranberries and Colin Farrell. And beneath a line upstairs of more photos that includes Cillian Murphy and Daniel Day Lewis, there’s text that reads ‘Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.’ That tells you what Eire actually is as much as the photos do – a place for talking, often to the soundtrack of live music.
Antoin worked at Pernod Ricard Vietnam, so Eire serves a fine line of cocktails as well as sought after draft Guinness. And, here, he’s set upon filling the backbar with spirits from home – every Irish whiskey and poitín he can source.
The Guinness settles in front of you while the guitarist works the room.
In Short: An honest-to-goodness Irish bar with draft Guinness, live music and good craic guaranteed.
Location: 149 Ton That Dam
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Daily from 17:00
Chung Gelato
Sam Tran, the MICHELIN-starred chef from Gia Hanoi, has moved south and taken over the whole building at 190 De Tham. She’s split it into three concepts across three floors: Hoả Quán (fire-cooking Vietnamese) at the top, a mezzanine lounge in the middle, and on the ground floor, Refined (a phin-focused coffeeshop) alongside the just-opened Chung Gelato.
The shift away from fine dining doesn’t signal a shift away from local ingredients. The ice cream is inspired by streetfood – Bánh Tráng Trộn and Xôi Gà – flavors that pull heavily on nostalgia. The menu will evolve, she promises. But this opening salvo is already a lot to enjoy.
In Short: What happens when a MICHELIN-star chef makes ice cream? Find out at Chung Gelato.
Location: 190 De Tham
Contact: Instagram | Facebook
When: Daily 11:00 to 23:00
