I head just around the corner from Saigon Podcast Studio for one of my most-repeated favorites on this whole series: bún chả Hà Nội. Before I even get to the food, I go down another Google Street View rabbit hole, tracing this block back through the years to see how much has changed — including a brand-new bank building that wasn't even there two years ago, sitting right next to faded Chinese characters marking what I think used to be a Cantonese laundry service. At the table, I finally get the real history from the shop's owner, whose mother started the business all the way back in 1994, and I get a proper answer on what's actually in that addictively good dipping broth I've been eating for years without really understanding.

I also talk a bit about Adria and our eating habits, my monthly trips up to Hanoi for VTV's Vietnam Explained, and the very relatable mistake of buying a bottle of this shop's sauce, getting way too excited about it, and then letting it go bad in the fridge for six months.

5 Key Takeaways

1. This bún chả shop has been run by the same family since 1994.
2. The dipping broth isn't just fish sauce — it's nước chấm.
3. Google Street View only goes back to around 2017 in Vietnam.
4. Even people who don't eat much meat make an exception for good chả.
5. You really don't need to take Vietnamese condiments home with you. I

Timestamps

• [00:00:00] Intro from Saigon Podcast Studio, plus a shoutout for free trial sessions for anyone watching in Saigon
• [00:02:00] Going down the Google Street View rabbit hole — tracing the block back to 2017 and spotting the new bank building next door
• [00:04:00] Ordering at the counter and walking through what's on the plate — chả, rib meat, rice vermicelli, and the herb plate
• [00:11:00] Talking to the shop owner, confirming the 1994 history, and finally breaking down what's actually in the nước chấm
• [00:13:00] Mentioning the Hanoi trips for Vietnam Explained and teasing future lunch walks filmed up north

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Born and fled South African Comedian Devin Gray, one of the top rising stars in comedy. With appearances on Comedy Central, International Festivals and pretty much any local bar with a stool and a microphone Devin is sure to set the pace for a whirlwind of hilarity.

And circuituos is a word! I just didn't say it right.

cir·cu·i·tous
/sərˈkyo͞oədəs/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
(of a route or journey) longer than the most direct way.
"the canal followed a circuitous route"

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“Every day I’m walking around this neighbourhood, I’m learning something new.”

What started as a hunt for lunch turned into another deep dive into one of my favourite parts of Saigon.

In this episode of Lunch Walks, I head back to Tôn Thất Đạm, the Old Market street, looking for lunch and end up with a 40,000 VND bowl of bún thịt xào, while uncovering even more of the history hidden in the streets around Saigon Podcast Studio.

Along the way, I stop at a distinctive 1973 South Vietnamese modernist building on Nguyễn Công Trứ, designed by architect Lê Văn Lắm, and take a closer look at its unusual “double skin” design. The building was designed specifically for Saigon’s climate, helping protect it from the sun and rain while improving natural airflow.

Then I head into the Old Market, a neighbourhood shaped by generations of Cantonese, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and Vietnamese communities. The more I explore this area, the more I realise just how much history is hiding in streets I’ve walked down hundreds of times.

There’s lunch, Vietnamese sweets, freshly ground coffee, QR payments, another mystery modernist building and plenty more evidence that you can live in Saigon for years and still discover something completely new around the corner.

Key Takeaways

• Why my Lunch Walks are gradually turning into Saigon history walks
• The story behind a 1973 South Vietnamese modernist building
• How the building’s double skin helps deal with Saigon’s tropical climate
• Exploring Tôn Thất Đạm and the Old Market
• The different immigrant communities that helped shape this neighbourhood
• Finding a 40,000 VND bún thịt xào for lunch
• Trying a traditional sweet made with sticky rice, shredded coconut and mung bean
• Buying freshly ground Vietnamese coffee from an old neighbourhood shop
• How quickly Saigon has shifted from cash to QR payments
• Discovering another building using the same distinctive modernist design

Timestamps

00:00 Another Lunch Walk begins
03:30 A 1973 modernist building on Nguyễn Công Trứ
05:00 How the “double skin” design works
10:00 Arriving at Tôn Thất Đạm and the Old Market
14:30 Finding bún thịt xào for lunch
17:00 Vietnamese sweets and a chat with the seller
21:30 Buying freshly ground Vietnamese coffee
24:00 The affordability of living in Vietnam
27:00 Discovering another mystery modernist building
30:00 Back at the studio for the final sweet treat

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“This is why I’m just loving these Lunch Walks. I’m getting obsessed with them now. I’m finding out so much amazing information about this neighborhood.”

What started as a simple lunch walk has turned into something much bigger.

In this episode, I leave Saigon Podcast Studio and head to one of my regular lunch spots in the Nguyễn Thái Bình neighborhood, a place I’ve probably eaten at around 50 times since opening the studio. The original plan was cơm tấm, but as usual in Vietnam, things don’t quite go to plan.

Instead, I end up with hủ tiếu bò kho, a rich Vietnamese beef stew with noodles, soft carrots, fresh herbs, lime and bánh mì for dipping into the broth. It’s one of those dishes that still feels massively underrated compared with phở or bánh mì.

But the food is only half the story.

Right next to the restaurant is Al Rahim Mosque, on a site that has reportedly been home to a mosque since 1885. The current building was rebuilt in 2009, but the history of the site opens up another fascinating layer of this tiny part of central Saigon.

We’ve already explored Cantonese influence in this neighborhood and touched on Tamil migration from India through the French colonial world. This time, I start looking at the Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim communities that also helped shape the area, and why there are still halal restaurants clustered around the mosque today.

Then, completely randomly, I bump into two visitors from Australia and New Zealand who had come specifically looking for halal food. That turns into a conversation about the mosque, the neighborhood, Vietnamese food, riding motorbikes in Saigon and trying to do business in Vietnam.

These Lunch Walks were supposed to be about lunch. They’re slowly becoming history walks instead.

Key Takeaways

• Hủ tiếu bò kho combines noodles with Vietnamese beef stew, herbs, lime and bánh mì for soaking up the broth.
• The halal food around this part of District 1 is closely connected to the Muslim community surrounding Al Rahim Mosque.
• A mosque has reportedly stood on this site since 1885, although the current building dates from 2009.
• The Nguyễn Thái Bình neighborhood reflects layers of Cantonese, Tamil, Malaysian, Indonesian, French and Vietnamese history.
• Some of the most interesting history in Saigon is hidden between modern banks, offices and buildings you can easily walk past every day.
• These Lunch Walks are increasingly becoming a way to understand how food, migration, architecture and local history all connect.

Timestamps

00:00 Why Lunch Walks are becoming History Walks
02:00 Halal cơm tấm and the story of Al Rahim Mosque
04:00 Change of lunch plan: hủ tiếu bò kho
08:00 Meeting two visitors searching for halal food
10:00 The history of Saigon’s oldest mosque site
14:00 Exploring more hidden history around Nguyễn Thái Bình
17:00 Why I’m becoming obsessed with this neighborhood

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“They’ve been doing it since 1938. It better be good.”

This Lunch Walk starts as a food mission and ends up sending me even further down the rabbit hole of my own neighbourhood.

I’m joined by my friend James Green, who lives nearby, as we walk through the streets around Saigon Podcast Studio in search of bánh mì vịt quay, or roast duck bánh mì. But before we even get to lunch, we uncover a few stories hiding in plain sight.

We talk about how Pasteur Street was once a canal, discover that one very old-looking cafe façade is actually much newer than it appears, and stop outside the building that once housed the first American Embassy in Saigon.

Then we finally reach the main event.

The roast meat shop says it has been operating since 1938, and this time I’m able to ask the family directly. The woman serving us tells us her Cantonese grandfather started the business, her mother took over after him, and she is now the third generation. Her grandfather came to Saigon from Hong Kong around the 1920s, creating another direct link between this neighbourhood and the generations of immigrants who helped shape it.

And the food absolutely delivers.

Crispy roast duck, juicy meat, bánh mì, chilli, lemongrass and sauce quickly turns into us ordering even more duck because one sandwich simply isn’t enough.

The more of these Lunch Walks I make, the more I realise how much history is sitting right outside the studio, on streets I’ve been walking and driving through for nearly a decade.

Key Takeaways

• Exploring the neighbourhood with my friend James Green
• Discovering that Pasteur Street used to be a canal
• Why some of Saigon’s “historic-looking” buildings aren’t actually historic
• Visiting the former American Embassy in Saigon
• The Cantonese influence on this part of the city
• Finding a roast meat shop that has been operating since 1938
• Meeting the third generation of the family running it
• How her grandfather came from Hong Kong to Saigon in the 1920s
• Trying an incredible roast duck bánh mì
• Why these Lunch Walks are becoming as much about Saigon history as Vietnamese food
• My growing idea for an off-the-beaten-path walking tour around the neighbourhood

Timestamps

00:00 Lunch Walk with James
02:00 Pasteur Street used to be a canal
04:00 The historic-looking building that isn’t historic
07:00 Saigon architecture and neighbourhood stories
10:00 The former American Embassy
13:00 Cantonese immigration and our lunch destination
15:00 Finding the 1938 roast meat shop
22:00 Meeting the third generation of the family
25:00 Trying bánh mì vịt quay
30:00 Ordering even more roast duck
31:00 Could this become a Saigon walking tour?
42:00 Wrapping up the Lunch Wal

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“I love this country. I was about to head back to the mall. I’d given up hope, but I knew this country always pulls through at the very last second.”

This Lunch Walk takes me out of Saigon and onto the streets of Da Nang, where I’m hunting down one of Central Vietnam’s most famous dishes: Mì Quảng.

At least, that was the plan.

I set off looking for a highly rated local spot, only for Google Maps to send me to what appears to be a car lot. Add in Da Nang heat that feels close to 40°C, a complete lack of suitable clothing after coming straight from winter in Australia, and a growing temptation to give up and hide in an air-conditioned mall, and this quickly becomes more of an actual walk than expected.

But just as I’m about to admit defeat, Vietnam delivers.

I finally find a local Mì Quảng place and get to compare the dish in Da Nang with the versions I regularly eat back in Saigon. We talk about its lighter broth, peanuts, noodles, the differences between food in Central and Southern Vietnam, and why Mì Quảng deserves far more attention outside the country.

And, as often happens on these Lunch Walks, the food is only part of the story. A random conversation with another customer turns into a chat about Saigon, Ha Long City and his former life working as a bartender on a cruise ship in Ha Long Bay.

Key Takeaways

• Mì Quảng is one of Central Vietnam’s most famous regional dishes.
• Unlike many Vietnamese noodle dishes, it usually comes with only a small amount of broth rather than a full bowl of soup.
• The Mì Quảng I’ve eaten in Saigon tends to have more broth and feel heavier and oilier than the version I try here in Da Nang.
• Vietnamese food changes significantly by region, with Central Vietnamese cuisine often associated with stronger and spicier flavours.
• Da Nang continues to modernise rapidly, with new malls, roads and developments sitting alongside traditional streets and local food stalls.
• Sometimes the best moments while exploring Vietnam come from completely unplanned conversations with strangers.
• Phở and bánh mì might dominate the international conversation about Vietnamese food, but there are countless regional dishes like Mì Quảng that deserve much more attention.

Timestamps

01:00 Searching for Mì Quảng and my confidence in Vietnamese food after 10 years
05:00 Giving up on the original Mì Quảng restaurant
07:00 Almost settling for cơm tấm
08:00 The Da Nang heat starts winning
09:00 Giving up and heading for air conditioning
10:00 Finally finding Mì Quảng and getting rescued by a fan
12:00 Trying authentic Da Nang Mì Quảng
14:00 Meeting a local customer and attempting some Vietnamese
16:00 My verdict on the Mì Quảng
18:00 Why Vietnam has so much great food people rarely talk about

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Recorded pre-quarantine, pre-lockdown this episode was intended to be the first of Season 3, recorded at Waves studio.

As you may well know, season 3 became the Quarantine Season and I haven't been able to record any more episodes yet for season 4.

So to celebrate one year of Seven Million Bikes I dusted down the file off the shelf and am releasing it for your listening pleasure as a bonus episode to start Season 4.

Look out for new episodes as soon as I am able to!

Frances is a travel blogger with the well-know blog So The Adventure Begins. She is also well-known for her pink Honda cub she is often seen driving around Saigon. She has been living in Saigon now for three years and is the first Scottish guest to join me on the show. Don't worry, you can understand us!

We talk about her not being an influencer, why she started a blog, breaking up and dating in Saigon, out homeland and of course Scottish accents.

There is the unplanned ubiquitous shout out as always for Matt Ryan! And his deep-fried Mars Bars.

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