CAN THO
1. Sweet & Sour Soup, Braised Catfish
(Canh Chua, Cá Kho Tộ)
A whole selection of traditional Vietnamese home dishes here at Cẩm Ký restaurant, but we didn’t even bother to look further into the menu when we saw “canh chua & cá kho tộ”. This is by far my favourite Vietnamese dish, very tasty & easy to eat. Don’t forget to order rice to eat with these dishes because it doesn’t come with it. Usually served as a hot pot in restaurants, there were 5 of us & we demolished it. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like these two dishes, it’s just that good. Just FYI there is also pork in the braised fish.
Address: 37 Đề Thám, Quận Ninh Kiều, Cần Thơ
2. Ninh Kiều Night Market
We took a stroll towards Tan An ward & discovered the Ninh Kiều Night Market (opens at 5pm). There were a range of foods & drinks including sugar cane juice, milk tea, fish/meat/seafood/vegetable sticks, rice paper salad & traditional Vietnamese desserts. So many choices, but the stand out for us was the sticky rice with chicken (xôi gà). The chicken over the sticky rice with onion oil, shredded egg, quail eggs & Chinese sausage, mmmm! It seemed like it was the local’s favourite too due to the queue. It was so good that I had seconds.
3. Grilled Beef Summer Rolls & Beef Meatballs Hot Pot
(Bò Nướng Cuộn & Lẩu Bò Viên)
Not so distant from Ninh Kiều Night Market is Sìl Mỳ restaurant which has a lot of family sized portion dishes. It was a hot summer’s night, but we still ordered the beef meatballs hot pot & were very happy with our choices. The rice paper for the DIY grilled pork summer rolls just melts away in your mouth which I love! We don’t get this kind in Australia, we always have to soak ours in water before rolling.
Address: 13 Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, Quận Ninh Kiều, Cần Thơ
4. Duck Noodle Soup with Bamboo Shoots
(Bún Măng Vịt)
Address: 123 Phan Đình Phùng, P. Tân An, Quận Ninh Kiều, Cần Thơ
5. Pork & Crab Noodle Soup
(Bún Riêu Cua)
Another placed that we stumbled across was Bún Riêu Cua – Võ Thị Sáu. Very tasty, very affordable. Probably wise to avoid the blood jelly & uncooked greens if you want to be safe. I remember this place so well not only for the food, but about the old man who stood here for god knows how long. It’s very common for beggars to approach you while you sit for a meal in Vietnam, but he didn’t bother us or any other customers at all. He just stood & watch customers eat so we paid for his meal, drink & also got him some snacks to go. He reminded me of my grandpa who passed so I couldn’t leave without doing something for him.
Address: 8 Võ Thị Sáu, Quận Ninh Kiều, Cần Thơ
Drinks/Snacks
Jackfruit in Vietnam taste so so good, I can never go back to having one in Australia & be satisfied. No store for this one unfortunately. We saw a lady & her husband cutting up fresh jackfruit in front of their house so we crossed over to have a look at the process. They then offered us some so we paid about 20,000VND for a bag full of jackfruit. That’s less than the average bowl of noodle soup in Vietnam! You’ll find just anything if you wander the streets.
You can find fresh coconut almost anywhere/everywhere on the side of the street, but if for some reason you can’t.. just ask the locals. As for coffee, I really don’t have any strong recommendations. It was our first time here & we were only here for less than 2 days so we basically just popped into any cafe that was busy, but even then the drinks were very so-so. After having tried coffee in Hanoi, nowhere else can compare. Hanoi really does have the best coffee. Click here for my post on coffee in Hanoi.
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