Food & Drink

Celebrated chefs Peter Cuong Franklin and Hoang Tung are leading the way in the always-tasty city’s fine-dining evolution. Here’s how the Covid era has given Saigon’s top kitchens more room to play.

Stepping out of the shadows of French fine dining, a new guard of visionary young chefs is capturing the city’s culinary zeitgeist.

Star power in the kitchens of Saigon and Hanoi, and hotels go uber-mod and historical luxe.

Asia’s craft suds scene keeps getting better. We check in with six exciting breweries using local flavors and ingredients to push beer boundaries.

Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s seminal novel, John Pemberton turned his homebrewing hobby into a full-time profession in 2015. Vietnamese beer hasn’t been the same since.

Young, discerning cocktail drinkers and single-malt connoisseurs are raising the stakes in Vietnam. Connla Stokes sips his way to the source of this intoxicating tale.

Downtown’s artsiest little cocktail bar is an eclectic affair. You might catch a stand-up comedy act, live band, or simply a DJ playing mellow electronica melodies on the higher, seventh floor—that’s also the ideal spot to enjoy sundowners with a cooling breeze coming off the Saigon river.

The interior might be rather sleek and modern but you’re coming for the best of Haiphong’s street-food scene at this family-run restaurant up the stairs at 103 Dong Khoi.

Wander up the well-lit staircase at 59 Dong Du to find this modern haven of sake and small plates with a shared-table concept.

Duck through the art arcade at 151 Dong Khoi (never mind the cheap knickknacks and ersatz Klimts), head down the hallway and turn right, then walk up to the third floor to find Red Door, where a discerning crowd of coffee lovers confabulates over cold brews and drip pours.

A once-sleepy suburb of Saigon is coaxing art lovers, shoppers, and even the scenesters and socialites away from downtown.

Catching the spirit of collaboration, Asian breweries are teaming up with bold beer hounds, artisanal chocolatiers, coffee roasters, and more to produce some serious suds.