Hoagies, Cheesesteaks, or Delis?

Hey Mike, you might be disappointed with American food here (at least I am), but when you're craving it, you don't have other options. You can buy deli meats at Annam Gourmet at the corner of Hai Ba Trung, and Dong Du. It's not cheap... at all. I didn't buy it but few slices of prosciutto was around $7, pound of gorgonzola was around $21/pound, etc. I'm sure they have stuff like honey ham, turkey at slightly more affordable prices.

If you're craving Italian, Ciao Bella on Dong Du isn't bad (it's next to Annam Gourmet). It's probably the "best" of all the Italian food here in Saigon, which isn't saying much. I'm kinda spoiled because I've eaten at some phenomenal Italian restaurants in the states in Little Italy so my standards might be high. They didn't have Veal Parm, but did have Chicken Parm and eggplant parm. Good imported veal would be pretty expensive here; I don't know how much of a market there would be because of the price. Decent pizzas, decent pastas, some chicken dishes like chicken scarpiello etc..

After Ciao Bella, there's Pomodoro on Hai Ba Trung, and Pendolasco's on Nguyen Hue but I think Ciao Bella is better. Veal osso bucco set me back $22 at Pendolasco's and it was average at best.

Lastly, I know it's garbage but you could always have Subway. I didn't eat Subway back home for 15 years and I had it once here. To be honest, it kinda did the trick haha.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more recommendations. I've eaten just about everywhere

Jerry

The Chinese food that you are used to in the US is only available in the west. The Chinese food you will find is real Chinese food.
There is no General Tso's chicken in China.

Might try this place for sandwiches. Never been but heard it was good.
Shalom Coffee
53 Vo Truong Toan Street

Also found this on tripadvisor

City Garden
38 Hai Ba Trung

Somehow I didn't see your question about Chinese food. There's a couple places that serve "American Chinese food" here in Saigon. Menu is typical of what you would see in the states with some variations. Both places have General Tso's. In addition you'll see familiar items like chicken w/ broccoli, shrimp/chicken/beef in garlic sauce, chow mein etc. First one is in D7, second is in D2 but they both deliver!

http://www.woknroll.vn/

Phat Phuc in D2. Not sure if they have a website but you can go on eat.vn or vietnammm.com to view the menu

Jerry

I stand corrected on the Chinese food available but stand by my comment that this is not real "authentic" Chinese food.

JVo18 wrote:

http://www.woknroll.vn/

Phat Phuc in D2. Not sure if they have a website but you can go on eat.vn or vietnammm.com to view the menu

Jerry

I've not tried woknroll yet, but can vouch for Phat Phuc, closest thing I've had here to western style Chinese
I like traditional (authentic) Chinese too, but it's nice comfort food

Hey guys thanks so much for the information!  I will definitely check these places out during the next few weeks.

I figured General's chicken is a Western thing.  I ate at a corner place in Cholon last night.  They had some nice looking BBQ pork ribs on the grill, but I had already ordered some pork and rice before I noticed. 

I grew up outside of Philadelphia, so I am a bit spoiled when it comes to Italian food as well.  Chicken or eggplant parm sounds awesome right about now.

I had no idea Subway was in HCMC!  I didn't eat it much back in America either, but you can bet I'll be paying them a visit.  As far as the Western chains in HCMC go, I've been to Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC.  Am I missing any other big ones?

A few weeks some local friends took me out to a back alley place that had something akin to cheesesteak meat and fried onions in fajita style skillets, as well as italian style rolls.  I began to cut my roll down the middle with plans to dump the steak into it when I was informed the roll was for dipping in the skillit.  The food was delicious.  I'm convinced if I can find this place again, put the meat on the roll, toss in some american or provolone, and a little ketchup, it would pretty much be like a cheesesteak.

mtgmike wrote:

A few weeks some local friends took me out to a back alley place that had something akin to cheesesteak meat and fried onions in fajita style skillets, as well as italian style rolls.  I began to cut my roll down the middle with plans to dump the steak into it when I was informed the roll was for dipping in the skillit.  The food was delicious.  I'm convinced if I can find this place again, put the meat on the roll, toss in some american or provolone, and a little ketchup, it would pretty much be like a cheesesteak.

What you're describing sounds like bò bít tết, which is a popular breakfast for schoolkids (and champions), often with the addition of sausage and paté into the mix. It's not considered to be a Vietnamese dish, although of course the execution is always exquisitely Vietnamese. I usually do exactly as you describe, scissor the roll open and dump the contents of the skillet into it.

My local joint also advertises phô mai que (deep-fried cheese sticks, also very popular with schoolkids and also American in origin), so if you keep an eye out for that phrase, you might be able to ask them for both the bò bít tết and the phô mai que and stick 'em in the roll together. Maybe not quite a philly cheesesteak, but I expect it would be delicious in its own right. And I've never had philly cheesesteak, so I'm not qualified to comment.

I found the Elbow Room on Pasteur to be a decent facsimile of American fare. Obviously going to be a little more expensive, but I had the Osso Bucco (nice and tender), clam chowder (very creamy, just needed a touch of salt), burger (thick and juicy), and reuben sandwich (good amount of decent pastrami).

I've seen a Subway in Kumho Center, next to the Intercontinental. But I hadn't hit my wall yet on having to step in

I also noticed that there was a variety of fried chicken places in District 7, including Popeye's (about to open, and my favorite, far superior to KFC) and Texas (known as Church's in California).