Vũng Tàu – Part 1

Mar 062023

Regular readers of Eating Saigon! know well that Hai and I love Saigon. The city’s energy, its world-famous Saigon street food, its gazillion coffee shops, it’s skyline, its river, its parks … and more!

But, there are those days when the weather is a little too HOT, the humidity a little too high, the air quality a little too unpleasant, and the traffic a little too unbearable. We had one of those days (actually, several of them) a few weeks. The solution – it’s time to “get out of Dodge.”

But where to escape???

Maybe Quy Nhơn

… but we already spent 4 wonderful days there this month (and loved it) and the 7-hour bus ride didn’t sound appealing. And we weren’t really thinking in terms of an airline escape from town – something simpler.

Maybe Cam Lập

… to visit our land there … but again, we already had spent a really nice few days there earlier in our return visit to Vietnam and didn’t relish to prospect of another long bus ride.

What about Vũng Tàu??

We hadn’t been there in many years. And we could get there by ferry, avoiding the long hours in a bus, and avoiding the logistics of flying.

Okay, Vũng Tàu it would be!

GREENLINES DP FERRY

A 9:00 am departure on the GreenLines DP ferry from Saigon’s downtown riverfront, just $15 and 2 hours and we would escape Saigon for a few days! And besides being convenient and affordable, the ferry ride could be fun!

The comfortable indoor seating was fine, but best was standing on the rear ferry deck, with the Saigon River’s cooling breeze, the Mekong River tropical shoreline ambiance, and the buffy cumulous clouds that framed the Saigon skyline fading into the distance. Wonderful!!

A sudden unplanned and already enjoyable “vacation” from our vacation!

Our motorbike rental that Hai had somehow arranged by phone just hours before we departed Saigon was waiting at the Vũng Tàu dock as we deboarded.

Okay, so Off to Lunch!

BÁNH KHỌT

Of course, Vũng Tàu culinary fame is based on its bánh khọt – so we motorbiked directly to Bánh Khọt Gốc Vú Sữa, where we had enjoyed some great bánh khọt many years ago.

In a word (or two) – “mildly disappointing” ☹ .

Still worth a lunch stop, but not amazing.

Just a few days before in Saigon, I had already enjoyed the BEST bánh khọt ever, ironically at an eatery named Bánh Khọt Vũng Tàu – Khanh in Saigon’s Bắc Hải neighborhood. Their’s was amazingly delicious.

Here in Vũng Tàu itself, the bánh khọt was just “good”, not “amazing!” We speculated that the extra large crowds, the young staff and the resulting cooking/serving chaos simply had taken its toll on the food quality.

But, the ferry ride had been a real joy and the best of Vũng Tàu was yet to come [more on that and Ốc Tự Nhiên and Bánh Canh Chả Cá in an upcoming post].

Now, it would be off to an afternoon cappuccino.

CARIBAN COFFEE

I googled “best cappuccino in Vũng Tàu” and found Cariban taking the title for both best cappuccino and best croissant in the city. No sense looking any further! Let’s give it a try!

Indeed, Cariban delivered big time. A stylish café, a great cappuccino, truly the best croissant I’ve encountered in Vietnam,

And best of all, was Hung, the owner.

Hung, a sweet man, seemingly a savvy businessman, and clearly an excellent barrister, took the time to chat with us about how he was self-educated about coffee production, roasting, and preparation. He presented us with an interesting “coffee 101″ tutorial on the spot.

The masterful way in which he created each coffee drink, using various coffee appliances and apparatus, and with the focus and precision of a biochemist, was a sight to behold and resulted in some of the best coffee drinks ever.

Definitely make Cariban Coffee a “must visit” when you’re in Vũng Tàu (and say “hi” to Hung from Eating Saigon!)