Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [76]
On the 6 6 Dong Khoi. Spacious and serene coffee lounge set among the boutiques on Dong Khoi, with a fine-dining restaurant upstairs. 8am–midnight.
Sao Café 5 Pham Ngoc Thach. If you’re curious about how the well-off youth of the city spend their days, this is the place to find out. Enjoy ear-splitting Vietnamese pop music while sipping a coffee or cocktail. 7am–late.
Ho Chi Minh City and around |
Drinking, nightlife and entertainment
Ho Chi Minh City boasts a good range of nightlife, so there’s no need to head back to your hotel once dinner is through, although an ongoing crackdown on late opening means you’ll probably be tucked up in bed by midnight unless you’re in the De Tham area. Bars and pubs abound, and an increasing number of them now feature live music to pull the crowds. It isn’t unheard-of for big showbiz names from the West to make appearances, so check out the local press for details. Later at night, a number of clubs and discos get going, though they often have short lifespans unless they are under the protection of a major hotel.
The free monthly magazines The Word and Asia Life carry up-to-the-minute listings of the city’s latest bars, plus the hottest new clubs and any more highbrow entertainment on offer.
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Drinking, nightlife and entertainment |
Traditional entertainment
Few places cater for Westerners wanting an insight into Vietnamese culture, though there is the odd exception. About 8km north of the city, Binh Quoi Village (08/3556 5891, www.binhquoiresort.com.vn) features Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening programmes of dinner followed by folk music and traditional dancing, organized by Saigontourist (tickets for meal and show around $25). For Western and Vietnamese classical music, ask the Conservatory of Music (08/3824 3774) at 112 Nguyen Du about the HCMC Youth Chamber Music Club’s performances, which can be scheduled on demand. It’s also worth checking out what’s on at Lam Son Square’s Municipal Theatre (08/3829 9976), which frequently hosts fashion shows, traditional drama and dance. Water puppetry isn’t as big in Ho Chi Minh City as it is in Hanoi, though if you aren’t going to the north you might want to attend one of the shows laid on at the History Museum, Le Duan (hourly 10am–4pm, except 1pm; $2).
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Drinking, nightlife and entertainment |
Bars and pubs
Bars and pubs in Ho Chi Minh City range from hole-in-the-wall dives to elegant venues that would not be out of place in a European capital. The area around Dong Khoi is predictably well endowed, and another boozy enclave exists around Le Thanh Ton, Hai Ba Trung and Thi Sach, where a glut of places ranging from slick yuppie haunts to watering holes which hark back to the raunchy GI bars of the 1960s has developed to cater for expats renting apartments nearby. At the other end of the scale, all the cheap restaurants and cafés around De Tham turn their hand to drink at night – fine if you’re willing to forego atmosphere in order to save a dollar or two on a beer, and great for meeting like-minded tourists. For more of a bar atmosphere, head for somewhere like Allez-Boo or Cyclo Bar.
For some years now, a police crackdown has led to the city being strangely silent after midnight, with the notable exception of several bars around De Tham, which seem to be spared the blitz. Prices vary wildly: a Saigon beer at a streetside café in De Tham will cost you less than $1, but you can multiply that by four or five in a more upmarket bar on Dong Khoi. One way to economize while downtown is to take advantage of early-evening happy hours, or check out the surprisingly cheap and tasty bia hoi(see "Bia hoi bars"). Several of the pricier bars, such as Saigon-Saigon, Le Caprice and Panorama, offer sweeping views across the city, best enjoyed as the sun sets.
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Drinking, nightlife and entertainment | Bars and pubs |
Central