Ellis from the UK, is a travel blogger and has been to many countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. 

On his personal YouTube channel with 45,000 followers, Ellis often posts videos recording his interesting experience about the culture and cuisine of the lands he has visited.

Most recently, Ellis and his girlfriend spent a long trip to Vietnam and had time to discover and experience food in the two largest cities of Hanoi and HCM City. The British blogger said he was impressed by the affordable street dishes in the southern part of Vietnam.

One day, he and his girlfriend brought only VND120,000, planning to find out what they could buy with the small amount of money. And the findings really surprised them.

Ellis decided to order a cup of milk coffee at a street drink shop to start his energetic day. He commented that Vietnam’s coffee is ‘the most fragrant, rich in flavor, and very delicious’, suitable for q morning drink as it helps people maintain refreshment all day long.

The British guest was surprised when he found that each cup was priced at VND12,000 only.

“The coffee at such sidewalk shops is very reasonably priced and has good flavor. You even can get iced tea for free if you drink coffee there,” Ellis said.

Leaving the coffee shop, the man chose banh cuon (steamed rolled rice pancake) for their breakfast. Ellis said he once had banh cuon in the past and liked the dish, made of rice powder, served with pork pie and a moreish sauce.

He ordered a banh cuon, priced at VND25,000. The food was brought to him shortly after he ordered, and a serving was full of many items.

Finishing the breakfast, Ellis tried a glass of iced tea at the shop. He revealed that he liked the way of eating banh cuon like northerners, i.e. picking up rice pancake and dipping into a bowl of sauce, instead of pouring fish sauce directly on the banh cuon, then mixing well and enjoying like southerners.

At noon, Ellis and his girlfriend stopped in a small quiet alley in Tan Phu district and decided to order bun thit nuong (grilled meat with vermicelli) because they were fascinated by the attractive smell from grilled meat.

A common serving was priced at VND25,000 which comprised grilled meat, spring rolls, vegetables, vermicelli and pickles, served with sweet and sour fish sauce.

They enjoyed the taste of the mixed vermicelli dish, served with fennel, pickled carrots and papaya, which were all tasty and not greasy.

The vermicelli was soft, the grilled meat was well marinated, and the spring rolls crispy, not greasy, and the pickled vegetables and peanuts crispy. 

He felt satisfied with the dish as everything was great. The dish is one of his favorite dishes in Vietnam.

When leaving the bun thit nuong shop, Ellis and his girlfriend saw a sugarcane juice vendor nearby and stopped to buy two glasses. He admitted that he is an addicted to this kind of drink and enjoyed hearing the seller show how to press sugarcane.

The guests were surprised when they had to pay only VND10,000 for a ‘big glass of sugarcane juice’ enough for two adults.

After a short rest and cooling off with the glass of iced sugarcane juice, Ellis and his girlfriend used the remaining money to buy a loaf of bread with mixed items at VND20,000, a full serving of steamed sticky rice at VND20,000 and a grilled spring roll at VND10,000.

With the bread, the foreign guest said he liked the crispy crust and full fillings, including pate, grilled meat, fatty sauce and vegetables. 

“It's unimaginable that with only 5 dollars, I could buy and enjoy so many street foods in Vietnam. The food is so good, while the prices are so reasonable. Vietnam is truly a street food paradise,” Ellis concluded.

Phan Dau