4 Best Restaurants in Vinh Long, Mekong Delta

This modern café on the ground floor of an apartment block serves Korean and Japanese-influenced dishes, including ramen and bi bim bap. The dual language menu is useful to travelers.

A plain and simple restaurant, associated with the Cuu Long Hotel across the road (which issues guests with tickets to the breakfast buffet), the riverside Phuong Thuy has a range of standard Vietnamese dishes, including hotpot, and a few Western choices. The main drawcards here are the English subtitles on the menu and the great river views, though service can be a bit slow. The staff don't mind if you grab a riverside seat for a few quiet drinks rather than ordering a meal.

Locals will tell you that this is the best pho in town. There's no English menu, but they really only serve one thing (beef noodle soup), so there shouldn't be too many mishaps. Unlike many other pho restaurants in Vietnam, this joint serves the national dish all day long.

Make your way through the bustling Ving Long Market to the food section at breakfast or lunchtime and inspect what the locals are eating. Point to what looks good and you will be chowing down on something cheap, authentic, and delicious in no time. One tasty local specialty is banh uot, which translates literally as "wet cakes" but in reality is a dish of steamed rice crepes, pickled vegetables, shredded pork, and barbecued pork patties topped with a tangy dressing. The market stalls start packing up at around 4 pm and are usually closed by 5 pm.