3 Best Restaurants in Side Trips from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

More of a café than a bar, this tiny place makes fantastic sandwiches, salads, and pizzas, making their own pizza dough, sandwich bread, and burger buns in house. The interior is simple, yet welcoming, with wooden blinds, rattan tables and chairs, and photos and propaganda art on the walls. The tiny veranda is a great spot from which to watch Con Son daily life. In high season, it's worth calling first to make sure you get a table.

This sprawling seafront eatery is regarded as the best seafood place in town. Like many Vietnamese places, the interior design takes a back seat to the food and the view. It's pricier than the more local joints farther along Tran Phu Street, but you get what you pay for, which in this case, aside from the great food, is English-speaking staff, an English menu, and servers used to dealing with international tourists.

A visit to Con Son isn't complete without a meal at Thu Ba. Chef Thu Ba works her magic in the kitchen while her daughter Thuy works the guests in the homey front section, recommending dishes from the extensive menu full of Vietnamese seafood, pork, and beef dishes (the slipper lobster is highly recommended). Western and Vietnamese options are available for breakfast and Thu Ba can also prepare picnics for hikers and campers.