24 Best Restaurants in The South-Central Coasts and Highlands, Vietnam

This American-styled barbecue restaurant, complete with a smoker and long tables, serves up sweet, delicious barbecue and locally made craft beer. The hip, contemporary space also carries great gifts from local artists and designers. Indoor and outdoor seating is available.

True to its motto of “Eat, drink, relax, be happy”, Pit Stop Food Court is shaping up to be “the” place to eat and hang out in Mui Ne. Order anything from seafood hot pot and lobster grilled with cheese to Hungarian goulash and fish tacos and find a seat under the swaying palms with sweeping views of the water. The open-air space is family-friendly during the day while the on-site Nirvana Beach Club cranks up the tunes at night.

Inside Sailing Club Resort Mui Ne in a high-ceilinged Bali-style pavilion overlooking the beach and the East Sea, Sandals is considered one of Mui Ne's best dining options even if you're not staying there. Sandals invites guests to linger a little bit longer with an excellent wine selection and a kitchen which can adapt to dietary requirements, including vegan and gluten-free options. Signature dishes include the chili salt squid and fresh poke bowls.

A centrally located, quirky, chic café-restaurant, Alpaca captures the spirit of the more artful, creative modern day with its expressive atmosphere. It also boasts a versatile menu, all prepared with great care. The Mexican options are very popular, as are the vegan and gluten free items.

Although it's by no means the best pizza in Vietnam, Bingo nevertheless hits the spot after a long day trekking or canyoning with simple, run-of-the-mill toppings, thick crusts and decent sizes. Service can be a little slow, as is the way sometimes around here.

Located high up on a hill above the tourist strip, this restaurant serves a range of Western dishes as well as great local seafood. Use of the pool in the surrounding resort is free for paying customers.

A quaint little café in a restored 1910 French train carriage that's now parked in lovely grounds next to a small guesthouse, this place serves up a selection of Western and Vietnamese dishes and a ton of charm. For trainspotters wanting to get a double train fix, the café and its friendly staff are an easy walk along a main road and down a narrow local road from the old Dalat Railway Station.

A Mui Ne favorite, El Latino serves up authentic, homemade Mexican eats with a very chill vibe. Warm and cozy with exposed brick, painted murals, and loads of color, the kitchen nevertheless takes its food very seriously, making fresh tortillas, breads, brownies to accompany the mainly slow-cooked meats that will melt in your mouth.

Tourist-friendly Vietnamese cuisine is served in a relaxing, relatively upmarket atmosphere here. The street food is cooked along the sides of the restaurant, giving the place a lively edge. It's a tasty and safe option for those who are wary of real street food, or groups seeking a mixture of street food and restaurant fare. Tasting menus are available for those struck by indecision.

Ganesh serves delicious North Indian and tandoori dishes and excellent naan bread. In its homey restaurant in the heart of Mui Ne's tourist strip, Ganesh offers a sometimes-welcome and comforting break from Vietnamese cuisine.

This is a cheap-and-cheerful eatery serving up slightly Westernized versions of Vietnamese fare from a cute little place a short walk from the Central Market. The service can be a bit slow, but the food is reliably delicious and reasonably priced.

Join the locals at this popular and sometimes rowdy barbecue and hotpot joint that becomes quite smoky when the serious table-top barbecuing gets underway. The decor is very plain, the food is cheap and delicious, and there's an English menu.

This Franco-Swiss-owned resto-bar serves great European staples including Swiss fondue in a sophisticated, contemporary location right on the main strip. Sip wine and nibble on a board of cheeses and charcuterie in the fan-cooled space backed by a jazzy soundtrack.

For some of the best authentic Vietnamese food around, head 6 km (4 miles) outside the city center to this 300-year-old house surrounded by rice paddies and lotus ponds. The menu, handwritten on cardboard, features fish barbecued in bamboo, banana flower salad, crispy prawn pancakes, and Asian spinach soup with basil-seasoned rice. For a unique dessert, try the white rice and mung beans in coconut sauce.

A basic seafood eatery fronting a river lined with fishing boats, Quan 49 serves barbecued seafood, conch salad, and, when in season, dong lizard.

Opened in 2018, this Australian-owned, coastal bar reflects the growth of tourism in Quy Nhon. The multistory bar is a relaxing place to grab a bite to eat and a beer, while the roof terrace has a fantastic view of the ocean and the mountains.

Once the in-house restaurant at the Cham Villa resort, Ratinger Lowe's traditional German fare became so popular the eatery had to move to larger premises next door. The owner, who has been officially named the Phan Thiet culinary ambassador of his hometown of Ratingen, oversees a bountiful menu of German specialty dishes as a well as a selection of international and Vietnamese hits.

Fresh, tasty, and quite fabulous kebabs, salads, and dips: Sindbad's short and sweet menu is widely celebrated in the area. Everything on it is top quality. The restaurant is tiny, the staff friendly, and the service quick.

A stylish lakeside location for coffee, cocktails, or a meal, either on the deck under one of the purple umbrellas or inside, Thanh Thuy has an extensive menu (in English) of Vietnamese, Szechuan, and Vietnamese twists on Western dishes. The service can seem slow if you're not used to the local style of flagging a waiter down when you need one, rather than waiting for service.

The standout feature of what is essentially a giant café is the beautiful replica open-air ancient house, of a type that would have housed royalty in Imperial times, which serves Vietnamese dishes, such as bo kho (beef stew) and bo luk lak (shaking beef). Try a coffee in the ancient house, in the "cave" section, reached via concrete stepping stones over a pond, or on the deck overlooking the gardens. There's also a mini coffee museum and a gift shop on site.