A Taste of Saigon Ho Chi Minh Review 2026: Craft Beer Near Ben Thanh Market

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot to share this gem after just uploading the photos!

I recently met up with Mr. Lim (aka Simon, CEO of This Is Game), who was in Ho Chi Minh City for a game show and business trip. We headed to District 1 to catch up!

He always stays at the same hotel when he visits Ho Chi Minh, and this time he booked it for five nights! He'd already tried a few spots nearby, but we decided to explore somewhere new. We stumbled upon A Taste Of Saigon near Ben Thanh Market while walking around!

To give you the lowdown upfront:

First, the food was decent, and the restaurant was clean.

+ The staff were incredibly, almost overwhelmingly, friendly.

+ It's a local restaurant, but quite pricey, probably because it's near hotels and targets tourists (similar in price to Quan Bui Garden).

+ They really pushed for Google reviews at the end.

A Taste Of Saigon - Ben Thanh - Vietnamese Cuisine & Vegetarian Food

Operating Hours:

Daily 09:30 AM - 11:00 PM

*No corkage allowed (even if you offer to pay a fee).

They offer four types of local craft beer!

A menu you have to turn sideways to read!

Checked out the beer and beverage fridge.

Mr. Lim brought along a bottle of GlenAllachie 10CS, hoping we could enjoy it together! Unfortunately, even with a corkage fee, they don't allow outside alcohol, so we just admired the packaging. Such a shame!

While Hanoi has many places offering draft beer, Ho Chi Minh City surprisingly has fewer. I'm always on the hunt for draft options on menus, so when I looked up and saw what seemed like a tap, I had to ask!

And there it was on the table! They serve craft beer from a local Vietnamese brewery called Toucan. We ordered numbers 1 and 2.

I went for the Pale Ale.

Mr. Lim chose the Guava Beer.

And Yongbam opted for a bottled Saigon Special!

We ordered Banh Xeo, which comes with thin rice paper and fresh vegetables for wrapping. A staff member was incredibly kind, explaining exactly how to wrap it and even preparing one for us. The staff truly are friendly here.

The catch? We ordered the vegetarian Banh Xeo, but it came with pork inside!

Mr. Lim's order was spicy stir-fried squid. There wasn't much squid, so it was mostly a vegetable stir-fry. It had a sweet flavor with a strong hint of spices, so it might be a hit or miss for some.

Yongbam ordered the fish curry, but the fish was so well-cooked it almost tasted like chicken! After finishing, we even double-checked the receipt to make sure we actually ordered fish curry. Haha!

The infamous Banh Xeo.

Since Mr. Lim doesn't eat pork, we specifically ordered the mushroom and vegetable Banh Xeo, but they mistakenly brought the standard one with meat.

We didn't want to make a fuss, so we just ate it. I ended up picking out the pork and wrapping the rest for Mr. Lim. LOL.

Despite the minor mix-ups, it was a delightful evening enjoying local craft beers and a delicious dinner with good company!

There's also a second floor, but we didn't go up as it's an outdoor area, not an air-conditioned indoor space.

The food was good, but it was surprisingly expensive (for three of us, with four dishes and beers, it came out to about ~$45). Plus, the insistent request for Google reviews at the end was a bit off-putting, so I only gave them 3 stars on Google Maps! Ah, but that guava draft beer was so refreshing and delicious; I really want to find where else I can get it!