Nha Trang, Vietnam travel tips
We didn’t get to spend the kind of time we wanted to spend in Nha Trang, Vietnam because relentless rain drove us out. Still, we have a few finds worth your visit.
Read on for the travel tips.
Where we ate:
Nha Trang is where we learned to despise our Lonely Planet restaurant recommendations and love Travel Fish‘s instead.
- Pho Cali – The food here was very cheap, yet still not worth the money at all. It really, really sucked: NAH
- Quan 127 (may also be called Thuc Don or Mi Quang Nam), 127 Đ Hong Bang – A hole-in-the-wall serving mi quang nam a yellow wide-noodle local dish, which comes with various toppings. Beyond cheap, most dishes are between 10,000 and 14,000 dong (less than $1). The brief menu is only in Vietnamese, so let the staff plunk something in front of you and dig in: YEH!
- Truc Linh 3 – There’s a fine line between attentive service and stalking our table. Just try and pour your own glass of wine. Our waitress made a hurt puppy face when she noticed we had poured for ourselves. The food was a mixed bag, the banana flower and clam salad was excellent while the meat in our crocodile curry was dry: MEH
- Lac Canh – The gimmick is that you can grill your own meat on a table top setup, though they seem to rely more on the gimmick than the food: MEH
- Thai Than Quan – Get your Hanoi-style bun cha on at this hole in the wall. Their chicken soup was also immensely slurpable, even if the meat was a less-than appealing gray: YEH
- Com suon street vendor, along Đ Nguyen Thi Minh Khai at Đ Hung Vuong – One of those poorly lit food carts surrounded by happy people stuffing their faces while perced on tiny plastic stools. This one serves up com suon succulent marinated, grilled thin pork chop on rice with pickled vegetables, a fried egg, and nuoc mam. Each loaded take away container cost about 8,000 dong each: YEH
- Quan 6 Phong – Often touted as the place for hot pot, we just didn’t get it. Hot pot must be much more enjoyable with large groups of friends. We were left hungry by what was mostly fatty meat in a greasy, watery broth: NAH
Clam noodle soup for breakfast, called Mi Quang Nam | Photo by Lauren Girardin
Grilling some meat at Lac Canh | Photo by Lauren Girardin
Grilling some meat at Lac Canh, Nha Trang, Vietnam | Photo by Lauren Girardin
Where we stayed:
- Pho Bien – The location, the price, the room were all fine, though really nothing special. There was even a bit of a view from our room’s window, so we could see the constant rain clouds hanging over Nha Trang’s beach: YEH
What we saw:
- Po Nagar Cham Towers – A collection of nice little temples, overly restored, and a bit bland for how far you have to haul to get there. Well, it is probably more impressive when it’s not raining. Still, it’s something to do on one of Nha Trang’s frequent overcast days: YEH
- Long Thanh Gallery – An impressive gallery-shop of photographer Long Thanh. Since there’s few fine art museums in most of Vietnam, this place is a nice change of pace: YEH
- Long son Pagoda – It definitely a pilgrimage to haul up the many steep, slippery (when it’s raining) stairs up this pretty hilltop to check out a couple of ginormous white Buddha statues. The Lonely Planet really over-gripes about the beggars and touts, they’re no more aggressive than anywhere else tour bus groups congregate. Just say no: YEH
Vanishing white Buddha at Long Son Pagoda | Photo by Lauren Girardin
