Bánh Mì Hòa Mã — Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Just had the bahn mi op la here. What an insane experience. The kitchen and store front is on a corner but most of the seating is set up alongside the small street beside it. It was packed when we arrived at 9:30am, mostly locals but a few tourists as well. Lots of people standing around waiting to snag a table. Google listing says it closes at 10:00, but we left at 10:00 and I didn't see any sign of them slowing down. We sat at the table in the doorway where the stool on the outside is zip tied on top of a gas canister of some sort in order to reach the height of the table. The people working there were literally yelling at each other the entire time, like screaming, very stressful but it seemed to be normal. It's just part of the experience. One man and one woman (maybe the owners?) walked around yelling at the other workers and quite literally stacking paper, millions of dong in their hands as they accepted payment from their satisfied customers. We had two bahn mi op la and two iced coffee with milk for 120k ($4). The food was delicious and an interactive, build-your-own-sandwich experience. You get a dish of pate and mayo, a dish of pickles, then a piping hot dish (you could easily burn yourself on it) with eggs, onions, ham, some kind of sausage, and tofu. We read that you should ask for your eggs sunny side up. We tried this, but the woman who took our order just waved her hand at us as if to say "I don't understand what you're saying so I'm just going to serve it to you as normal." The eggs came perfectly sunny side up anyway, still cooking a little in the pan they serve it to you in, so turns out you don't need to ask for anything, just point at the picture. My favorite part was the constant stream of motorbikes that would pull up on the side and yell out "one bahn mi please!!!!!" (I'm totally guessing this is what thy were yelling) and then pull back around to pick up their sandwich. Highly recommended for an insane Saigon experience. Not recommended for a leisurely sit...

We had heard so many great things about this place and we were not disappointed!

There are only two options here, but that's okay because you can't go wrong with either.

Option #1 is banh mi op la du thu, which is essentially two eggs, Vietnamese meats and sausage, white and green onions all combined together in a pan. You'll get a baguette to go with it all and it makes for an awesome utensil to dip into the yolk and saturate your bread with deliciousness. You'll probably want another pan of this goodness once you're finished.

Option #2 is the standard banh mi kep thit. This is pretty much just a baguette filled with meats and some salad. It's not bad here at Banh Mi Hoa Ma, and it's certainly one of the better ones around. However, 30k for banh mi is a little expensive compared to the numerous street vendors that sell for 15-20k in the area and are to a similar standard.

The coffee here is a good way to introduce yourself to the style of Vietnamese coffee. However, I did find it a little too sweet.

The best part about it all, though, is sitting down and enjoying your meal on the side of the road as motorbikes pass by. It makes for a brilliant experience and that combined with the delicious food makes Banh Mi Hoa Ma a must-visit while...

I was busy crawling through Cu Chi Tunnels that morning so I missed this place. 🙁 They’re known for their banh mi op la – a Vietnamese breakfast consisting of a baguette, sunny side up eggs, pate, and charcuterie.

Bánh Mì Hòa Mã is open only from 5-10AM, so you need to come early otherwise they may run out of food. As you can see below, there’s no indoor seating. Located in an alleyway, customers sit outside on those short plastic stools by the side of a building. This is what Vietnamese street food is all about!

Ren’s beautiful breakfast of sunny side up eggs, pate, onions, sausages, and pork terrine with a crisp toasted baguette and a side of pickled vegetables. They serve the eggs crisped around the edges with the yolk still runny. Vietnamese like to drizzle a few drops of liquid seasoning onto the eggs and dunk crusty pieces of banh mi (baguette) into the runny yolk. How good does that sound? I love breakfast food so there’s no way I’m missing this again on our next...