Private & tailor-made · 1–4 guests
A Private Cholon Food Tour: Saigon’s Chinatown from Late Afternoon into the Night
Cholon is where Saigon’s Chinese families have cooked for generations. Start in the incense smoke of Thien Hau Temple, drink coffee strained through a cloth sock by the Binh Tay clock tower, eat dumplings on Ha Ton Quyen and duck noodles in a herbal broth, then finish with cooling Chinese sweet soups on the new night street. Your own local guide tells the story of the neighbourhood as you eat it. Every dish, and a drink at each stop, is paid before you set out.
A sample night at a glance
What changes when the night is yours
A private car for your group alone
Private, 1-4 guests, and nobody outside your party is added to it
Your own licensed local guide
A Saigon local, fluent in English, who knows which stall is cooking well tonight and which to walk past, orders in Vietnamese and explains how each dish is eaten — to your group alone, not twenty strangers
Collected at your own hotel
Anywhere in central Ho Chi Minh City. No meeting point to find on your own
Every dish already paid
Every dish at every stop and a drink at each are included. Nothing is collected from you at any stall
No shop stops, in writing
No detour to a souvenir shop or a stall that pays to have you delivered. We earn from the tour price alone
A menu rebuilt around you
Allergies, no chilli, no offal, vegetarian, Muslim-friendly or small children — tell us and the menu is reshaped before your tour
Duration
About 4.5 hours
Departure
3:30 pm hotel pickup
Pickup
Any hotel in central Ho Chi Minh City
from · $65 · / personCheck your price ›
Choose your group size · price is the total for the group
Solo traveller$180 BOOK →2 guests$210 BOOK →3 guests$235 BOOK →4 guests$260 BOOK →Free cancellation up to 3 days before · every tour tailored on request
The night, stop by stop
This is a sample night: add, skip or linger over any stop and we will adjust it — the menu too. The afternoon starts with a 3:30 pm hotel pickup, so we reach Thien Hau Temple in the late afternoon, before it closes, and Binh Tay before its shutters come down. You are back at your hotel usually around 8 pm.
Start · 3:30 pm hotel pickup · then about 20–35 minutes by car to Cholon
Thien Hau Temple
About 30 minutes · on foot · free entry
What you’ll eat · nothing yet — the eating starts next
1 photo · tap to enlarge
A temple to the sea goddess Thien Hau, built in the 18th century by Cholon’s Cantonese community. Coils of incense hang from the roof, each with a paper tag carrying a family’s name and wish, and they burn slowly for days. We come in the late afternoon, before the temple closes; your guide explains who hangs the coils and why. Cover shoulders and knees.
Short drive · about 10 minutes
Binh Tay Market and the clock tower
About 40 minutes · on foot
What you’ll eat · ca phe vot · banh pia
4 photos · tap to enlarge
Binh Tay was built around 1930 and its clock tower still stands over the square in front. The stalls inside begin pulling their shutters down from about 4 pm, so we see the market from the outside and along its edges. Nearby, coffee is made the old Cholon way: ground coffee strained through a cloth sock and kept hot on a low stove — ca phe vot. With it, banh pia: a flaky pastry of thin, chewy layers around mung bean and sometimes durian, a Teochew recipe the South made its own.
Short drive · about 10 minutes
Ha Ton Quyen dumpling street
About 45 minutes · seated
What you’ll eat · sui cao
1 photo · tap to enlarge
A street of more than 700 metres on the edge of the former Districts 5 and 11, lined with dumpling shops that work from family recipes. Sui cao are shrimp-and-pork dumplings, served in a clear broth or “dry” with oyster sauce; your guide orders both so you can compare, and explains how this one street came to be known for a single dish.
Short walk or drive · a few minutes
A Cholon duck noodle shop
About 40 minutes · seated
What you’ll eat · mi vit tiem
1 photo · tap to enlarge
Egg noodles with a duck leg braised in a dark broth of Chinese herbs — star anise, cinnamon, dried tangerine peel, luo han guo — and greens on the side. The dish came out of Cholon’s Chinese community, and every kitchen keeps its own blend of herbs; your guide asks the cook what went into tonight’s pot.
Short drive · back to the square in front of Binh Tay
Cholon night street
About 40 minutes · on foot
What you’ll eat · sam bo luong · quy linh cao
1 photo · tap to enlarge
Since April 2026 the pavements in front of Binh Tay Market turn into a night street, usually from 6 pm to midnight, with food trucks and push-carts. It is still new and can be quiet on a weeknight, which suits a slow dessert. Sam bo luong is a cold sweet soup of longan, red dates, lotus seeds, seaweed and barley over crushed ice, from a cart on the street or a Chinese dessert shop nearby; quy linh cao is a dark, slightly bitter herbal jelly that you sweeten with honey or syrup. Then the car takes you back.
Back at your hotel · About 4.5 hours after pickup · usually around 8 pm
Six Cholon flavours, one afternoon into night
No stops we did not tell you about, nothing to pay at any stall, and any part of it can be changed.
Group total · every dish included
Solo traveller$180 BOOK →2 guests$210 BOOK →3 guests$235 BOOK →4 guests$260 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your night and send you an all-inclusive quote.What is in the price
Included
- Private car with driver for your group
- Private licensed local food guide, fluent in English
- Hotel pickup and drop-off in central Ho Chi Minh City
- Every dish at every stop
- One drink at each stop (local beer for guests 18 and over)
- Bottled water in the car
Not included
− Drinks beyond the one included at each stop
− Anything you choose to buy in Cholon
− A tip for your guide and driver — never expected, always welcome
− A transfer surcharge for pickups in Thao Dien, An Phu or Phu My Hung
− Travel insurance, which we recommend you carry
Is this the right tour for you?
A good fit if
You are curious about Saigon’s Chinese community and want the story with the food.
You like herbal broths, sweet soups and flavours you will not find on the other side of town.
You prefer an earlier start and to be back at your hotel by about 8 pm.
You want a temple, a market and a meal in one outing, without arranging any of it.
Look elsewhere if
You are one person on a tight budget — a shared group tour costs far less.
Everyone in your group is vegetarian and every stop matters — only part of this menu can be made meat-free.
You want a crowded, buzzing night market. The Cholon night street is new and can be quiet on weeknights.
You want to weave through the alleys by motorbike, one bike and driver per guest; we travel as one group in one private car.
For a busier night, the Vinh Khanh snail street tour is the liveliest of our four; for a fully vegetarian menu, the Ben Thanh tour. Or tell us what you want to see, and we will plan a night around it.
Questions before you book
About the night
How long is the tour and when does it start?
About 4.5 hours door to door, starting with a 3:30 pm hotel pickup and ending back at your hotel. Inside that time the pace is yours: stay longer where you are enjoying it, move on where you are not.
Where do you pick us up?
At your own hotel, anywhere in central Ho Chi Minh City — the former Districts 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10, Phu Nhuan and Binh Thanh. Staying in Thao Dien, An Phu or Phu My Hung? We collect you there too, for a transfer surcharge shown at checkout. Your guide waits in your hotel lobby for 20 minutes and messages you on WhatsApp; after that the booking counts as a no-show. A late pickup shortens the tour rather than extending it.
How much walking is there, and why a car rather than motorbikes?
Cholon is 20–35 minutes from the centre by car, and the stops are spread across it, so the private car carries you between them and you walk a few hundred metres at each. Motorbike food tours are a very Saigon way to eat — they slip into alleys a car cannot — but each guest rides behind a separate driver. We keep your group together in one car, so you sit down to eat, stay dry if it rains, and can bring children or older parents along.
Can we change the route or the pace?
Yes. This is a sample night and every part of it can be adjusted: swap a dish, skip a stop, or spend longer at the temple. Tell us before you book and we confirm the plan, the menu and an all-inclusive price in writing. If a stall is closed or a dish has sold out, your guide swaps in the nearest equivalent and tells you on the spot. We never quietly downgrade a tour.
Does the guide speak good English?
Yes. Your guide is a licensed local from Saigon who speaks fluent English, knows which stalls are worth it and which to skip, orders for you in Vietnamese and explains how each dish is eaten and why the city eats it. On this tour that means the story of Cholon’s Chinese families, told stall by stall.
Can we do more than one tour?
Yes, and nothing repeats: our four tours have four menus and share no dish, so each one is a different night. Pair this one with the Ben Thanh night market tour, the Vinh Khanh snail street tour or the Saigon breakfast tour. Booking more than one? Message us on WhatsApp and we will plan them together.
Booking and practicalities
Is the price per person or for the whole group?
For the whole group, from one to four guests: four people pay less each than two, with the same car and the same guide. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest. For five or more, message us for a quote.
How do I pay, and when?
Two ways: pay the full price online by card, or pay a 30% deposit online and the rest in cash on the day of the tour, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. We can also send a secure payment link on WhatsApp. The booking is confirmed once the online payment goes through, and your pickup time and guide’s name arrive in writing.
Can I cancel or reschedule?
Yes - free cancellation up to 3 days before departure for a full refund, and free rescheduling subject to availability. Within 3 days of departure, 30% of the tour price is charged because the car and guide are already committed. Date changes are arranged over WhatsApp.
Can this tour be vegetarian, halal or allergy-friendly?
Vegetarian: only partly. The sock-filtered coffee and the sam bo luong are meat-free; the dumplings and the duck noodles are not, banh pia is usually made with lard, and quy linh cao is traditionally made with turtle shell. For vegetarians we swap those for dishes from Cholon’s Chinese vegetarian kitchens, but if every stop matters, the Ben Thanh tour or the breakfast tour can be fully vegetarian. Muslim-friendly: the dumplings and duck noodles come from kitchens that cook pork, so we replace them with beef, chicken or seafood dishes and your guide asks about every broth; we cannot promise certified halal stalls. Allergies: Tell us about allergies when you book. Street kitchens share woks, grills and oil, so no dish can be guaranteed free of traces; guests with severe allergies should carry their own medication.
What should I bring, and do I need cash?
Clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temple, comfortable shoes and an appetite. You do not need cash for anything on the menu, since every dish and a drink at each stop are already paid; bring small notes for extra drinks or anything you want to buy, and if you chose to pay the balance in cash, bring it for your guide.
What happens if it rains?
Rain does not cancel a food tour: the private car carries you between stops and your guide moves to stalls with a roof, keeping the menu as close as possible, with no partial refund. If you would rather wait for a dry evening, move to another date free of charge. In a storm or under an official weather warning we move your tour to another date; if no date suits you, you get a 100% refund.
Book your Cholon afternoon
Private car and licensed local guide, hotel pickup, every dish and a drink at each stop already settled.
Group total · every dish included
Solo traveller$180 BOOK →2 guests$210 BOOK →3 guests$235 BOOK →4 guests$260 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your night and send you an all-inclusive quote.