Best restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City 2026: 11 tables worth booking

The best restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City in 2026 are these 11 tables: all six of the city's Michelin-starred restaurants, its new Green Star, the guide's Opening of the Year, a Young Chef Award winner and two Bib Gourmand addresses. If you book only one, make it Upstairs, the small room in Thảo Điền that earned the city's only new star this year.

The MICHELIN Guide's fourth Vietnam edition, presented in Hanoi on 4 June 2026, gave the country 11 one-star restaurants, its highest count since the guide arrived in 2023, and six of them are in Ho Chi Minh City. The full selection covers 193 addresses across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. For the street-food side of the city, from phở to bánh mì, start with our guide to what to eat in Ho Chi Minh City; this list is about the tables worth booking ahead.

One practical note: since July 2025 the city no longer uses its old numbered districts, and addresses now carry new ward names, so we give both where it helps. Prices are in Vietnamese dong (VND); on most menus service and VAT are added on top, shown as “++”. For a comparison with the capital, see our best restaurants in Hanoi.

Saigon's starred kitchens still cook from the same pantry as its street stalls.

Upstairs, Thảo Điền

The newest star in Ho Chi Minh City sits above Little Bear, a wine bar in Thảo Điền, where head chef Hiệp Trương, 31 and from Huế, cooks a 13-course modern Vietnamese tasting menu rooted in central Vietnam. The project belongs to Long Tran, the founder behind Hanoi's starred Gia. It opened quietly in late 2024 and earned its star in the 2026 selection.

Gỏi bò cà, Wagyu beef with baby aubergine, fish sauce and egg yolk, has been on the menu since day one; a course built on cá nấu mẻ, sour fish soup with house-fermented rice, shows where the kitchen is heading. There are around 30 wines by the glass. Michelin places it in its top price band. 36 Nguyễn Bá Huân Street, An Khánh ward; book well ahead, as there are only a handful of tables.

Ănăn Saigon, Saigon ward

Peter Cuong Franklin's restaurant took the city's first Michelin star in 2023 and has kept it in every edition since. Franklin, who cooked in Hong Kong, Chicago and Bangkok before coming home, rebuilds street dishes as tasting-menu courses; this is the kitchen that made headlines with a $100 bánh mì.

Published menus in 2025 ran from about 1.6 million VND for the shorter Saigon menu to 2.4 million VND for the chef's menu. 89 Tôn Thất Đạm Street, in the old District 1 by the Chợ Cũ market; dinner from Tuesday to Sunday.

Akuna, Saigon ward

Australian chef Sam Aisbett opened Akuna on the ninth floor of Le Méridien Saigon in July 2023 and won a star within a year. The cooking runs on Vietnamese produce, from river fish to highland herbs, plated with the restraint of a chef who earlier held a star at Whitegrass in Singapore.

Dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday, with a tasting menu at 3.9 million VND plus service and tax. 3C Tôn Đức Thắng Street, with a view over the Saigon River.

CieL, Thảo Điền

Chef Le Viet Hong, born in 1992, won a star for CieL seven months after it opened, together with Michelin's Young Chef Award in 2025, and kept the star this year. The base is French, with Vietnamese produce and ideas picked up in kitchens in Copenhagen, Barcelona and Tokyo.

A menu of about ten small courses was reported at 2.9 million VND per person in 2025, and Michelin puts CieL in its top price band. The building, with its slanted oculus over the dining room, is part of the experience. Thảo Điền, An Khánh ward.

CoCo Dining, Xuân Hòa ward

Fermentation is the thread through chef Thanh Vuong Vo's cooking: Vietnamese recipes reworked with modern technique and the ferments that give southern food its depth. The main event is a 12-course tasting menu, but there is also an à la carte, a whisky bar and a more casual open-kitchen grill, CoCo Grill, at the same address.

Michelin's ₫₫₫ band. 143 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street, in the old District 3; dinner from 6pm.

Long Triều (The Royal Pavilion), Saigon ward

The Cantonese dining room on the fourth floor of The Reverie Saigon won its first star in 2024 and has kept it. Expect the Hong Kong canon done carefully: abalone, Peking duck, steamed grouper and dim sum, which is served only at lunch.

The hotel lists an eight-course set menu at 2,888,000 VND plus service and tax. Times Square Building, 22-36 Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard.

Tales by Chapter, Tân Định ward

The only new Green Star in Ho Chi Minh City this year went to this plant-based, zero-waste tasting room led by chef Trương Quang Dũng, which also took the guide's Service Award for Nguyễn Thanh Vân. Menus change with the season and are built to use every part of what comes into the kitchen.

Michelin's ₫₫₫ band; dinner only, from 7pm. 10 Nguyễn Thành Ý Street, in the old District 1.

NÔM, Tân Định ward

Chris Fong's tasting menu travels from northern to southern Vietnam over 12 courses and several floors of a townhouse, ending on a southern-inspired dessert. NÔM sits in Michelin's selection rather than among the stars, but Fong collected the 2026 Opening of the Year award, the guide's way of flagging a kitchen to watch.

Reviews this year list the menu at 3,280,000 VND per adult; book through the restaurant's website. 53 Trần Nhật Duật Street, closed on Mondays. Fong's Chinese restaurant, Oryz, is next door.

The Monkey Gallery Dining, Saigon ward

Head chef Trần Phước Hậu, a Da Nang native, won Michelin's Young Chef Award in 2026 for a kitchen that treats each plate like a canvas: the Palette tasting menu is rewritten every year, with a shorter four-course set alongside.

Michelin's ₫₫₫ band. Third floor, 91 Mạc Thị Bưởi Street, in the old District 1; check current seating times when you book.

La Lola, Bến Thành ward

A new Bib Gourmand in 2026: a burnt-orange façade, tiled floors, velvet chairs and Mediterranean sharing plates from chef Julio Gomez, who gives gambas al ajillo and a seared Ibérico pork steak a local edge.

Michelin's ₫₫ band, the cheapest sit-down table on this list. 82 Lý Tự Trọng Street, in the old District 1.

Cơm Tấm Ba Ghiền, Phú Nhuận

No reservations and no need for one: this broken-rice stall has held a Bib Gourmand since the guide's first Vietnam edition in 2023 and has grilled its pork chops over charcoal since the 1990s. Order the chop with a fried egg and the steamed pork-and-egg custard.

Expect 50,000-90,000 VND, cash only. 84 Đặng Văn Ngữ Street; go at lunch.

Best restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City: questions

How many Michelin-starred restaurants does Ho Chi Minh City have? Six in the 2026 guide, each with one star: Ănăn Saigon, Akuna, CieL, CoCo Dining, Long Triều and the newcomer Upstairs. Vietnam has no two- or three-star restaurant yet.

How much does a tasting menu cost in Ho Chi Minh City? Roughly 1.6 to 3.9 million VND per person before drinks at the starred tables, plus service and tax. A Bib Gourmand meal can cost less than 100,000 VND.

Do I need to book? Yes for every tasting-menu room on this list, and well ahead for Upstairs and Akuna. The street-food Bib Gourmands do not take bookings.

How we chose

We started from the MICHELIN Guide Vietnam 2026 selection for Ho Chi Minh City and took every starred restaurant, the new Green Star, the Opening of the Year and the Young Chef Award winner, then added two Bib Gourmand addresses at two price levels. Phở Chị Mơ, a new Bib Gourmand, is left out of the best restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City for now: it closed temporarily in June to relocate, and we could not confirm a reopening.

Addresses, distinctions and prices were last checked on 11 November 2026 against the guide, the restaurants' own channels and the Vietnamese press. The 2027 Vietnam selection is expected in mid-2027, and we will update this list then.