I’m going back to Vietnam next May. And if you enjoy eating as much as I do, you might want to come with me.
I love Vietnamese food. Give me a good bowl of pho and I’m happy. But there’s a lot more I want you to try, and we’re going to spend nine days doing exactly that.
We’ll eat in restaurants, stop for street food and get into people’s kitchens. There’ll be higher-end dining and everyday places. And some of the cooking I’m most looking forward to will be in family homes.
I’m a chef, but that doesn’t mean I’m going over there thinking I know everything. Far from it. Put me in a kitchen with someone who’s been cooking her family’s dishes for years and I’ll have plenty of questions.
We start in Saigon on 28 May, where one of our outings involves heading out in old Russian jeeps or on vintage Vespas, exploring the neighbourhoods and stopping for street food. A pretty good way to get acquainted with a city, I reckon.
Then we head into the Mekong Delta. We’ll see rice paper and coconut candy being made, visit fruit orchards and have lunch in an old family house. In Can Tho, we’ll cook in a riverside garden, then sit down and eat what we’ve made.
On Con Son Islet, we’ll join a local family to grind rice flour and make traditional Vietnamese cakes. I’m looking forward to that. You can read a recipe, but watching someone work and having a go yourself is how you pick up the little things.
Then there’s Hoi An. We’ll go to the market before heading into Grandma’s Kitchen to learn dishes that have been passed down through the family. Later, in Hanoi, we’ll cook with a home chef and get a taste of the northern dishes too.
Three cooking classes along the way. You don’t need any experience. Come along, have a go and ask questions. I certainly will.
And yes, we’re staying somewhere comfortable. The trip includes eight nights in four-star hotels or similar. I enjoy getting out and exploring, but I also appreciate a good place to come back to at the end of the day.
We’ve left some free time as well. Find a café, have a wander, head to the beach in Hoi An or put your feet up. We’ll visit the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills, and you can ask about adding a Halong Bay cruise afterwards if you’d like to stay longer.
If you’ve made my Vietnamese Grilled Beef Noodle Salad, you’ll know a little of why I get excited about this food. The herbs, the crunch, the dressings. There’s so much going on.
Now I want to take you there and share some of it.
A lot of people have asked how I got on having my teeth done in Vietnam. Honestly, I found the whole experience incredible. The service, the quality of the work, the way I was looked after. In my experience, it was better than the dental treatment I’ve had in New Zealand. I couldn’t have been happier.
You can come on this trip purely for the food. But if you’re interested in dental treatment too, that can be arranged separately through Dental Destinations.
We’re travelling 28 May to 5 June 2027, from Saigon to Hanoi. The tour is NZ$6,299 per person, twin or double share, with international flights extra. Optional dental treatment and the Halong Bay extension are quoted separately.
Have a look at the full itinerary and register your interest here.
Have a look at the full itinerary
Come hungry.
Live, love, eat,
Simon