Opening the door to bring international tourists closer to Vietnamese culture
In the multi-colored tourism picture of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and the whole country in general, Vietnamese cuisine is increasingly playing an important role in attracting international tourists. Not only stopping at the flavor or richness of dishes, many culinary spaces in Ho Chi Minh City are choosing to tell Vietnamese cultural stories through each dish, thereby helping diners understand more deeply about the people, life and land where they set foot.
In the middle of Thao Dien area, where many foreigners live and work, Madame Lam restaurant is one of the Vietnamese culinary stops known to many international tourists. This establishment has been honored as Michelin Selected for 3 consecutive years (2023 - 2025), founded by chef Nguyen Nhu Cuong, with the orientation of introducing and spreading the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine to international diners.
According to chef Nguyen Nhu Cuong, the special feature of Vietnamese cuisine lies in the regional diversity. Each region, North, Central, and South, has its own ingredients, spices, and processing methods, creating depth and unique identity. This difference helps Vietnamese cuisine become a natural and lively cultural channel for foreign tourists.
From an international perspective, Vietnamese dishes are not only for enjoying but also for discovering. "Many tourists want to understand through cuisine how Vietnamese people live, what the climate of that land is like. At that time, dishes are not just dishes but a cultural story" - chef Nguyen Nhu Cuong shared.
Instead of adjusting the flavor to suit tastes, this restaurant chooses to refresh the enjoyment experience. Vietnamese traditional ingredients, spices and processing methods are still preserved, but are more carefully selected and combined with modern kitchen techniques to ensure quality. The dish presentation is also simplified, helping diners easily access and feel more fully the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine.
Through traditional dishes, the chef brings in his own perspective and experience, so that customers can feel familiar but still have their own unique features. Dishes associated with memories such as banana ice cream and folk cakes not only cause curiosity for international tourists but also evoke the childhood of many Vietnamese diners.
Elevating culinary tourism, creating attraction for destinations
Not only owning many restaurants honored by Michelin, Ho Chi Minh City also has rich and diverse culinary resources. After expanding administrative boundaries and merging provinces, the city's culinary map is even richer with many dishes and regional specialties, creating a new attraction for tourist destinations.
Developing culinary tourism products is therefore considered an important direction, both refreshing the experience for tourists and spreading the image of dynamic and colorful Ho Chi Minh City, thereby contributing to enhancing the position of Vietnam's tourism brand on the international map.
In 2026, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism identified the development of culinary tourism products as one of the key orientations, contributing to realizing the goal of increasing the number of visitors and revenue of the city's tourism industry in the new year.
Grasping this trend, many travel businesses have proactively invested and renewed products. According to Mr. Tran Quang Duy - Director of Chim Canh Cut Travel Service Joint Stock Company, Ho Chi Minh City after the merger opens up many new development spaces for tourism. The city is researching and building more destinations and product lines such as culinary tourism, medical tourism to help businesses have a stronger investment base, and at the same time, bring tourists a more open and flexible perspective when choosing tours.
Reality shows that recently, culinary experience tours have been of more interest to tourists, as the need to explore the unique features of Ho Chi Minh City is increasing. Each dish is not only a taste experience but also a story about the land and people. After the business announced new products, the number of customers learning about and registering for tours recorded positive signals.
From a long-term strategic perspective, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man - Deputy General Director of VinaGroup Tourism Company said that in 2026, the enterprise orients the development of 4 key product groups based on the "new ADN" of urban areas. In which, 3-in-1 inter-regional tourism including urban, industrial and sea is identified as a typical product, with cuisine playing the role of a connecting thread for experience.
Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism also announced 20 culinary specialized tourism programs, designed in the direction of experience, connecting the food and beverage service system, shopping and destinations in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau before. Flexible tours from half a day to three days, bringing many new choices for tourists.
With a series of well-invested culinary tourism products, the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry expects to continue to refresh the experiences of domestic and foreign tourists. At the same time, affirming Ho Chi Minh City's position as a vibrant, open and creative destination.
