"I would move to Vietnam just for the food," says Huy Bui. The Paris-born architect with Vietnamese ancestry is putting the final touches on An Choi, an authentic Vietnamese eatery on the Lower East Side, at the end of January (ideally in time for the lunar new year).

Channeling Anthony Bourdain, we dove in food first to the best Saigon has to offer, with Bui as our guide:

First, do you say 'Saigon' or 'Ho Chi Minh City'?
I refer to it as Saigon, but technically you can say Ho Chi Minh City. In the backdoor and underground, everyone calls it Saigon.

Describe your first impressions of Saigon...
I'd never seen a city so dense in my life. In New York, you feel that it's dense. But a lot of people are underground so it's [partially] invisible. Everyone and everything is on the surface in Saigon. Nothing is underground; people, motorcycles, cables are all in your face. And Saigon doesn't go up really high in terms of buildings, so everything is at eye-level, which I find really fascinating. And each time I've visited, I don't recognize it. It changes before your eyes.

What's the best way to get around the city?
The two things that define Vietnam are the scooter and the street food. So, a scooter is definitely the best way to get around.

Do you need a license?
No, you don't. It's laissez-faire. Anything goes. It's insane, so scary, and so much fun.

Any good places to get started?
The Ben Thanh Market is a tourist trap, but it's a great place to enter into Saigon. You have everything in this market— street vendors selling antiques, lacquer wares, food… it's just one, chaotic outdoor shopping mall. If you're a tourist they will charge three-fold the price. So, if you go there, bargain like crazy.

What are your essential dishes and staple restaurants in Saigon?
One is called Quan An Ngon, which means delicious eatery. The décor is French Vietnamese tropical, but they invite street vendors to come in the restaurant and share different dishes. It's street food, but served in an elaborate setting. You'll see a lot of beautiful people here – models, Viet Q or government officials. It's very reasonable. You have to have beef noodle soup, also known as pho. That's the most celebrated food in Vietnam, but, at the same time, it's the cheapest and the most peasant-like food. It's so simple and so tasty. There is this amazing restaurant, Tib… I hate to brag about this, but even George Bush went to this restaurant. It's high-end Vietnamese, imperial-style cuisine influenced by Hué—the old capital city of Vietnam. I love the Ca Kho Tho—a traditional clay pot with fish simmered in caramel sauce. They have like 30 line cooks and 2 people who are just dedicated to heating up the clay pots and serving them right at the perfect temperature. It's so authentic, and it [is decorated with] a lot of beautiful old artifacts and ancient Chinese scripture.

How would you describe Saigon's nightlife?
There's a lot of stuff to do; Saigon has lots of bars and clubs. The Q Bar is pretty popular, especially with ex-pats and Vietnamese Americans. The local Vietnamese have a label for Vietnamese that are overseas: 'Viet Q.' If I were to walk in, they'd call me a Viet Q, which is where the Q bar gets its name. There's also this new one I like that's called XU Restaurant and Lounge. It's a bar-lounge on the ground floor. That's a great, chic place. It attracts a lot of local business people, and there's a model agency, not too far away, so it attracts the flair of Saigon.

Where's a good place to stay?
I've stayed in that's very French is the Majestic Hotel. It's in District 1, which is kind of like downtown Saigon. They have their own version of Rodeo Drive. It's touristy, but it kind of reminds me of Nolita. There's also a cute place, which is kind of a boutique hotel, called Indochine. It's really, really cute. There are only like 10 units in that building.

Best way to bide one's time between meals?
There's the Opera House: it's kind of a like a mini version of Notre Dame. It's so cute. The Reunification Palace, which was the equivalent of the White House back in the day. It's a little bit of art deco, French imperialist; it's beautiful and has been preserved since the fall of Vietnam. It's the biggest tourist trap, but so worth it. They've kept it exactly the way it was. The Water Puppet Show is something you have to see. I've never done it but people always say you have to see it. There's a really amazing pagoda in district 10 called the Vietnam Quoc Tu Pagoda. There's a rather sizeable Buddhist community there. It's a great place to go. There are also the Cu Chi Tunnels. They're about 45 minutes outside of Saigon and really cool. If you do one Vietnam War-related experience, this should be it. You actually get to go inside this labyrinth of tunnels that the Viet Cong dug to smuggle goods and weapons. You can see the tactics that the Viet Cong employed.

What is Saigon's best-kept secret?
Getting the courage to rent a motorcycle or a scooter and to drive it at night. Don't drive during the day because you're going to get killed. You can rent a Vespa for $5 to $10 a day. Overall, it's a pretty safe city, and you can cover a lot of ground in the evening. It's so pristine and quiet. That's my favorite thing to do. That's when you can find all the street food vendors—late at night. They're open 'til 4am and they'll serve all these backdoor, street soups. You really feel the pulse of the city. You'll see the kids going out. They'll get drunk. They'll try to cure their hangover with soup. You can hear motorcycles racing. The evening is a great time to experience Saigon.

~Alisa Gould-Simon


First and third photos courtesy of Huy Bui
Second photo via Travelogues.net
Fourth photo by Mark Bowyer via Flickr
Fifth photo by sunday driver via Flickr
Sixth photo by Carla H via Flickr
Seventh photo via Bisean
Eighth photo by judithbluepool via Flickr
Ninth photo by Marc Broens via Flickr
Tenth photo by inail1972 via Flickr
Eleventh photo by off ya chops via Flickr