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“I love this country. I was about to head back to the mall. I’d given up hope, but I knew this country always pulls through at the very last second.”

This Lunch Walk takes me out of Saigon and onto the streets of Da Nang, where I’m hunting down one of Central Vietnam’s most famous dishes: Mì Quảng.

At least, that was the plan.

I set off looking for a highly rated local spot, only for Google Maps to send me to what appears to be a car lot. Add in Da Nang heat that feels close to 40°C, a complete lack of suitable clothing after coming straight from winter in Australia, and a growing temptation to give up and hide in an air-conditioned mall, and this quickly becomes more of an actual walk than expected.

But just as I’m about to admit defeat, Vietnam delivers.

I finally find a local Mì Quảng place and get to compare the dish in Da Nang with the versions I regularly eat back in Saigon. We talk about its lighter broth, peanuts, noodles, the differences between food in Central and Southern Vietnam, and why Mì Quảng deserves far more attention outside the country.

And, as often happens on these Lunch Walks, the food is only part of the story. A random conversation with another customer turns into a chat about Saigon, Ha Long City and his former life working as a bartender on a cruise ship in Ha Long Bay.

Key Takeaways

• Mì Quảng is one of Central Vietnam’s most famous regional dishes.
• Unlike many Vietnamese noodle dishes, it usually comes with only a small amount of broth rather than a full bowl of soup.
• The Mì Quảng I’ve eaten in Saigon tends to have more broth and feel heavier and oilier than the version I try here in Da Nang.
• Vietnamese food changes significantly by region, with Central Vietnamese cuisine often associated with stronger and spicier flavours.
• Da Nang continues to modernise rapidly, with new malls, roads and developments sitting alongside traditional streets and local food stalls.
• Sometimes the best moments while exploring Vietnam come from completely unplanned conversations with strangers.
• Phở and bánh mì might dominate the international conversation about Vietnamese food, but there are countless regional dishes like Mì Quảng that deserve much more attention.

Timestamps

01:00 Searching for Mì Quảng and my confidence in Vietnamese food after 10 years
05:00 Giving up on the original Mì Quảng restaurant
07:00 Almost settling for cơm tấm
08:00 The Da Nang heat starts winning
09:00 Giving up and heading for air conditioning
10:00 Finally finding Mì Quảng and getting rescued by a fan
12:00 Trying authentic Da Nang Mì Quảng
14:00 Meeting a local customer and attempting some Vietnamese
16:00 My verdict on the Mì Quảng
18:00 Why Vietnam has so much great food people rarely talk about

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Recorded pre-quarantine, pre-lockdown this episode was intended to be the first of Season 3, recorded at Waves studio.

As you may well know, season 3 became the Quarantine Season and I haven't been able to record any more episodes yet for season 4.

So to celebrate one year of Seven Million Bikes I dusted down the file off the shelf and am releasing it for your listening pleasure as a bonus episode to start Season 4.

Look out for new episodes as soon as I am able to!

Frances is a travel blogger with the well-know blog So The Adventure Begins. She is also well-known for her pink Honda cub she is often seen driving around Saigon. She has been living in Saigon now for three years and is the first Scottish guest to join me on the show. Don't worry, you can understand us!

We talk about her not being an influencer, why she started a blog, breaking up and dating in Saigon, out homeland and of course Scottish accents.

There is the unplanned ubiquitous shout out as always for Matt Ryan! And his deep-fried Mars Bars.

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Welcome back to Lunch Walk #5! Starting from Saigon Podcast Studio on Pasteur Street in the Nguyen Thai Binh neighborhood (District 1), we go down a history rabbit hole — a vanished canal, a 150-year-old bridge tied to Gustave Eiffel's company, and the wild engineering behind the Thủ Thiêm Tunnel — before finishing up with a bowl of bún bò at a historic building on Ton That Dam Street.

Key Takeaways:

• The lost canal: Pasteur Street (formerly Pellerin) once ran along a canal through the heart of Saigon, filled in decades ago. A look at the shophouses and Cantonese and Tamil immigrant communities that once lined the route.
• Cầu Mống ("Rainbow Bridge"): Built around 1880, ~150 years old, and engineered by a company linked to Gustave Eiffel. Originally a road bridge connecting District 1 and District 4, later dismantled and rebuilt during tunnel construction.
• The Thủ Thiêm Tunnel: Finished in 2011 (years behind schedule thanks to unexpectedly soft riverbed soil), built using the "tube tunnel" method: four ~26,000-ton tubes dredged into a trench under the Saigon River and connected with millimeter-level precision.
• A functional building with character: The unassuming structure managing the tunnel's ventilation, drainage, and lighting — designed to actually fit the neighborhood.
• Lunch stop: Bún bò at a historic building on Ton That Dam Street, now home to cafes, vintage shops, and cocktail bars tucked above a street of Vietnamese-only menus.

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Intro from Saigon Podcast Studio
• 03:07 — Cầu Mống, the Rainbow Bridge & its Eiffel connection
• 09:16 — How the Thủ Thiêm "tube tunnel" was built
• 13:56 — Arriving at the lunch spot on Ton That Dam Street
• 18:33 — Plans for a "Discover Vietnam" series & walking tours
• 20:33 — Bún bò arrives

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This was recorded via Skype from quarantine, you may have to turn the volume up.

For no other real reason than I haven't spoken to Jay in nearly a month and is one of my favourite people to talk to, I call up JK Hobson to have a chat about the state of the world today, life on the outside and how he is coping with quarantine. 

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A sudden five-minute monsoon just poured down before I even got moving today, so this one starts in blue skies and puddles. I'm walking along Hồ Tùng Mậu — once an actual canal until it was filled in back in the 1920s — and finally sharing some proper research I did on this neighborhood I keep saying I love. Along the way I point out a cluster of hundred-year-old shophouses, a hidden alley bar, and buildings I really hope survive the next wave of glass-and-concrete development. I also grab a rare bag of tofu with fermented shrimp paste (tofu nắm) before finally sitting down for a bowl of mì gà a few blocks from the studio.

Key Takeaways

• This neighborhood has real history behind it: Hồ Tùng Mậu was once a canal, and many of the surrounding shophouses date back to the early 1900s — built with tall windows and shutters designed for the heat and rain, long before AC existed.
• Preservation is informal, not guaranteed: None of these century-old buildings are officially protected — some survive mostly because they're awkwardly wedged between other structures, not because anyone's actively saving them. One inspiration for wanting this area preserved: George Town in Penang, Malaysia, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The good stuff is easy to miss and easy to lose: Tofu nắm is a favorite that's genuinely hard to find — worth buying on sight rather than waiting until after lunch, because the seller might be sold out next time.
• Big personal update, worth knowing: After a year since an MS diagnosis and a strong initial recovery, a second round of treatment two months ago has brought lower energy and more frequent illness — though the latest MRI brought good news, with no new lesions and existing ones inactive.
• The podcast keeps growing in unexpected directions: The YouTube channel just crossed 950,000 views, and the "how's your accent understood on national TV" comments keep coming now that the VTV show is underway.

Chapters and Timestamps

• 00:00 – A surprise monsoon, then blue skies along Hồ Tùng Mậu
• 02:00 – The canal-turned-street history and hundred-year-old shophouse architecture
• 06:00 – A hidden alley bar and why some old buildings quietly survive
• 12:00 – Penang as inspiration for preserving this kind of neighborhood
• 20:00 – Podcast milestones and life on VTV's Vietnam Explained
• 24:00 – Sitting down for mì gà and talking through the meal
• 28:00 – Wrapping the walk, more neighborhood history, and heading back in the rain

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🎙️ Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio!

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A Saigon resident, Lawrence Young has worked in the finance industry worldwide for 30 years, currently with Holborn Assets and created the non-troll Facebook group Ho Chi Minh Expat Group Saigon. Now at nearly 10,500 members in just 14 months.

He has seen the market go up and down over the years and is confident we will come out of the current crisis stronger but different.

We talk about what life has been like in Saigon and what it's like today after the latest guidance, starting April 1st, from the Prime Minister - 2 metre distancing, only leave for your home for essentials, groups of no more than two people outside and only essential services open. He also gives us his take on the state of the financial market, why we shouldn't panic and why it matters to everyone. Whether you own stocks or not.

If you would like to reach out to Lawrence for advice you can email him at [email protected] or message him on LinkedIn.

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Support the show

🎙️ Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio!

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Lunch Walks continues, and this time I've got company — Te from Saigon Podcast Studio joins me, since Carrie had to duck out after we wrapped a Vietnam Content Marketing episode together. It's pouring rain in Nguyễn Thái Bình, but we push on anyway to a fried chicken and rice spot I only found a couple of weeks ago, tucked down a back alley I hadn't explored before. Along the way we talk about the neighborhood getting recognized by Time Out as one of the coolest in the world (or Vietnam — details are fuzzy), the nonstop construction that's part of daily life here, and why Vietnamese people always seem thrilled to end up on camera. Then the rain really sets in, and getting back to the studio turns into its own adventure.

Key Takeaways

• This neighborhood has fans beyond just me: Nguyễn Thái Bình has apparently been named one of the coolest neighborhoods around by Time Out — and between the mix of old buildings, cocktail bars, and hidden local spots, it's easy to see why.
• The best finds are the ones you almost walked past: This fried chicken and rice place had been on this street the whole time, but it took a few passes before it actually got noticed and tried.
• Not all rice is created equal: The rice here isn't broken rice (cơm tấm) — it's fried separately, which gives it a different color, texture, and flavor that's worth asking about if you don't recognize it.
• "Developing country" hits different when you live it: Watching construction happen in real time — new buildings going up constantly, the sound of drilling as a daily backdrop — makes the textbook definition of a developing economy feel a lot more real.
• Rainy season doesn't wait for you to finish lunch: What starts as a light rain can flood a street within minutes, turning a short walk back to the studio into a full production — sandals over sneakers, camera tucked away, and a lot of patience.

Chapters and Timestamps

• 00:00 – Heading out with Tay after wrapping Vietnam Content Marketing, rain already falling
• 02:00 – Nguyễn Thái Bình's reputation, and the neighborhood's mix of old and new
• 04:00 – Arriving at the fried chicken and rice spot, ordering fish sauce and garlic chicken
• 08:00 – Talking construction, development, and life as a foreigner watching Vietnam grow
• 11:00 – The bill, and Vietnamese love of being on camera
• 13:00 – Flash flooding on the walk back and sheltering from the rain
• 16:00 – Back at the studio, wrapping up the episode

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Support the show

🎙️ Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio!

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Back for round two! I'm heading out from the Saigon Podcast Studio again, this time down Thôn Đất Đàm — the market street I'm honestly surprised is still standing given how much prime real estate around here has been redeveloped.

Along the way I point out some old Chinese signage on the buildings, a newly renovated coffee spot that went from empty nightclub to permanently packed in a few months, and a 70-year-old coffee roaster where I stock up on my usual mix. Then it's on to “Bếp Võ” for my go-to order — dry noodles with chicken — before a coffee run and the walk back before the rain hits.

Key Takeaways

• Some things in Vietnam just work immediately: The corner coffee shop that used to be a nightclub sat empty for a while, then reopened completely redone — and it's been packed non-stop ever since. No slow build, just instant success.
• History hides in plain sight: Old Cantonese/Chinese signage on the market buildings is a reminder of how long this street has been here — probably 50 years or more — even as everyone assumes it'll eventually be torn down for redevelopment.
• The best lunch spots are the ones you never have to think about: Same order every time at Bếp Võ— dry noodles with chicken, no menu needed — and it still comes out to under $5.
• Rainy season rules everything: No umbrella, two blocks from the studio, and still a real risk of getting stuck in a downpour — planning your day (and your route) around the rain is just part of living in Saigon.

Chapters and Timestamps

• 00:00 – Back for Lunch Walks #2, heading out from the studio
• 03:00 – The market street and its Chinese-lettered buildings
• 04:00 – The coffee shop that went from nightclub to instant hit
• 08:00 – Arriving at Bếp Võ for dry noodles with chicken
• 11:00 – The bill, the walk to coffee, and beating the rain back to the studio

"Send me a message!"

Support the show

🎙️ Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio!

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"This corner... I love seeing it every day. It kinda sums up Vietnam for me — an amazing juxtaposition of the old and the new."

Welcome to the very first Vietnam Lunch Walks; a new series where I take you along on my actual lunch breaks around the neighborhood I love most in Saigon. This one's been a while coming: it's the first new Discover Vietnam episode in six months, after a stretch of low motivation and a busy year setting up Saigon Podcast Studio.

In this episode, I walk you from the studio on Pasteur Street to my favourite halal phở spot near Bến Thành Market, order my usual (phở gà with extra chicken), and then take you on a loop through the neighborhood — past the old bank building, the stock exchange, and my favourite bridge in the world, with a few old Saigon stories along the way.

Key Takeaways

Consistency is hard, even for the host: Six months between episodes isn't unusual for Discover Vietnam — motivation for content creation comes and goes, and this episode is a reminder to just start again.

Old vs. new is the whole vibe: The view of the old bank building against the Bitexco Tower is a favourite spot precisely because it captures Saigon's mix of old and new.

Great phở comes down to small details: Good white breast meat over tough "walking chicken," a light hand with chili, and sawtooth basil are what make this order worth repeating weekly.

Documenting a neighborhood before it disappears: Older buildings nearby are quietly being replaced with modern glass developments, which is part of the motivation for filming these walks now.

Chapters and Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to Lunch Walks: launching a new series after a 6-month break
02:00 – A favourite view: the old bank building against the Bitexco Tower
05:00 – Ordering phở gà at the halal spot near Bến Thành Market
13:00 – Walking tour: the canal, the favourite bridge, and a 2016 street story
17:00 – Watching old Saigon disappear, then back to the studio to wrap up

"Send me a message!"

Support the show

🎙️ Recorded at Saigon Podcast Studio!

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🎙️ Start Your Podcast Today!

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