$1 Lunch Challenge in Ho Chi Minh City - Is It Possible? | Saigon Sunday Sessions #9

I embark on a challenge to find a satisfying, delicious lunch in Saigon for just $1—or 25,000 Vietnamese Dong. 

This episode is more than just a food hunt; it’s a snapshot of life in Vietnam, from the quirks of local health and safety practices to the enduring charm of friendly vendors. Along the way, I reflect on cultural differences and why Vietnam’s food scene is unbeatable—even when working with a tight budget.

– Niall Mackay

5 Key Takeaways
1.The $1 Lunch Hunt – Finding affordable meals in Saigon isn’t as easy as it seems. Inflation and rising costs are challenges even in the land of cheap eats. (00:01:00)
2.Local Favorites and Hidden Gems – Exploring options like bánh mì, cơm tấm, and other iconic dishes reveals what makes Vietnamese street food so special. (00:04:00)
3.A Lesson in Safety Culture – Witnessing tree-cutting practices and construction techniques in Vietnam highlights unique cultural approaches to risk. (00:07:00)
4.Bánh Mì Breakdown – A deep dive into the ingredients and the magic behind one of Vietnam’s most beloved dishes, the shredded chicken bánh mì. (00:12:00)
5.Cultural Connections Through Food – Reflecting on how Vietnamese people’s friendliness and passion for food make every dining experience unforgettable. (00:14:00)

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: The $1 Challenge and the Mission Behind It
02:00 – Exploring the Neighborhood for Cheap Eats
04:00 – Struggles and Success: The Unexpected Cost of Cheap Meals
07:00 – Cultural Insights: Observing Vietnam’s Health and Safety Practices
12:00 – Victory! The Perfect Bánh Mì and Its Delicious Story
14:00 – Reflections: Inflation, Food, and Vietnam’s Evolving Economy

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Episode Transcript

Niall (00:00):
Actually don't see any food there.

(00:01):
I see some chickens andcoconuts, but I'm always scared
to eat com trua.
Chainsaw's going up.
This guy's barefoot with achainsaw about, oh my god, there
he goes.
Nearly hit him in the face.
Looks like it's got some goodfood.

(00:22):
We all know Vietnamese food isthe best food in the world and
it can also be super cheap.
I couldn't believe I found outrecently the average cost of
lunch in the U.S.
is about$15 and even at fastfood it's about$8.
So I wanted to make it mymission today.
I'm going to go out around myneighborhood and see if I can
find lunch for just one U.S.
dollar which is only 25, 000dong.

(00:45):
So let's go find out what'savailable and see how amazing
that food is.
And before we go, don't forget,if you like the channel,
subscribe, follow, turn onnotifications, do all of that
stuff so more people can seethis channel and more
importantly that you will nevermiss an episode.
My name is Niall Mackay, I'm thehost of this channel, A Vietnam
Podcast.
been podcasting since 2019, cameto Vietnam in 2015 and fell in

(01:08):
love with the place and it'smostly because the food is
amazing.
So let's go see what there is tooffer in the neighborhood.
today we're going to go on achallenge and see if I can find
Lunch, and I am starving.
We're gonna see if I can getlunch for just 1, which is 25,
000 Vietnamese Dong.
Now here's one of my favoriteplaces for lunch.

(01:29):
So we can see right here, BunCha is 55k.
So that's just over 2 just toget out of.
Spring Roll is 35k, so we'regonna give this one a miss
today.
we can't get that.
Then we got Kum Tam broken ricewith a big pork cutlet.
These are one of my favorites aswell.
Oh my god.

(01:49):
Xin These are so amazing.
Let's see how much they cost.
I can't remember.
Cum Suan is rice with the porkcutlet that we just saw, so
that's 45k, that's a bit toomuch today.
Suan Chong is, Suan is a cutletwith an egg, it's 55k.
Then B, I think, is this, eggbased little thing that comes

(02:12):
with it.
Sung Cha, fish maybe, Cha Chong,fish and egg.
Then it's the egg thing, likethis.
with more eggs.
So all of these are way out ofour budget for a 1 lunch.
So I guess we're going to haveto give them a miss today.
Fur sack, which I think somebodytold me means like clean fur.

(02:34):
I'm not too sure.
Says since 2002.
I've actually never eaten here.
I'm not even sure if it's open.
Looks like it's got some goodfood.
But, I get scared of places whenthey've got blacked out windows
like this.
It doesn't look like it's open.
So I'm gonna be too scared to goin and check it out.
I should go and check out thefood there sometime, but there's
no prices outside.
And it definitely looks likeit's closed, I don't know, there

(02:55):
are people there.
I don't know.
Just quite intimidating from theother side.
It doesn't show you the prices.
And I get too nervous to go inand ask for the price.
I don't think we're going to geta bowl of pho for 25k.
I don't want to be rude and goin and ask for the price and
then not eat there.
Alright, this is not assuccessful as I thought.
I thought we'd stumble acrosssomewhere with some delicious

(03:18):
Vietnamese food for Oh, now I'vejust found this place that I've
actually never been to and it'sBun Baw.
Bun is like vermicelli rice, Bawis beef, but what I'm excited
about is they got Bun Bae O,which I did that episode with
Tun, where he took me for BunBae O, so go check that one out,
and they have Banh Xeo as well,which I absolutely love Banh
Xeo.
I've not had that in so long.

(03:38):
They've got Hu Chu Ba Co, BanhMi Ba Co.
Oh, these are all my favourites.
Let's see if we can have a lookat a menu.
Come on.
Alright, let's see if there'sanything we can eat here for
under a dollar.
So we've got Bun Bo, Pig'sTrotter, I definitely don't want
that, or Tendon.

(03:58):
none of these are a dollar.
Ah, I got Banh Mi Opla, so breadwith fried eggs, 30k, that's a
little bit over the budget.
Com Suon, 45k, I do love ComSuon, but that's over the budget
as well.
Com Suon Trung, 50k, similarprices to the other places.
And I don't see any Banh Xeo, Ithink they don't do Banh Xeo
until later on at night, sowe're out of budget, we can't do

(04:20):
it.
Alright, come on.
Alright, keep going, I'm gettinghungrier and hungrier by the
minute.
So I hope we can find somewheresoon.
Now here's somewhere that doesfit our budget.
It's a dollar for kom chur,which means lunch.
I remember someone laughing tome saying that that's how much
rice they eat, that the word forlunch is kom kom chur.

(04:43):
I actually don't see any foodthere.
I see some chickens andcoconuts, but I'm always scared
to eat com trua Xin chào.
I'm always scared to eat ComChua because I never really know
what it is and I know that's myfault and I should know by now
but it's one of these ones I'mscared of.
The dangers of Vietnam.

(05:06):
There's just some things herethat I absolutely love and
people can get annoyed by it andyou can be annoyed by it.
One of the things that they lackis, the only way to say it
really is health and safety.
My sister's visiting, visitingsoon and I'm absolutely
terrified for how she's gonnareact.
So I've just been walking alongand here we are.
Now guys are just chopping downthe trees, branches falling.

(05:28):
This, this fell right in frontof me like two seconds ago.
What I love is they just trustyou to be a normal human being.
They don't worry about a ton ofroad cones and ropes to rope it
off, because I think here theytrust you more to just be a
normal human being and be like,yeah, no idiot is going to walk
under this tree while someone'scutting it down.

(05:50):
Whereas in the West, we likemollycoddle everyone and
everything's over regulated,that you would never be allowed
to do this without having acordon for 24 hours before and
24 hours after.
And maybe I'm being a completedickhead and I'm completely
wrong and people die in the westfrom falling tree branches, but
it's one thing I love abouthere.
You can see here if I zoom in,this guy has no shoes on.

(06:15):
He's not, he's not, like what'sthe word I was going to say,
chained in.
He's not connected withanything, I don't think so
anyway.
I don't see any ropes around himthat's connecting him to the
tree.
He's got a chainsaw next to him.
There's one guy with a ropehere.
That I guess is holding thetree.

(06:35):
Buy stuff like this in Vietnamthat I just can't help but love.
Alright, we got a bit of actionhappening now.
Chainsaw's going up.
This guy's barefoot with achainsaw about, oh my god, there
he goes.
Nearly hit him in the face.
Chainsaw about, what, a footaway from his bare feet.
Guy on the rope gently lets itdown.

(06:57):
We've got a security guard herewatching.
He has nothing to do with thisoperation.
He is a security guard for thatbuilding.
Having a smoke.
I'm sure he would tell me towatch out if I walked
underneath.
But I'm definitely not gonna dothat.
Things in Vietnam just work.
Getting a smile and a nod fromthe guy up the tree.

(07:21):
Motorbike right underneath me.
No worries, it still worked.
No problem.
Forgot about how hungry I wasfor a second, because this is so
interesting.
I'd guess based on my height,about 24 feet in the air with no
safety harness on.
And he's, gonna climb down andget on this ladder now.

(07:45):
Amazing.
I'm in awe, but this guy is justdangerous, man.
if he falls, he's severelyinjured.
Which is probably why we have somany rules back home, wear
fucking shoes, wear, wear steeltoe cap boots, be chained in.
But this person's just saying,ah fuck it, I'm just gonna go

(08:05):
with no shoes and climb down ona rope, jump on a ladder, and
there's absolutely no problemsat all.
I don't know, I wanna know.
Are we overkill in the West?
Do we mollycoddle everyone or isit for a good reason for health
and safety so people don't gethurt and don't die?
I have literally seen peoplehere doing pneumatic drilling

(08:26):
with no shoes on.
I remember the first time I sawit he was like over a hole it
was about three feet deep and hewas using a pneumatic drill with
no shoes on.
It was absolutely insane.
So that's just a small sample ofhow different it is.
here in Vietnam to the west.
Just gonna chop down a couple oftrees so we send a guy up a
ladder with a chainsaw and boom,done.

(08:49):
Alright, back on the, back onthe trail for lunch again.
I'm starving now, so hopefully Ican find somewhere soon.
I think I know where I can gofor a one dollar lunch.
Alright, let's find out.
It's a real treat living in TanMy Loi because we have
sidewalks, which if you've neverbeen to Saigon or never been to
Vietnam, you don't know theexcitement of getting a, of, of

(09:12):
finding a nice sidewalk that youcan walk along.
I remember when we lived in ThaoDien and they built a sidewalk
and you and I were like, Oh myGod, there's a sidewalk.
And we looked at each other andwe're like, Why are we getting
excited about a sidewalk?
So it is quite nice living inthis neighborhood, especially
this little stretch right hereis actually a real sidewalk.

(09:33):
You know over the other side ofthe street where I come up
earlier there's cars in the way,there's trash cans, there's
businesses, but here it's alittle bit different until you
reach things like this and thenyou're like oh okay I'm still in
Vietnam.
I still have to avoid massivechunks.
Missing Out The Pavement.
Alright, let's go get some food.
I'm so hungry now.

(09:54):
Budget was 1, 25, 000 dong.
Let's go do it.
All right, so budget is 1, whichis only 25, 000 đng.
It's not really much to playwith, even in Vietnam where it's
super cheap.
As you've just seen, I've lookedin a bunch of places.
Difficult to find a dollar forlunch, but I think I've found
the place here.
Xin chào.

(10:15):
Oh, we got Banh Mi Trung Gia.
All of these are less than 1.
Not the special duck beer, it'sspecial, that's all I know.
Oh, I'll get a Banh Mi Gà S.
Mup, yeah, and one.
Chili.
Yep, and pate.
Pate.
Xin chào.

(10:36):
And some bun bao as well.
I don't really eat bun bao to behonest.
I don't really like them.
They're really like fluffy and,fluffy and dense at the same
time.
I know next door we got one ofmy favourite Mewang places.
Which I love to come to a lot.
But, not gonna fit the budgettoday is it?
It's a little bit too much.
It's like 45, 000.

(10:57):
for the chicken one, but it isamazing.
I'm going to do an episode aboutthis place soon because it's so
good.
Chào.
And as if you've not been ableto tell already from this video,
Vietnamese people are thefriendliest in the world.
So give you a quick translation,I don't know much Vietnamese,
but I know food because you gotto survive, right?
We got Banh Mi Trung Gà.

(11:17):
So Trung is egg and Gà ischicken.
Chin is fried, which you can seethat picture there.
Actually, I'm not even a hundredpercent sure what that is, but
it's egg and chicken, I think.
20k is less than a dollar.
they've even got some Englishhere.
Sausage pork leg, Banh Mi ChanXo.
Which actually looks reallygood, but I've no idea what is
in it.
I guess it's pork.

(11:38):
Then we got the special, sothat's probably a bit of
everything.
That's just over a dollar, and Ithink the fire sign means it's a
little bit spicy, which I don'tmind.
Then we got Banh Mi Gà S.
Gà S means shredded chicken, andthis is amazing.
And then another one that Ireally like is the Banh Mi Thit
Nuong, Thit Heo Nuong, whichThit is meat, Heo is pork, and
Nuong means grilled.

(12:00):
And if you've seen any of mystand up before or have talked
about it before, you have topronounce this properly, because
it's pronounced Nuong.
Because it's pronounced Noong,you have to smile.
Apparently, Adrie found thisout.
And if you say Noong, it meanshorny.
So if you ask for something likeBoon Teet Noong, you're asking
for horny meat noodles and notactually for Boon Teet Noong,

(12:22):
which is grilled meat noodles.
So that's a very, very importantone.
Make sure you get the differencebetween Noong and Noong,
correct?
But, I finally found lunch for1.
It's only 25, 000 dong.
It's going to be a banh mishredded chicken.
I'm going to show you what itlooks like and what's inside in
a minute.
It is absolutely delicious.
Let me show you what the stuffshe's doing inside as well.

(12:43):
We grill it here.
Some chili.
We've got cucumbers, pate, andthen this, this sauce is so
good.
Oh, the chicken and then this.
Nope, Nope, don't.
I think it's like some sort offish sauce, maybe.
I'm not 100 percent sure, butit's what makes these absolutely

(13:06):
amazing.
thank you so much.
Let me get my money.
I nearly forgot to pay.
Oh, no.
There we go.
Come on.
So I've just given a 50, 000dong.
Thank you very much.
I got 25, 000 change.
I get 1 change from my 2 and Igot my 1 lunch.
Alright, let's go eat it.

(13:27):
I got a little bit of a bonusfor you.
I'm picking up an extra banh mifor Adri because she's hungry at
home.
She's getting egg.
I love how they put them in theoven here or the grill.
Makes it taste really delicious.
So right now we're also addingan extra bonus banh mi chung.
The other thing that she askedme was did I want a soft egg,

(13:49):
which I've understood a littlebit.
So sometimes when you get a banhmi, the egg is pre cooked and
over fried.
That's just the way it is.
But I know that Adri likes asoft egg, so I've asked for a
fresh soft egg.
I don't know, that looks likeit's bubbling pretty hard.
may not actually be that soft bythe time it's done, it's going
to be delicious because all foodin Vietnam is delicious.

(14:12):
I say that, I haven't tried allfood because I don't try like
pig's trotters that you saw andI saw a salad on the Best Ever
Food Review Show that had pigsliced, pig ears in it.
It did look delicious but Ihaven't tried it yet but I do
know that this one is gonnataste really good.
I'm starving.
Let's go have my one dollarlunch.
I finally found it.
So that makes this an amazinglunch for just 1.

(14:34):
I'm so excited for lunch.
I'm so hungry right now.
It comes in a plastic bag.
We all hate plastic bags, but weactually reuse these for when
this goes to the bathroom.
So we get them reused.
It's so light.
There's not like a huge amountto it if you want a big meal,
but it only costs 1 and it isabsolutely delicious.
Now I challenge you, let me knowin the comments, how you do

(14:57):
this, or if you can do it.
How do you eat a banh mi withoutmaking a mess?
That was just one bite.
Oh man, it was a good bite.
my 1 lunch challenge.
It's actually not as easy as youthink.
Things are super cheap inVietnam, but it's pretty
difficult to find something for25K these days.

(15:18):
And it's not immune to theinflation as well.
I think when we first got here,that same banh mi would probably
be like 15K.
So it's not a massive jump, butit is a big increase.
And especially for people whoare living on the bread line and
don't have that much money aswell.
So I don't want to trivializethat but you can get stuff here
for 1 if you want.
So I hope you enjoyed thisvideo.
Don't forget, follow, subscribe,turn on all the notifications

(15:41):
Thanks for tuning in to a VNMpodcast with me, Niall Mackay.
Cheers.