Quán Ăn Thanh Bình and Their Vietnamese Chwee Kueh near Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam]

In normal circumstances, I wouldn't step into a shop with the above layout. Too complicated and I couldn't fathom, at first glance, if it was an eatery or a store selling food souvenirs for tourists lingering around the nearby Ben Thanh Market.

Look at the wall; there were just too many dishes! Which would be the popular ones or the chef recommended ones?! It didn't help that I don't read Vietnamese and have no idea what most dishes were except for key ones like banh mi.

Thankfully, the menu booklet had English translation. In addition, Quán Ăn Thanh Bình was an eatery that the Great Kon chanced upon on his last visit to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and something extraordinary caught the attention of his taste buds.

Banh Beo Hue - indicated as Hue small steamed savoury rice cake, these were literally the chwee kueh we can get in Singapore but with toppings that weren't our typical preserved radish (known as cai po)! 

I would love to have these enhanced chwee kueh being sold in Singapore; aside from their varying textures, like the added crispy pork skin, these were also more savory than the salty sweetness we have in our little red dot. 

Banh Beo Bi Cha - small steamed savoury cake with thinly shredded pork skin; basically extra topping. I couldn't decided which banh beo (means rice cakes) I like more as I couldn't get away from the fact that Singaporeans have been so uncreative with chwee kueh for the past few decades!

Simple, familiar yet tasted so interestingly refreshing. I bet this would be something that my mom would go wide-eyed when she takes her first bite. It's a guarantee she would be like me; wondering how come we don't have such chwee kueh in Singapore. 

Bun Thit Nuong - the Vietnamese dry noodle that I love to have in Singapore! Satisfying as a whole and I love the addition of peanuts for that extra crunch. p.s. I stole a bite from a friend who ordered this. 

Che Dau Van - Che Dau Trang - Che Khoai Mon - We saw the above pasted dessert menu on the wall and decided to order three of them; the beans, the mixed grains and the yam! 

Served in plastic cups (instead of the bowls we expected) and topped with a dollop of cream, it actually felt like I would be eating ice cream. 

The cream was coconut cream and the desserts were served cold! The yellow one (Che Dau Van) tasted like tau suan, albeit with beans that looked like peanuts, and it was sinfully delicious! The other two were less palatable; mixed grains had like red beans with black glutinous rice. Yam was meh.

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Can't wait to go back for the Vietnamese style chwee kueh and Che Dau Van! 

Address

140 Đ. Lê Thánh Tôn, Phường Bến Thành, 

Quận 1, Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Pricing

Banh Beo Hue - 50,000 Dong

Banh Beo Bi Cha - 50,000 Dong

Bun Thit Nuong - 55,000 Dong 

Che Dau Van - 25,000 Dong 

Che Dau Trang - 25,000 Dong 

Che Khoai Mon - 25,000 Dong 

Additional Information

As depicted in the first photograph of this post, the eatery also sold a pretty wide variety of local foodstuffs that you can buy back for family and friends back home. 

There are two things I would strongly recommend, a must-buy in my opinion, if you are ever in Vietnam; first is this Vietnamese mooncake with durian filling! I dislike durians in cakes, biscuits, tarts etc but this was so good, especially if you toast it for a few minutes in the oven / air fryer. 

Another thing would be the fried lotus seeds; it's almost unstoppable once I start, until I realized my throat was getting a tad too dry! Prices here at Quán Ăn Thanh Bình are not exactly the lowest and you may need to shop around / bargain for the best pricing! 

Click here for my 6 Days Itinerary in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) - Pearl of the Far East @ Vietnam