Bar
Chill Skybar
One of the city's longest-running rooftop bars, on level 26 of AB Tower, with 360-degree views, DJ nights and a strictly enforced dress code.
The rooftop taproom in an alley off Pasteur Street where Pasteur Street Brewing poured its first beer in 2015, serving craft beers made with Vietnamese ingredients.
Good to know
Pasteur Street Brewing Company is the best-known name in Vietnamese craft beer, and its original taproom, tucked into an alley at 144/3 Pasteur Street, is where the story began. The company poured its first beer in January 2015 and describes this rooftop room as the place where the Saigon craft beer story started. It has since grown to 15 taprooms across the country, including 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, but the original keeps a special charm.
The brewery's approach is to combine global brewing techniques with fresh Vietnamese ingredients, and its beers have won awards. The taproom is a breezy rooftop with seats for around 80 people, which gives it an intimate, neighbourhood feel compared with some of the larger branches. There is a dining menu as well as the beer list, so you can make an evening of it.
It suits beer lovers, groups of friends and anyone who wants a relaxed alternative to the cocktail-focused rooftop bars. The atmosphere is casual, and there is no dress code to worry about. The company's taprooms range from neighbourhood bars to an open-air beer yard with a mini brewery upstairs on Ngo Thoi Nhiem Street. If you want to explore further, the flagship on Ngo Duc Ke Street, inside the historic Grand Hotel Saigon, has a full restaurant, and the Hoang Sa taproom is the largest, with the most beers on tap.
According to the company's website, the original taproom is open from 11:00 to 23:00 from Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Finding it is part of the fun: look for the alley entrance on Pasteur Street and head up to the rooftop.
The taproom is in central District 1, within easy reach of Nguyen Hue Walking Street, City Hall and Ben Thanh Market, so it is a convenient stop after a day of sightseeing. Many visitors pair it with dinner at one of the restaurants nearby or a stroll along the walking street once the evening has cooled. With so many taprooms in the city, it is easy to try a different branch on another night.
It poured its first beer in January 2015.
In an alley at 144/3 Pasteur Street, Saigon ward, on a rooftop.
11:00 to 23:00 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and 11:00 to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
They combine global brewing techniques with fresh Vietnamese ingredients.
It seats around 80 people.
Yes, there is a dining menu.
Yes, there are 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, including the flagship on Ngo Duc Ke Street.
No, the atmosphere is casual.
Restaurant
Chef Peter Cuong Franklin's Michelin-starred restaurant in a narrow tube house in the Old Market, reworking Vietnamese street food with modern technique.
Thing to do
The covered market of central Saigon, in its clock-towered building since 1914, selling food, coffee, crafts and clothing, with a night market on the streets outside.
Café
The flagship café of Marou, the Vietnamese bean-to-bar chocolate maker founded in 2011, serving chocolate drinks, cakes and French-style pastries on Calmette Street.
Hotel
An opulent five-star hotel in the Times Square Building between Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi, home to the Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Long Trieu.