Ănăn Saigon – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Gastro Obscura

"Set within a narrow wet market on Tôn Thất Đạm street, Ănăn (literally “eat, eat”) is a casual fine dining Vietnamese restaurant that combines traditional flavors and ingredients with modern techniques in creative, whimsical dishes. Opened in 2017, it’s the brainchild of chef Peter Cuong Franklin, a chef-auteur who traded in a career in investment banking for life in a kitchen, earning acclaim at Hong Kong’s Chôm Chôm before moving back to Vietnam, a country he once fled as a young refugee. Franklin calls his cooking “new Vietnamese” cuisine, riffing off the “new American” and “new Scandinavian” food movements that have taken off in the west. At Ănăn—Ho Chi Minh City’s first Michelin star restaurant—his freewheeling approach is evident in dishes like the Da Lat Pizza, a twist on an open-faced rice paper street food from Franklin’s hometown of Da Lat, and the Banh Xeo Taco with beef, reimagining Vietnamese crispy crepes in a hand-held format with meat cooked in Vietnamese bo kho (beef stew) seasoning. There’s more to love than just the food. The restaurant spreads out across five levels of seating including a charming rooftop deck offering sweeping views of the District 1 neighborhood. Located on the third floor, the on-site cocktail bar Nhau Nhau (“drink, drink”) turns out specialty drinks like a Phojito—a mojito infused with classic pho spices like star anise and cinnamon. Know Before You Go This is one of the toughest tables in town, so be sure to secure your reservation via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger as early as possible. For the full experience, the chef’s tasting menu is highly recommended." - Dan Q Dao, linkogecko