UPDATED: Unfortunately, we're going to have to find a new favorite place. Tram Huong is no more. We're back in HCMC for our 2010 stay, and we headed straight here for dinner, but found it had closed up.We had lots and lots of delicious food, but one restaurant emerged as our favorite place to go over and over. We loved the variety, the quality, the quiet, the price and the super friendly family that runs it.
It was a favorite based on its own merits, I think, but I may be prejudiced a little by the fact that it was our own discovery, unknown by any guidebook or any friend, and we never saw another tourist within two blocks of the place.
But I don't think success will spoil them so I'm glad to draw attention to it, and I hope you'll consider a trip to Tram Huong at 150/26 Nguyen Trai in District 1. (If you don't know how the addresses work, that means it's at #26 in an alley that starts at #150 off Tram Huong street . The other end of the alley is on Le Lai Street. If you're in the backpacker's ghetto, the easiest thing to do is to walk across September 23rd park to Le Lai. If you're downtown, you'll want a cab.)
It happens to be a vegetarian restaurant, which is what made the sign catch Ilene's eye initially. I assumed that means the family are committed Buddhists, and that probably has something to do with the very peaceful vibe.
We ate there probably three times a week, always ordering enough to take leftovers back to the hotel, and we never did exhaust all the choices on the menu. Some favorites included the different versions of grilled tofu gluten, the five-color stir fry, grilled eggplant, pumpkin soup, fresh springrolls, fried springrolls, banana blossom salad, enoki mushroom soup, simmered jackfruit, lemonade, orange juice and cafe sua da. We usually ordered the small versions of 3 or 4 dishes and spent about $5.
-Robert
