Tucked away down a bustling small street not far from the Vung Tau waterfront, local eatery Banh Khot Goc Vu Sua goes about its business as the area’s king of banh khot.
For those unfamiliar, banh khot are mini-sized rice cakes which are fried and served with fresh mustard leaves and herbs, as well as sweetened nuoc mam fish sauce for dipping. Intrinsic to the recipe are fresh shrimp, coconut milk and lettuce to wrap the little pancakes. This finger food to the extreme, and if this restaurant served anything else, no one was there to order it.
Despite the posters for K-pop groups Infinite and EXO adorning the walls, this was most definitely a Vietnamese hangout. A plate of roughly a dozen banh khot goes for VND40,000 (US$2), and my wife and I tore through three plates between us. Nuoc mia, an iced sugarcane juice, went for roughly VND10,000 per glass and unsweetened ice tea was plentiful.
While a touch oily, these filling little snacks are synonymous with the area, and locals all swear by Banh Khot Goc Vu Sua as the top local option. Next time you’re in Vung Tau, give the pizzas and burgers a break and see what the locals are into; try some banh khot Vung Tau and you won’t regret it.
Banh Khot Goc Vu Sua is open daily from 7 a.m. at 4 Nguyen Truong To Street in Vung Tau.