TOP 6 SPECIAL FOODS YOU SHOULD NOT MISS IN PHU QUOC ISLAND
Aside from picturesque scenery, Phu Quoc Island offers an abundance of tasty dishes that you cannot resist when they come to your table. The food here is just about budget friendly with fresh off-the-boat seafood. Phu Quoc Island dining ranges from local markets, street food stalls, luxury restaurants … Let’s take a look at the top 6 Phu Quoc foods you have to try when in Phu Quoc Island and where to eat them with help from a local foodie!
- Ken noodle (Bún kèn)
Ken noodle is a unique dish that you definitely cannot find anywhere outside Phu Quoc. The broth is made from dried shredded fish, fish broth, coconut milk, added curry powder and cook until they are vicious. The dish is served with thin noodles, fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, sliced cucumber, bean sprouts, raw papaya and added a little bit of sweet and sour fish sauce.
Price: 20,000 – 25,000 VND (~ $1 USD)
Ut Luom Restaurant: No. 87, 30/4 Street, Phu Quoc
Di Hong Restaurant: No. 4 Nguyen Trai Street
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- Thick Noodle Soup with Fish Cakes (Bánh canh)
Banh canh in Phu Quoc is famous for its chewy, crispy fish cake which is made from mackerel and well-seasoned. Local people in Phu Quoc made the broth from simmered mackerel bone, pig bones, and minced pork. Additionally, thick noodles are made from rice flour, so that its texture is bouncy, soft that will melt in your mouth.
Price: 20,000 – 30,000 VND (~ $1,25 USD)
Banh canh Phung: No. 27 Bach Dang Street, Duong Dong
Banh canh Hanh: No. 22 Bach Dang Street, Duong Dong
Banh canh Le Giang: No. 289 Tran Hung Dao Street, Duong Dong
Banh canh Quoc Anh: No. 55, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
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- Seafood
- Raw herring salad (Gỏi cá trích)
Shredded coconut and sliced raw herring are mixed with mint and onion then wrapped with fresh vegetables in rice paper and dipped in special sauce. The ingredients for the sauce are chopped chili, garlic, shallots, roasted peanuts which are all mixed with authentic Phu Quoc fish sauce in order to create a spicy yet fragrant and unforgettable flavor.
Price: 100,000 – 150,000 VND (~ $6,5 USD)
Vuon Tao Restaurant: Cua Lap, Duong To, Phu Quoc
Trung Duong Marina Restaurant: No. 136, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
Song Xanh Restaurant: 30/4 Street
Le Giang Restaurant: No. 289, Tran Hung Dao Street
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- Echinus (Nhum biển)
Echinus is amongst many must-try dishes in Phu Quoc and there are the 3 common ways that are recommended by the locals: scraping the meat inside, stir-fried with garlic then simmering in porridge. Or cut the echinus in half, and grill on hot charcoal and topped with spring onion grease, roasted peanuts, then you use a spoon to scrape the meat out and dip it in black pepper salt mixed with lemon juice. Or you can also try raw echinus served with some drizzles of lime juice or wasabi.
Price: 20,000 – 30,000 VND/kg (~ $1,25 USD/kg)
Dinh Cau night market
Quan Nho: No. 40 Mac Thien Tich Street
Song Xanh Restaurant: 30/4 Street
Trung Duong Marina Restaurant: No. 136, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
Le Giang Restaurant: No. 289 Tran Hung Dao Street
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- Grilled Trachurus (Cá sòng nướng)
Trachurus is most delicious when it is seasoned with chili salt and grilled on hot charcoal. To enjoy grilled trachurus, wrap the meat in rice paper with fresh herbs, vegetable and dip it in chili lime sauce. All create the sweetness but not fishy, and the meat is chewy that will melt in your mouth. Do not miss the chance to try this Phu Quoc dish when traveling to the island because it is not easy to find in other places and the trachurus is quite hard to catch.
Price: 120,000 – 150,000 VND (~ $4,5 – $6,5 USD in current price)
Trung Duong Marina Restaurant: No.136, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
Zen Restaurant: 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
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- Slipper lobster (Tôm mũ ni)
Slipper lobster is truly amazing beyond your expectation! The most common way is to boil the lobster so that you can enjoy the sweetness and freshness of thick meat when dipped in black pepper salt mixed with lime juice. Alternatively, grilled slipper lobster with cheese, stir-fried with butter and garlic or grilled slipper lobster with spring onion grease are also common ways of cooking in many local restaurants in Phu Quoc.
Price: 450,000 – 750,000 VND/kg (~$21 – $33 in current price)
Dinh Cau night market
Quan Bup: No. 108, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
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- Ham Ninh Flower Crab (Cua Hàm Ninh)
Flower crab is another specialty in Phu Quoc Island and readily available in many local seafood restaurants but the one in Ham Ninh is the locals’ most favorite place. Ham Ninh crab is quite small but the meat is rich, fragrant, fresh and delicious with a firm texture. Aside from boiled crab, crab fried rice is also a must-try. The dish is a harmonious combination of steamed rice, tasty boiled crab meat, slices of fried eggs and spicy chili sauce. All of these ingredients are blended to create a very idyllic and mouthwatering flavor that mesmerizes even the pickiest eaters.
Price: 150,000 – 250,000 VND/ kg (~ $6.50 – $11 in current price)
Ham Ninh fishing village Restaurant: Rach Ham, Ham Ninh
Quan Ghe Ham Ninh: No. 112 Bach Dang Street
Bien Xanh (Blue Ocean) Restaurant: No. 47, Ham Ninh
Kim Cuong Restaurant: Cua Lap Hamlet, Duong To
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- Fried squid with fish sauce
Fried squid with fish sauce is also one of the best Phu Quoc foods for the island visitors. The baby squids are fried with fish sauce, sugar, saute, garlic, chopped spring onions, and chili, creating the attractive smell and toothsome taste. It may sound easy to make the dish but Phu Quoc is the only place where you can taste the freshest and most authentic version of fried squid with fish sauce.
Price: 60,000 – 110,000 VND (~$3 – $5 USD)
Dinh Cau night market
Trung Duong Marina Restaurant at 136, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
Zen Restaurant: 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
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- Snails (Ốc)
It is highly recommended that you should try as many kinds of snails as possible when you come to Phu Quoc Island. Most local seafood restaurants offer the same cooking ways but different kinds of snails will come with different flavors and distinctive tastes. However, there are some kinds of snails that are hardly found in the mainland or other coastline cities in Vietnam like: Baler snail (ốc giác), Barbed snails (ốc gai), Strombus (ốc nhảy).
Price: 70,000 – 150,000 VND (~ $3 – $6,5 USD)
Dinh Cau night market
Ngheu So Oc Hen Restaurant: 30/4 Street,
Oc 343: No. 343, 30/4 Street, Duong Dong
- Shrimp Noodle (Bún quậy)
Being considered the most unique Phu Quoc food, shrimp noodle will definitely give you an unforgettable culinary experience. The word “quậy” means stir because the noodles are freshly made in place by the restaurant, running straight from the press to the pot of boiling water and are stirred around to cook. Fish paste and shrimp paste are finely ground, mixed well and then stirred around the bowl. After that, the boiling noodles water is added immediately to make them cooked so that you can taste the freshness and sweetness of the broth.
Price: 30,000 – 35,000 VND (~ $1,5 USD)
Bun quay Kien Xay: No. 28 Bach Dang Street, Duong Dong
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- Sweet Soup Dessert (Chè)
Chè is any traditional Vietnamese sweet beverage, dessert soup or pudding. Commonly, “chè” mixture contains beans, seeds, glutinous rice and tapioca powder with vanilla extract and some ice-cubes to reduce the sharp sweet taste. The recipes for “chè” are various and different between regions, however, the essence may lie in one special ingredient: coconut milk.
Chè Nhà Cổ is only sell in the evening, which is a place that attracts many people to visit after having enough fresh seafood. The highlights are sweet soup desserts such as pomelo sweet soup, mixed topping sweet soup, Khuc Bach sweet gruel, green beans sweet gruel, black beans sweet gruel, etc., especially with the taste of milk but not too sweet or too rich. Phu Quoc’s famous sweet soup is pomelo sweet soup. It has the aroma of pure grapefruit mixed with a little green bean and adds a bold, delicious flavor.
Chè Nhà Cổ: 14 Bạch Đằng, KP. 2, TT. Dương Đông, Phú Quốc
