Ho Chi Minh City Hoppin' - Day 1

Now I wouldn't exactly call it 'Day 1' as we did arrive in Ho Chi Minh City late in the afternoon, but of course that still gave us enough time to head to one of my favourite places, Crescent Mall. The mall is actually about a five minute drive from my old neighbourhood in the Phu My Hung, Dist. 7 area, so coming back here brought back a lot of good memories.

Phu My Hung is what I would consider a more upscale, modern part of the city, as it was definitely planned out before its development - (almost) all the cables are underground so you won't see a jumble of wires above your head, the roads are extremely wide, there are dozens of apartment complexes under construction and a lot of high end stores. In actual fact, we also considered it as the area of the Koreans and Japanese, as a lot of them do live within this area, and there are a number of Korean/Japanese stores that can be found here.

Crescent Mall opened in late November of 2011, and offers a wide variety of stores such as DKNY, GAP, Skinfood, Vans and BoConcept. There's also CGV Cinemas (formerly Megastar Cinemas), Breadtalk, Gloria Jean's Coffees and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

 Welcoming us by the front entrance was a Transformer. Which one it is I have no clue, as I have yet to see Transformers 4. I mean, it doesn't look like Optimus Prime or any of the ones in the previous films does it?

Crescent Mall
Ton Dat Tien, Phu My Hung, Dist. 7, HCMC

Now we didn't exactly spend that much time inside the mall - we really went there to visit what I liked to call the 'Crescent Mall strip'. It's the area outside the mall, by the apartments (Crescent Residence 1, 2 and 3), where you can find a whole load of restaurants and small retailers, and you know, walk by the lake.

This road, during Tet (or the Chinese New Year), is totally closed off to all vehicles and filled with stalls and decorations. So if you're ever in the city during Chinese New Year, do check this place out - they've got all sorts of unique items for sale at a really good price, and all their decorations are photograph-worthy!

 Ahem, alright. The real reason why we came here - Tokyo Deli. There's no doubt that this is my all time favourite Japanese restaurant in the city. I cannot come to this city without a visit here. If I didn't, it would be so wrong and I wouldn't feel right.

We frequented this branch so often while I was still living here - I think we ate here pretty much once a week, usually after church. I believe that there are about four other branches in District 1, in the city centre, so you don't have to make the trip to Phu My Hung just to try it out.

 Whenever we're here, I always order the same thing - Dynamite Tuna & Dynamite Salmon rolls. I can honest to God, finish these two plates off by myself. That's a total of sixteen pieces. I don't like to share these babies with anyone. No shame.

These rolls are dynamite (hehe) because of the sauce that has that spicy kick to it. It's not overly spicy though, which works great for my stomach. So for anyone who wants that kick, I'd definitely recommend you try these out.

 I swear, as I'm writing this post, I am salivating and craving for these babies. No joke.
I mean, just look at them, in all their delicious, dynamite glory.

 Food porn, right here.

My parents both opted for the simmered U.S. beef and egg set - which also, looked delicious! Just look at it *drools* The set comes with this plus miso soup, salad and chawanmushi (which I completely forgot to take a photo off, but I tell you, it looks and tastes amazing!)

We also got a side order of their Sunshine rolls per my dad's suggestion. Yummy!

Freaking demolished those babies! What did I tell you? I don't fool around when it comes to sushi.

Price-wise, damn affordable. My dynamite rolls were about $3 per plate and my parents' box set about $6. So, so worth it! All in all, if you're craving some sushi while you're in the city, definitely try out Tokyo Deli!
You can check out their menu here

After dinner we took a little stroll along the lake...

...and ended up in front of NYDC (New York Dessert Cafe), on the other side of the 'strip' next to Cham Charm. Well, it wasn't exactly an accident, as NYDC is also one of my favourite restaurants to visit here in Ho Chi Minh City, and it's mainly for their desserts! Of course, they also serve a lot of other meals such as pastas, steak and salads which taste as good as their desserts.

I believe there's also various NYDC branches in Singapore, though I've never gone to any of them whenever I was there.

I guess you could say that our little stroll was to make space for their yummy treats!

NYDC definitely has a modern Western vibe and sophisticated charm - just check out their decorations and furniture! I'm in love with that chandelier.

Even though the menu we were given was all in Vietnamese, I believe that there is an English one. Either way, it's pretty easy to know what each dish is with the help of the pictures, and you can always ask the waiters for any of their recommendations.

When it comes to desserts, I always went for either the goldmine cheesecake or ally's new york cheesecake. Yes, I'm a complete sucker for cheesecake!

My dad went for the Jedi Mudster (haha, love that name) - it's a double chocolate chip and macadamia nut ice cream on an oreo base with cookie chunks. I couldn't resist and sneaked a little bite - it's delicious!!! Easy recommendation for any chocolate-lover!

I was about to order a piece of cheesecake, but my dad convinced me to try something new. So I went for the Grasp the Rasp - a combination of raspberries, white chocolate and cheese. Although it was a little tougher to eat, it tasted pretty great. If you're a fan of raspberries, you should try this out. I'd still kinda stick to the cheesecakes though...

As their slogan goes,
Celebrate Life Everday!

From what I can recall, there's a NYDC branch in Vincom Center and another in front of the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (the Cathedral). You can check out the NYDC menu here (this is the Singapore one, which is in English).

If you have the time while you're here in Ho Chi Minh City, I'd definitely suggest you come out to the Phu My Hung/District 7 area to further see what else the city has to offer.

As always,
Happy discovering!