Foreign tourists enjoy international food festival in HCMC

A group of foreigners enjoy food at the festival on Saturday afternoon.

Featuring 60 food stalls, including renowned Chinese and Japanese brands like Dim Tu Tac and Japanit Matcha & Coffee House, the festival offered visitors a diverse culinary experience, ranging from familiar street food to high-end dishes.

The festival began on Friday and lasted until Sunday, when HCMC experienced light rain and drops in temperatures.

Organized by digital firm Vietcetera and payment company Mastercard, the event attracted over 500,000 visitors, according to the organizers.

Customers ordered food and made payment at the stall, then brought it to their tables to enjoy.

John (L), an American tourist, said he and his friend were strolling along Nguyen Hue pedestrian street when they came across the festival and decided to stop by.

"The atmosphere was really lively," he said.

Quail eggs cut in half and baked with cheese and scallion oil, a popular Vietnamese street food, costs VND15,000 (US$0.59) per serving.

The dish is served with Vietnamese coriander or lettuce.

Hanoi specialties such as shrimp cakes are also served at the festival.

Popular cakes in the southern region such as banh bo (honeycomb cake), a coconut-flavored sponge cake made with a light yeast-based batter of rice or tapioca flour, banh da lon (steamed layer cake), banh khoai mi (cassava cake) and banh chuoi (banana cake).

International cuisine magazine TasteAtlas last year named Vietnam's steamed layer cake and banana cake on its list of the world's 100 best cakes.

Japanese sushi costs only from VND6,000.

Most visitors commented that the prices at the food festival were quite affordable, and the food offerings were diverse, featuring cuisines from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, and Mexico.

A family of foreign tourists visit a stall offering fried sausages and snails.

Foreign tourists order servings of fried chicken at the Texas Chicken stall.

Wilson, a tourist from the U.K., said he discovered the food festival through social media and invited his girlfriend to join him for the experience.

"The food is diverse and quite affordable," he said.

A foreign man orders a portion of Korean mixed noodles.

A stall serves oc buou nhoi thit - apple snail stuffed with minced pork and wood-ear mushroom, steamed with lemongrass, green pepper and spicy chili, and Thai papaya salad.

Tuong Van, the stall's vendor, said the unfavorable weather appeared to have reduced the number of visitors compared to expectations.