What to Eat? Top 10 Phu Quoc Foods [Must-try]

Do you know that Phu Quoc also can be considered an amazing culinary hot spot in Vietnam? Coming to this beautiful island, you don't have to worry about what to eat during your trip. Here are the top 10 must-try foods in Phu Quoc for your consideration!

1. Fresh Seafood

Always stand for the No.1 position for must-try food in Phu Quoc is the fresh seafood. No one can deny a festive meal with seafood here. Crabs, lobsters, shrimps, clams, snails, fishes, etc. all you can think about when talking about seafood can be found in Phu Quoc. You can order the most familiar dishes that are cooked perfectly in grilled, boiled, steamed, fried, and stir-fried ways, or try a salad with raw fishes or shrimps in the local style. In addition, not only you can order dishes in restaurants, but you can also choose the fresh seafood ingredient yourself in raft houses and ask them to help you cook at very reasonable prices.

Best places to eat seafood in Phu Quoc:

• Phu Quoc Night Market: Bach Dang St., Duong Dong Town (Price: from $10)
• Thuy Diem Raft House: 231 Ba Muoi Thang Tu St., Duong Dong Town (Price: from $10)
• Cat Bien Restaurant: Dinh Cau Beach and Ba Muoi Thang Tu St., Duong Dong Town (Price: from $5)
• Phu Quoc’s Beaches (Price: from $5)

Fresh Seafood

 

2. Bun Quay (Stirred Noodles)

Bun Quay or Stirred Noodles is the best option for a local-style breakfast in Phu Quoc Island. This dish was named like that because it must be served with homemade sauce, including soup powder, monosodium glutamate, sugar, kumquat, ground chili. After being put into a small bowl, the ingredients are stirred vigorously to be mixed together. Normally, the process of making the sauce is all “self-service” and it may take you about 5 minutes. Besides the special sauce, this dish also includes squid, fish cakes, shrimp cakes, green onions, fresh noodles, and broth.

Best places to eat Bun Quay (Stirred Noodles):

• Bun Quay Kien Xay: 28 Bach Dang St., Duong Dong Town (Price: $1.5 - $2.5)
• Bun Quay Thanh Hung: 77 Ba Muoi Thang Tu, Duong Dong Town (Price: $1.7 - $2.6)

Bun Quay (Stirred Noodles)

 

3. Ham Ninh Crabs 

You shouldn’t leave Phu Quoc before having some Ham Ninh Crabs which may be the best ones that you have ever tasted. These crabs are quite small, but the meat is firm and has a sweet and fresh taste that cannot be found anywhere else. There are many ways to prepare dishes from Ham Ninh Crabs such as steaming with beer, roasting with salt or tamarind, etc. However, locals recommend that catching fresh crabs and steaming immediately, eating with salt and pepper lemon is the best way to cook so that you can fully enjoy the sweetness and firmness of crab meat.

Best places to eat Ham Ninh Crabs in Phu Quoc:

• Bien Xanh Restaurant: TL47, Ham Ninh (Price: $21.5 - $43.5)
• Be Ghe Raft House: Ham Ninh Wharf, Ham Ninh (Price: $4.5 - $21.5)
• Tinh Bien Raft House: Ham Ninh Wharf, Ham Ninh (Price $4.5 - $10)
• Kim Cuong Restaurant: Ham Ninh Fishing Village (Price: $4.5 - $10)

Ham Ninh Crabs 

 

4. Herring Salad

Fish salad is a rather picky dish, especially for those of you who do not like to eat raw food. However, if you have come to Phu Quoc and have not tried this famous specialty of Phu Quoc - the herring salad, you will definitely regret it.

Phu Quoc herring salad is a famous specialty dish with a very "unique and strange" taste. Fish meat for the salad is taken from the flanks of fresh herring combined with ingredients such as thinly sliced purple onions, chili, grated coconut, and onions to create a spicy, sweet, and light greasy taste.

Best places to eat Herring Salad in Phu Quoc:

• Hello Phu Quoc Restaurant: 66 Tran Hung Dao St., Duong Dong Town (Price: $8.5)
• Zen Restaurant: Zone 1, Ba Muoi Thang Tu St., Duong Dong Town (Price: $6.5 - $8.5)
• Dinh Cau Night Market: Dinh Cau, Phu Quoc (Price: $4.5 - $6.5)
• Trung Duong Seafood Restaurant: Zone 1, Ba Muoi Thang Tu St., Duong Dong Town (Price: $8.5)

Herring Salad

 

5. Banh Canh Ca Thu – Mackerel Fish Noodles

Banh Canh Ca Thu (Mackerel Fish Noodles) is a very popular dish in Phu Quoc. Although you can find this dish somewhere else in Vietnam, Banh Canh Ca Thu Phu Quoc is still very special. To make this dish, people here only use fresh mackerel caught by local fishermen. Besides, not only is mackerel cooked fresh but it is also made into fried fish cakes, all are put in a tasty bowl of Banh Canh.

Best places to eat:

• Phung Restaurant: 27 Bach Dang St., Phu Quoc ($0.6 - $1.3)
• Hanh Restaurant: KP2, Bach Dang St., Phu Quoc ($1.1 - $1.3)

Banh Canh Ca Thu – Mackerel Fish Noodles

 

6. Bun Ken – Dried noodle with fish, pickle, and coconut milk 

In fact, you can also find Bun Ken in the Mekong Delta; however, the version that was created in Phu Quoc has a little difference in the ingredient. While in the Mekong Delta, people use freshwater fish to make Bun Ken, in Phu Quoc, they add seawater fish into the dish which creates a totally different flavor of Bun Ken. 

To cook Bun Ken, people in Phu Quoc boil the fish, grind and fried it, then put it into a big bowl with fresh noodles,  some herbs, sprouts, papaya salad, chilies, fish broth, and coconut milk.

• Best place to eat: Ut Luom Stall: 87 30/4 St., Phu Quoc (Price: $0.8 - $1.1)  

Bun Ken – Dried noodle with fish, pickle, and coconut milk

 

7. Ga Hap Tieu Xanh – Garden chicken with green pepper

Pepper is one of the main export products in Phu Quoc with a special spicy taste and excellent scent; therefore, the delightful flavor of Chicken with Green Pepper here can’t be found anywhere else. People here always choose the best garden chicken to make this dish and totally say no with frozen ingredients. The chicken is marinated with Phu Quoc fish sauce, green peppers, chilies, purple onions, laksa leaves, and then steamed in 20 minutes. Chicken pieces are soaked in a sweet-spicy sauce mixed with the pungent taste of fresh chili, green peppers, onions will mesmerize your eating soul.

• Best places to eat: 334 Nguyen Trung Truc St., KP5, Duong Dong Town

Ga Hap Tieu Xanh – Garden chicken with green pepper

 

8. Phu Quoc Sea Urchin

People in Phu Quoc liken the sea urchin to the ginseng of the sea because of its effects. According to medical research, sea urchin is good for the kidneys and also a calcium-fortified food. Urchin here can be eaten in raw like sashimi with lime juice, grilled with green onions, or added into porridge, etc., all are considered nutritious dishes, helping to quickly regain strength after a long day of traveling on the island. 

Best places to eat:

• Oc 343: 343 30/4 St., KP1, Duong Dong Town (Price: $1.9 - $2.8)
• Bien Xanh Restaurant: Ham Ninh Bridge, Ham Ninh, Phu Quoc (Price: $1.9 - $2.8)
• Nho Restaurant: Dinh Cau Night Market (Price: $1.9 - $2.8)

Phu Quoc Sea Urchin

 

9. Banh Tet Mat Cat – Sticky rice cake

Banh Tet Mat Cat is a specialty of Phu Quoc and you can only taste it on this island. While in other places in Vietnam, Banh Tet is wrapped by banana leaves “Dong” leaves; in Phu Quoc,  people “Mat Cat” leaves to wrap the sticky rice cake before being boiled for many hours. This kind of leaves is usually used to make the Vietnamese traditional conical hats, but when it is used to cook, it helps the sticky rice cake have a beautiful emerald color and special flavor that can’t be found anywhere else. 

Best places to buy:

• Dinh Cau Night Market: Vo Thi Sau St., Phu Quoc
• Duong Dong Market: 21 Tran Phu St., Duong Dong Town
• Phu Quoc Night Market: Bach Dang St., Duong Dong Town

Banh Tet Mat Cat – Sticky rice cake

 

10. Sim Wine

When "hunting" for delicious Phu Quoc dishes, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy the scrumptious Sim Wine. This type of wine is made from ripe myrtle berries, picked from Ham Ninh forest. Phu Quoc Sim Wine is the best drink to accompany all seafood dishes here. In addition, local people also believe that it is a very effective remedy for digestive diseases and reducing musculoskeletal diseases.

Best places to buy:

• Ruou Sim Son: Tran Hung Dao St., Cua Lap, Duong To, Phu Quoc (Price: $6 - $8.6)
• Ruou Sim Bay Gao: 30/4 St., Duong Dong Town (Price: $6.5 - $8.6)
• Ruou Sim Thanh Long: Suoi Da, Duong To, Phu Quoc (Price: $6.9 - $8.6)

Sim Wine

Above are just the 10 best suggestions over many amazing foods in Phu Quoc. If you are foody, this island is for you to explore the tasty cuisine world on the sea. Let's take your luggage and pick a tour to enjoy the delightful flavor of Phu Quoc!

Read also: Top 15+ Best Things to Do in Phu Quoc

MinKJ

Image source: Internet