linire

Hi all-

I may have an opportunity to visit Vietnam next year (probably SGN) and I know I would enjoy it tremendously. My problem is that I am allergic to all seafood and I've heard that the Vietnamese diet is very high in fish/seafood. How difficult would it be for me to be able to find decent non-seafood options in SGN for a week-long trip?
Thanks!

BadgerBoi

You'll have no problem at all. Vegetarian meals are widely available, so is pork, chicken, beef etc. I don't eat fish at all, and I don't eat a lot of seafood and I ate very well all over Vietnam.

TonyBurr

No rpoblem at all. There are many western restaurant chains, food malls in the heart of the city, etc.. I also have a seafood allergy and had absolutely no problem eating in SGN.

The city was beautiful and I was really amazed at it. Enjoy.

Tod E Tosser

The thing you'll want to be REALLY careful with is the sauces. Many Vietnamese dishes are served with a dipping sauce. Sometimes it's salt with a lime, and other times it's fish sauce. Many people assume this is sauce meant to be eaten with fish, but it's actually fermented fish or shrimp or crab or....

Jay71

+1 to Tod E Tosser's comment about the sauces; fish sauce, shrimp paste, etc. that you might not know is cooked into the dish.

linire

Thanks for the info. I will be very careful about sauces! I'm really not much of a "dipping sauce" person anyway but will pay particular attention to those!

Daawgon

The 2 large cities and resorts are very international these days - you'll have your choice of just about anything from Russian to Mexican food. I go to Vietnam regularly, and am not the biggest fan of VN cuisine - rather, I've learned to love the Indian and French food there.

(by the way, there are much nicer places in this country than Saigon - try Hanoi or Hoi An to start)

Loren Pechtel

Yeah, I would not trust the ingredients even if I asked about them.

tentseller

It is not a "I'll be OK if I don't use the dipping sauce" issue.

Many of the meat are marinated or cooked with fish sauce and or the fermented shrimp/crab paste. There is fish sauce even in the good traditional pho stock.

chelmkamp

There are plenty of excellent vegetarian/vegan Vietnamese restaurants, many of which have incredibly convincing seafood- and meat-free twists on standard Vietnamese fare. Many Vietnamese eat vegan one or two days each month and on certain holidays per custom.

As for non-veggie places, you should use caution. Even coffee beans in Vietnam are reputed to be roasted in fish sauce ;-)

tentseller

That would be the first and 15th day of the lunar calendar. Vegetarian/vegan Vietnamese restaurants should not be hard to find/

Fish sauce? maybe not but many places around SE Asia roast their beans with butter.

chelmkamp

Fish sauce beans indeed. Here's the article from one of the expat mags a while back. I still love the coffee. :-)

http://oivietnam.com/2013/08/vietnam...in-fish-sauce/

seasiaflyer

I live in Hanoi and as was already said the main concern you'll have is fish sauce. However, the Vietnamese diet isn't all that heavy in seafood--I know plenty of Vietnamese who hate it.

You'll find beef, pork and chicken options everywhere you go. Dishes tend to be relatively simple in terms of ingredients. As was already said, vegetarian restaurants are everywhere as well. Due to the buddhist tradition in the country there is a wide understanding and respect of people's dietary restrictions, especially with regards to meat and seafood, which many people eschew.

Last but not least, as was already said, there are tons of western restaurants.

No need to fear fish sauce in coffee (I'm sure that was a joke). Vietnamese take their coffee incredibly seriously.