Make your way down Vạn Kiếp street one evening and you’ll be sure to see a plethera of inviting foods. Amongst the muddle of understated, roadside eateries you’ll find The Naka: a curbside sushibar offering delicious Japanese food in a uniquely Saigonese manor.
Here, elements of upmarket dining collide with Vietnam’s flourishing culture of informal dining.
Customers fill themselves with sashimi and caviar as they sit alongside traffic, chowing down on fresh salmon to the tune of honking horns and engine roars.
You won’t find an ounce of snobbery or pretence. Customers themselves glove-up and get dirty, hand-picking sushi rolls from an colourful selection.
Ingredients are fresh and it shows in the flavour, as well as the presentation. The sushi at Naka is as good as it looks.
Amongst the tastiest options – unagi migiri (eel sushi)…
…and ikuri nigiri (salmon caviar sushi).
The price here varies greatly from piece to piece with the cheapest rolls going for 1K VND.
This humble restaurant has a warm atmosphere. It’s manned by a amiable grandpa who wanders table-to-table, collecting money and gleefully engaging his patrons in small talk.
The Naka Sushi is open every evening from dusk until around 10pm. It’s located at 176 Vạn Kiếp, Phường 3, Bình Thạnh, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam. For more accurate locations and other spots to eat see our food map below.
To read about 5 other great places to eat on Vạn Kiếp Street, check out this article by Streatery.
To view the location, click in the top right of the map (to open) and search for ‘The Naka Sushi’.