Famous as a “tropical paradise,” but do you know what to eat in when travel Phu Quoc? Let yourvietnam.org tell you a handy guide to eating and shopping for Phu Quoc specialties from A to Z!
Phu Quoc’s culinary map is diverse, creating an endless source of inspiration for visitors. Be clear: below are delicious dishes in Phu Quoc that you must definitely try when you have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Pearl Island.
Travel Phu Quoc – what to Eat?
Phu Quoc Herring Salad
Phu Quoc herring salad is a famous specialty dish with a unique flavor. The harmonious combination of fresh fish meat taken from the breast on both sides to squeeze into the salad and the ingredients of grated coconut, onions, thinly sliced red onions, and thinly sliced chili create a moderately sweet, fatty, spicy taste.
Bun Ken
In addition to familiar specialties such as crab cakes, fish sauce, etc., another Phu Quoc specialty you must attend is bun trumpet. Although rarely mentioned in the list of Vietnamese cuisine, the bun trumpet is a popular dish in Phu Quoc families’ meals.
Bun trumpet is made from pureed noni fish or silverfish and then fried to a crispy texture. Then add coconut milk, boiled fish water, papaya, herbs, and red chili mixed together to create a bowl of Phu Quoc vermicelli. “Eat once and remember forever.”
Phu Quoc Farm Chicken
Travel Phu Quoc to explore cuisine must mention the famous delicious Phu Quoc field chicken. The chicken meat is soft, sweet, and fragrant, eaten boiled or processed into many other dishes such as braised chicken with green chili, shredded chicken salad, boneless chicken feet, etc., all are delicious!
Melaleuca Mushroom
Melaleuca mushrooms are a delicious Phu Quoc specialty with diverse flavors and many health benefits. Mushrooms often grow on hillsides and on rotten foliage in Melaleuca forests. After picking, mushrooms are often used to make soup, eaten fresh or dried.
This is also a Phu Quoc dish that tourists often buy as gifts. Mushrooms are very effective in treating colds, headaches, and improving physical health. If you travel Phu Quoc in April or July, you can buy fresh melaleuca mushrooms. Indochina Market is where you can buy the freshest mushrooms. Quickly, quickly save it in your culinary notebook.
Thot Not Beef Cake
One of the activities you must participate in when traveling to Phu Quoc on your own is going to the night market. You have the opportunity to enjoy almost all delicious snacks, such as Palmyra beefcakes, garlic toast, grilled corn with onion fat, etc.
On a cold evening, hold in your hand a package of sweet, brown palmyra cakes. There’s nothing better than round brown. Only about 5 thousand VND is enough to fill you up.
Banh Kheo
Surely you have heard of banh lentil – one of the famous snacks of Phu Quoc. People called bright cake is because in order to make beautiful little cakes with attractive colors, the cake maker must be skillful and meticulous in every detail.
The cake has a sweet flavor and is low in fat. You can eat the cake with tea very deliciously. This is a delicious dish suitable as a gift when travel Phu Quoc.
Crab blood pudding
Phu Quoc dish with this strange name is a specialty of the people here. The crab used to make blood pudding must be sea crab, with many bricks to ensure its sweetness and nutrition.
White crab blood is taken from crab legs, eaten with crab meat and crab, and marinated with spices to create a salty, sweet mixture of crab meat and crab.
Sea Cucumber
Phu Quoc people often call Sea cucumbers “Don Dot” or “Dot Ngau”. Many tourists love Phu Quoc specialty because it contains a lot of nutrition.
This Phu Quoc specialty is a high-class dish that many tourists “hunt” for when coming here. You can also buy dried sea cucumbers as gifts for relatives. And of course, the price of sea cucumbers is costly.
Ham Ninh Phu Quoc crab
About 20km from Duong Dong Center, Ham Ninh Fishing Village is where you can find all kinds of delicious fresh seafood at quite reasonable prices. The most unique dish is the famous Ham Ninh crab dish.
The crabs are not too giant but very thick and sweet. Ham Ninh crab is prepared simply by boiling or steaming with salt, pepper, and lemon. However, it still makes visitors swoon because of its irresistible deliciousness.
Travel Phu Quoc – Cactus Spiny Snail
The name of this snail comes from the sharp thorns protruding from its body. Cactus spiny snails are meaty, opaque white, chewy and crunchy, and very sweet and fatty. The best and most fragrant way to prepare cactus spiny snails is to grill them.
Sea urchin
It is a especially dish on their journey to discover delicious Phu Quoc dishes. Sea urchin, also known as sea urchin, is often grated flesh to cook porridge or cut in half to grill and eat raw with lemon.
The most popular way is examining sea urchins eaten with salt, pepper, and lemon, which are super delicious and nutritious. Remember to go to Bien Xanh restaurant, Ham Ninh Bridge, Ham Ninh town to enjoy sea urchins and many other attractive Phu Quoc specialties.
Grilled Grouper Fish
Favored by nature with rich seafood resources, Phu Quoc possesses many types of delicious seafood. Among them, we must mention grilled grouper from Phu Quoc – the most delicious and attractive dish in this island district.
When the grouper is still fresh, it is cleaned and examined in charcoal. When the meat is cooked, the fragrant aroma is hard to resist. There’s nothing more poetic than eating grilled grouper fish while sipping spicy sim wild wine.
Mackerel Soup Cake
Travel Phu Quoc, many shops are selling Banh Canh. Fish cake noodle soup, pork noodle soup… but Phung restaurant near Dinh Cau is the most famous. Banh Canh here uses only fresh mackerel caught by island fishermen. In addition to being cooked new, mackerel can also be made into fried fish cakes, all in a bowl of fragrant, captivating banh canh.
Grilled Bien Mai with Salt and Chili
Grilled bien mai with salt and chili is one of the most famous Phu Quoc specialties. Bien mai is a triangular-shaped sea scallop, about the size of the back of an adult’s hand, and located deep on the seabed.
Its horn is processed by islanders into many dishes such as sweet and sour stir-fry, steaming, soup, or hotpot. If you are addicted to the rich flavor of the sea, the grilled siren bien mai with salt and chili served with draft beer is perfect.
Grilled Fish with Turmeric
In the middle of the “island paradise” of travel Phu Quoc, you can enjoy Grilled Fish with Turmeric. This Hanoi specialty is very popular with foodies in the country. The natural sweet aroma of seafood combined with the spicy taste of turmeric and chewy betel leaves has created an unforgettable impression on this delicious pure Vietnamese dish. Served with french fries or beef jerky papaya salad, it truly elevates the taste experience.
Dim Sum, Chinese Dishes In Phu Quoc
Although less crowded than in Saigon, the Chinese community in Phu Quoc still makes its own mark on the impressive map. Thanks to the abundant seafood source, the dim sum menu is vibrant and has never lost on freshness.
From shrimp dumplings, asparagus crab meat soup, and Hong Kong roast duck to red apple sweet soup, everywhere you look, there are delicious dishes that captivate people’s hearts.
Catch and enjoy Grilled Squid Right on the Boat
Grilled squid is a rustic dish that you can find anywhere. However, the experience of catching squid, processing it, and enjoying it right on the fishermen’s Boat is genuinely a “specialty” of the coastal region.
This is definitely a cultural experience and enjoyment of Phu Quoc cuisine worth exploring. What could be more poetic than sipping a piece of fresh squid marinated in a rich, spicy, and salty flavor while listening to the sound of ocean waves lapping against the side of the Boat and inhaling the salty scent wafting in each breeze?
Delicious Phu Quoc Specialty Candies
Phu Quoc Kidney Honey Tet Cake
You can find Mat Cat leaves in many forests and mountain ranges across travel Phu Quoc island. This is the type of leaf used to make conical hats. Now, there is an application to wrap banh tet.
Mat Banh Tet is famous on Pearl Island, becoming an exclusive specialty of the islanders. To make a delicious Banh Tet Mat Mat, you need essential ingredients such as sticky rice, green beans, fatty meat, and spices.
This delicious Phu Quoc dish does not use onions and coconut milk. Nowadays, few shops are selling Mat Mat Banh Tet in Phu Quoc, but you can still find this delicious dish in the days leading up to Tet.
Travel Phu Quoc – Banh Kheo Phu Quoc
Many touriest of all age love Banh kheo Phu Quoc. Thanks to its soft, fragrant dough crust and fatty green bean or taro filling. This pretty little cake is not only eye-catching but also has a delicious flavor, is very “addictive” to eat. Tourists can buy them as gifts for friends and children in the house.
Phu Quoc Beef Banh Thot Not
From only 5,000 VND, you can enjoy the “standard” Phu Quoc jaggery beefcake. You can find this snack at Phu Quoc night market. Phu Quoc jaggery beefcake is “memorable” because of its sweet taste, unique aroma, and very “delicious” light brown color.
Phu Quoc Thread Candy
Candy is just a delicious dish associated with the childhood of many Phu Quoc people. Phu Quoc candy is made from sugar and served with thin, crispy rice paper and shredded coconut. The taste of candy is harshly sweet but has a pleasant aroma, making it a “chest dish” of many sweet lovers.
Chou Chou Peanuts or 30 Flavors Peanuts
Talking about Phu Quoc specialty candies, in addition to the “less healthy” options, you may also like Chou Chou peanuts, also known as 30-flavor peanuts. This is a delicious Phu Quoc dish originating from France, with a rich flavor when carefully marinated, crispy, and easy to “stick.” Enjoying Chou Chou peanuts with a bit of Sim wine, the conversation with friends seems to have no end.
Phu Quoc Specialties to Buy as Gifts
Travel Phu Quoc – Forest Sim Wine
When “hunting” for delicious Phu Quoc dishes, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy premium sim wine. Phu Quoc myrtle wine is made from ripe myrtle fruits picked from the Ham Ninh myrtle forest. This is an exceptional wine only available in Phu Quoc, often bought by tourists as gifts.
Phu Quoc Pepper
It is no coincidence that in Phu Quoc, people have tours to pepper farms. Having a unique, delicious flavor, Phu Quoc pepper is processed into many versions to sell to tourists to buy as gifts. You can purchase green pepper, white pepper, black pepper, salt and pepper, candied pepper, mixed pepper, and many other spices for cooking… The price is extremely reasonable.
Phu Quoc Fish Sauce
It’s not an exaggeration to say that a cup of Phu Quoc fish sauce can “enhance” your family meal. The profession of making fish sauce in Phu Quoc has been a tradition for hundreds of years, producing a clear, salty, and delicious fish sauce.
When buying Phu Quoc fish sauce as a gift, you should choose reputable brands such as Hung Thinh Fish Sauce, Khai Hoan Fish Sauce, Phung Hung Fish Sauce…
Phu Quoc Dried Specialties
Is it inconvenient to buy Phu Quoc seafood as a gift because of transportation problems? Then Phu Quoc dried specialties will be a great “save” choice for you.
Addresses to Eat, Drink & Shop for Phu Quoc Specialties
It is best to choose traditional markets to enjoy eating and shopping for Phu Quoc specialties. This is also an ideal way to learn more about the beauty of local culture. However, remember to pay the price so you stay caught up. Here are a few addresses you should refer to:
- Duong Dong Market: No. 21 Tran Phu Street, Duong Dong Town, Phu Quoc
- Phu Quoc Night Market (Bach Dang Market): Bach Dang Street intersection with April 30 Street, Quarter 1, Phu Quoc
- Ganh Dau Market Phu Quoc: Near Ganh Dau cape, Suoi Cai, Phu Quoc
- Grand World Phu Quoc Night Market: Indochine Quarter, Grand World, Bai Dai, Ganh Dau Commune, Phu Quoc
- Ham Ninh Phu Quoc Market: Ham Ninh fishing village, Ham Ninh commune, Phu Quoc
- Phu Quoc Crocodile Market: Nguyen Van Cu Street, An Thoi, Phu Quoc
- Dinh Cau Phu Quoc Night Market: No. 2 Ly Tu Trong Street, Quarter 2, Phu Quoc
- An Thoi Phu Quoc Market: Nguyen Van Cu Street, An Thoi, Phu Quoc
Phu Quoc’s culinary map is diverse, creating an endless source of inspiration for visitors. Come here and enjoy delicious dishes in Phu Quoc according to the suggestions above. Follow yourvietnam.org to know follow series Travel Phu Quoc A – Z!
