Visit Xoi Bat, a popular sticky rice restaurant that caught the eye of Michelin

1 About Xoi Bat

Address: Alley 08 Hoang Hoa Tham, Ward 7, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 032 530 5957

Opening hours: 07:30 – 22:00

Fanpage:

Xoi Bat is located in an alley on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Binh Thanh District, and has become very familiar to foodies in Saigon. This is also the only sticky rice restaurant honored to be on the Bib Gourmand list, including 113 restaurants and eateries announced by Michelin Guide in June 2023. The restaurants voted on this list are based on the following criteria: delicious food, reasonable prices, delicious dishes, suitable for a variety of diners.

Michelin Guide introduces sticky rice and Xoi Bat restaurant as follows:

Sticky rice is a popular and common dish in Vietnam. It is also a popular breakfast or quick lunch. Determined to break the stereotype of sticky rice as an economical fast food, in 2021, a group of young people opened Xoi Bat. This is a lovely little eatery with a modern design and attention to detail. They bring the recipe for soft and sticky sticky rice, combined with other dishes such as sticky rice with egg stew, including quail eggs, pig ears and fried onions. In addition, sticky rice can also be eaten with soup and kimchi for a simple, delicious meal.

Mr. Huynh Phuc Thinh, owner of Xoi Bat, shared that this sticky rice restaurant was opened with the desire to “bring Southern cuisine to international friends” and “preserve the flavor of mother’s cooking”. This restaurant is run by Mr. Thinh’s mother, using traditional sticky rice recipes, combined with new side dishes, creating an extremely attractive menu. For those who have the opportunity to travel to Saigon, Xoi Bat is one of the restaurants that you definitely cannot miss.

2 Xoi Bat Space

Xoi Bat restaurant is beautifully decorated, with many decorative green plants. It is not an exaggeration to say that no other sticky rice restaurant invests in space like Xoi Bat. The restaurant area is quite small, enough space for 5 sets of wooden tables and chairs, suitable for serving about 20 people. Mr. Thinh, the owner of the restaurant, said that Xoi Bat started operating in 2021, at which time the restaurant was more spacious. After a period of business, the restaurant was narrowed because the owner took back half of the premises.

According to the reviews of diners who have come to Xoi Bat, the restaurant is small but very clean, the tables and chairs are neatly arranged. The restaurant is decorated in a traditional style, with simple bamboo tables and chairs, small pebble floors, the space is like a coffee shop, very harmonious and beautiful. The restaurant has fans and air conditioning, in the hot sun of Saigon you can stop by to enjoy delicious sticky rice and enjoy the cool, comfortable atmosphere.

The topping counter area of ​​Xoi Bat is also arranged very attractively. You can easily see what you want to eat to choose. Because it is a family restaurant, this place brings diners a cozy, close, and comfortable feeling. These are the reasons that help Xoi Bat score points, from delicious food to friendly, enthusiastic service attitude, so if you come to eat once, you will definitely remember it forever.

3 Discover the taste of Xoi Bat

3.1 What does Xoi Bat include?

According to Vietnamtravelio, Xoi Bat serves sticky rice in ceramic bowls, which look very attractive. This makes many diners misunderstand that the restaurant is selling Northern-style sticky rice because most Southern sticky rice restaurants serve sticky rice in styrofoam boxes. The restaurant owner, Mr. Thinh, shared that he wanted to use ceramic bowls to hold sticky rice to create a more intimate feeling, like eating at home. Besides, eating hot sticky rice in a bowl is also safer than using disposable canned food.

The special thing about Xoi Bat restaurant is that instead of just selling sticky rice and familiar side dishes, Mr. Thinh has added many new side dishes that when first hearing the name, many people will think that it is impossible to combine with sticky rice. The restaurant currently serves 9 side dishes with sticky rice including pate, braised pork, shredded chicken, braised pork with pepper, cinnamon sausage, braised offal, char siu, fried egg and braised eggs. The choice of side dishes has been carefully considered by the owner, ensuring harmonious flavors, full of nutrition, suitable for the taste of the majority of diners.

Mr. Thinh shared that except for the ham, all the other side dishes are made fresh by his mother every day. The price of each portion of sticky rice ranges from 35,000 VND to 65,000 VND, accompanied by homemade kimchi and carrot soup. This price is quite high compared to the average price of sticky rice restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, but thanks to the quality and delicious taste, Xoi Bat is still chosen by many diners.

3.2 What makes Sticky Rice delicious?

When you come to Xoi Bat, if you want to enjoy the fullest flavor, choose the full portion of sticky rice. This portion will include sticky rice and full side dishes, including pate, braised eggs, shredded chicken, braised offal and char siu. This portion will be a bit much for breakfast, but is just enough for lunch or dinner.

The plus point is that the phá lấu is processed very meticulously and skillfully, completely removing the foul smell of the internal organs while still maintaining the crispiness and deliciousness. Xịi Bát’s char siu uses lean meat, so it is soft, fragrant, not dry and hard. In addition to the homemade seasoning recipe, Mr. Thịnh also said that the restaurant pays great attention to the quality of the input. The ingredients are always carefully selected, ensuring freshness, so that the flavor of the dish is of high quality.

However, the secret to the success of Xoi Bat is not only the side dishes but also the secret of choosing rice. According to the owner, Mr. Thinh, the sticky rice here is cooked from Northern sticky rice, ensuring that when cooked, the sticky rice will be very sticky, each grain is loose, round and fragrant with coconut milk and pandan leaves. Cooking sticky rice must also be extremely meticulous, with each step being correct. If he accidentally cooks a batch of sticky rice that is not standard, Mr. Thinh is willing to stop selling and cook the sticky rice again until it reaches perfect quality.

According to Mr. Thinh, sticky rice must be cooked continuously so that the grains retain their beautiful white color, firmness and plumpness. Every day, Xoi Bat cooks from 15 to 20kg of sticky rice. Therefore, the restaurant cannot cook all at once but must soak the sticky rice in advance and cook it in batches. Cooking and selling at the same time makes the sticky rice delicious and sticky, and every customer is extremely satisfied.

Xoi Ban sells an average of 200 bowls a day, with peaks reaching 360 bowls. After being listed on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list, the number of customers coming to the restaurant has increased. In addition to Vietnamese people, Xoi Bat also has a large number of foreign customers. Many people who come here to enjoy the dish have praised it, not expecting that Vietnam has such delicious traditional dishes besides banh mi and pho.

Above is information about Xoi Bat so that you have another delicious place to eat when coming to Saigon. Don’t forget to follow the Vietnamtravelio travel guide to discover more interesting things about traveling in 3 regions.