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Chocolate And Beer In Saigon

Saigon may be famous for pho (noodle soup) and banh mi (baguette sandwiches), but that’s just the tip of the city’s food scene. Join us as we check out the chocolate and beer in Saigon.

Drinking Chocolate at Marou Chocolate in Saigon Vietnam
Image: ©2foodtrippers

Anybody who knows us knows that we love all levels of food from simple street food to sophisticated gastronomy.

Each type of food has its merits, and we love to find the best in class and eat as much of it as we can wherever we travel. While we were in France earlier this year, we ate our weight in cheese, seconded only by wine during that those months, plus we dined at four Michelin starred restaurants as well.

Our two months in Vietnam was a different experience. As we embraced eating local Vietnamese food, we ate a lot of street food.

Some of our best Vietnamese meals were served on sticks and cost under a dollar, and many involved sitting in teeny tiny plastic chairs while surrounded by napkins on the floor. As much as we loved this ultra-casual style of dining, we couldn’t help but miss the western dining experience with its more formal service and stylized platings.

Artisan Chocolate And Beer … And Coffee In Saigon

Spending two weeks in Saigon allowed us to explore the food scene beyond the city’s vast street food network. Though we had some roadblocks (i.e. a broken camera and nasty head colds), we dove deep and found local, artisan food specialists that are taking the Saigon food scene to the next level.

Marou Chocolate Saigon

Marou Chocolate in Saigon Vietnam
Maison Marou Saigon is an oasis right in the heart of busy Saigon. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Chocolate has been a guilty pleasure during our Southeast Asia travels. Though we like the range of chocolate available at local markets and convenience stores, this chocolate is all imported through companies like Cadbury, M&M Mars and Ritter.

We weren’t completely satisfied with our Southeast Asia chocolate experience until we stumbled upon Maison Marou Saigon, an upscale cafe serving Marou Chocolate in solid, liquid and pastry forms.

Cheesecake at Maison Marou in Saigon Vietnam
We tried a few pastries during our three visits at Maison Marou Saigon, and this creative cheesecake was our favorite. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

To call Marou Chocolate local is an understatement.

The artisan chocolate producer sources all of its beans from vetted Vietnamese farmers in a cooperative arrangement and then transforms the beans into delectable chocolate in its Saigon factory. Owners Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou have clearly embraced the bean to bar concept and are taking it to the highest level.

Indulging at Maison Marou Saigon is not cheap. But why should it be? Quality costs money and this chocolate is some of the best in the world.

Pro Tip
You can also satisfy your chocolate cravings in Hanoi at Maison Marou Hanoi.

Maison Marou Saigon is located at 167 Calmette Street, P. Nguyen Thai Binh, District 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 700000, Vietnam.

Marou Chocolate Video

Watch our YouTube video to learn more about eating Marou Chocolate at Maison Marou Saigon.

Pasteur Street Brewing Company

We’ve also enjoyed a fair bit of beer in Southeast Asia, mostly mass-produced lagers like Leo, Singha, Bia Hanoi, Huda and Saigon Special. Since we mostly drink craft beer when we’re at home in Philadelphia, imagine our reaction at finding a craft brewery in Saigon. If you’re imagining us to be happy, then you are correct.

Beer Flight at Pasteur Street Brewing Company in Saigon Vietnam
Beer Flight at Pasteur Street Brewing Company in Saigon | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Pasteur Street Brewing Company, a pioneer in Vietnam’s craft beer scene, is brewing a wide selection of typical craft beers but with atypical flavors and quality. Other breweries have followed in their path but Pasteur Street remains the leader of the pack.

We don’t usually like fruit in our beer, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked Pasteur Street’s brews flavored with Vietnamese fruit and other local ingredients. Perhaps this is because the Pasteur Street brewers import the malt from countries like Germany and Belgium before brewing their inventively flavored and well-balanced ales.

Pasteur Street Brewery Saigon Vietnam
We liked the beer so much that we visited the brewery to check out the operations. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

After chance encounters with Pasteur Street’s General Manager, John Reid, at the Saigon tap room during our first of two visits, we had the opportunity to learn even more about Pasteur Street beer when we visited the artisan brewer’s Long An facility with junior brewer Ryan Lemish.

Lemish gave us the grand tour highlighted by Daryl helping with the passion fruit mash and both of us tasting a few brews straight out of the tanks.

Chocolate Beer at Pasteur Street Brewing Company in Saigon Vietnam
This little glass combines Saigon’s best beer and Saigon’s best chocolate. Cheers! | Image: ©2foodtrippers

For us, the brewery’s standout beer is the Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout brewed with our new favorite chocolate – Marou Chocolate. Bold and strong, this drink is the ultimate combination of chocolate and beer.

If you don’t believe us, then hop on a plane to Saigon so you can taste this worthy winner of the World Beer Cup for best chocolate beer in the world. You may be a bit jet-lagged, but you won’t be sorry.

Pro Tip
Order Pasteur Street now has a taproom in Hanoi. You can visit both locations while you travel in Vietnam.

Pasteur Street Brewing Company‘s tap room is located at 144 Pasteur, Hồ Chí Minh, Bến Nghé Quận 1 Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam.

Pasteur Street Brewing Video

Watch our YouTube video and see us taste lots of Pasteur Street beer.

Coffee At The Workshop

The Workshop in Saigon Vietnam
The Workshop is an ideal spot for working and excellent coffee. Note the Marou Chocolate for sale at the counter. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Don’t get us started about the coffee in Saigon. It’s good, it’s cheap and it’s everywhere.

Our apartment block had about a half-dozen coffee shops including one right in our building, plus more right around the corner. Let’s just say we drank a lot of coffee during our two-week visit.

Iced Latte at The Workshop in Saigon Vietnam
Iced Latte of Our Dreams at The Workshop | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The Workshop is a coffee shop that stands out as one of our favorites in Saigon, perhaps because the shop takes an artisanal approach. After procuring 70% of the beans locally in Vietnam, The Workshop team roasts them on-site to coffee perfection.

The artisan approach doesn’t end with the roasting. Baristas offer several coffee extraction pour over choices including Chemex, Hario V60, Kalita and AeroPress. We visited The Workshop three times and can also vouch for their fizzy coffee and iced latte drinks.

The Workshop is located at 3/F p. q. 1, 27 Ngô Đức Kế, Bến Nghé, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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About The Authors

About The Authors

Daryl & Mindi Hirsch

Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers their unique taste of the world.

Disclosures

Article Updates
We update our articles regularly. Some updates are major while others are minor link changes and spelling corrections. Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.

Funding
We self-funded our trip to Saigon.

Original Publication Date: October 15, 2016

Anastasia

Thursday 22nd of December 2016

For me it was quite a surprise to learn that you can find excellent artisan products in Vietnam, that I thought were not typical for the region!

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch

Thursday 22nd of December 2016

There's a lot of good things happening in Vietnam these days!

Kirsten

Thursday 20th of October 2016

Everything you mentioned looks fabulous! I don't know if I could ever leave!

Daryl and Mindi Hirsch

Thursday 20th of October 2016

We were sad to leave Vietnam after two months but are excited for the upcoming adventures!

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