Nhau Nhau debuts in Asia’s 50 Best Discovery List alongside eleven food and drink spots in Ho Chi Minh City

Following the culinary feat of Anăn Saigon earlier this year, Peter Cuong Franklin has gone and done it again. Not long after Anăn Saigon claimed the 39th spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, its liquid counterpart cum rooftop bar, Nhau Nhau (loosely translated into ‘drink drink’) makes Asia’s 50 Best Discovery List on Saturday, 28th of August.

Opening its doors in 2019, Nhau Nhau sits on the second floor of the same building as Anăn, situated in a local wet market in the heart of downtown Old Saigon. Perhaps not the most obvious spot for an on-trend cocktail bar, but that’s part of Nhau Nhau’s appeal. Tapping into Vietnam’s nhau culture – akin to an izakaya or tapas bar – here, it’s as much about elevated street food, as it is the drinks. It’s the brainchild of chef Peter Cuong Franklin, whose exciting Anăn, downstairs, was named The Best Restaurant in Vietnam 2021.

Source: Nhau Nhau

Graffiti artist Suby One introduces the retro-cool space with a large mural and a sign reading “don’t go home ‘til you’re drunk,” while Sixties vinyls are framed on the curvaceous back bar – dressed head to toe in octopus-sucker style tiles. Expect sophisticated phos, new-wave style bánh mì and small plates on the food side, while, the list champions regional rice spirits like Hue saké, local beers and inventive cocktails. Top marks go to the Cotton Candy Old Fashioned, which sees the funfair froth disappear as the boozy elixir is poured over.

Safe to say Vietnam’s food and drink scene has had quite the historic year so far from placing four restaurants in the inaugural “Essence in Asia” collection to two Vietnamese restaurants claiming spot #89 (T.U.N.G Dining) and #39 (Anan Saigon) as well as claiming three spots on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ 51 to 100 List. Not too bad for a country that last made the list in 2013.

Source: Drinking and Healing

Saigon hot spots joining Nhau Nhau on the 50 Best Discovery List include Anăn Saigon, Drinking and Healing, Quince Eatery, Sol Kitchen and Bar, Summer Experiment, Layla, Le Corto, Dong Pho, Ryu, Telephone Bar and The Alley Cocktail Bar & Kitchen.

Launched in 2019, the 50 Best Discovery List provides a deep and rich library for discerning diners and drinkers to draw on for eating and drinking inspiration as they traverse the world. The list gives gourmet foodies the chance to explore restaurants and bars that have received votes from 50 Best experts across the world, featuring more than 1,600 reviews of venues in 75 countries.

The library combines destinations from The World's 50 Best Restaurants, The World's 50 Best Bars, Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings and other far-flung locales to comprise a diverse and tempting range of restaurants and bars, empirically recommended by its Academy. This 1,700-strong Academy comprises the world's leading food and drink writers, chefs, restaurateurs and bar owners, global gastronomes and regional cuisine specialists.

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