Honestly, our first dates almost always start the same way: finish work, shower, out the door at half six, eating by seven. Nobody is free for a pottery class at three on a Wednesday. What changes is where you eat, and what you do with the rest of the night.
So this post is in that order.
Dinner: pick a place that serves slowly
The biggest enemy on a first dinner is the empty plate. You both finish in twenty minutes and sit there, not sure whether to ask for the bill or order more. A kitchen that sends one course at a time solves it for you: soup arrives, you talk; the main arrives, you keep talking; by dessert you know each other.
That is why we skip BBQ and buffets the first time. Smoke, busy hands, and everyone eating like it is a race.
- Chamie Steak, D3. Right at the end of alley 58 off Phạm Ngọc Thạch; you will ride past it the first time. Small tables, warm light, music low enough that you never lean in. Pumpkin soup, one black-pepper steak and a plate of pasta, split. Around 250k to 400k a head. Book on weekends: tiny alley, full room.
- Calóre Coffee & Eatery, Tân Bình, right on the D3 border. Inside alley 769 off Cách Mạng Tháng Tám. Wood, warm lamps, tables far enough apart that you do not hear the next couple's confession. It is a café as much as a restaurant, so ordering one more drink and staying till close is normal. About 200k to 300k a head.
- RuNam d'Or, D1. The white villa next to Notre-Dame. Noticeably pricier and noticeably more formal. We keep it for when a first date should feel like an occasion, or for anniversaries. For a first meeting it can make one of you stiffen up.
The first two, drinks included, land around 500k for two. If that number makes you wince, keep reading.
Same idea, half the price
- Ô Bistro, Bình Thạnh. Steak and pasta under 150k a head on Nguyễn Gia Trí. A tiny room that fits two exactly. Our friends call it "student Chamie" and nobody argues.
- Bò bít tết Cô Út, D3. Saigon-style steak on a cast-iron plate, hot bread, a fried egg. Not romantic, but warm, cheap, and still served piece by piece.
- Ăn Cơm Uống Nước Garden, D3. Thai food in a garden. Two or three dishes to share, arriving slowly, under 150k. Ask for an inside table if it rains.
- Livannah, Sips & Bites, D1. Small room, quiet music, 100k to 150k. Good for a short dinner before you go wandering.
After dinner is the good part
This is the bit the "top 10 date spots" lists leave out. You are done eating at half eight, the night is long, and this is when Saigon is at its best.
What we usually do: get on the bike, leave the map off, ride out to Nguyễn Huệ, loop Turtle Lake, stop for two sugarcane juices, then pull in somewhere high to look down at the streets you just rode. Nobody asks "so where now", because where does not matter.
Places to pull in to:
- Rehab SGN Rooftop, D3, walkable from Chamie. One drink and home, or one drink and stay late.
- Thương Rooftop, D4. A rooftop café at street-stall prices just over Khánh Hội bridge, facing Bitexco. Our favourite way to end a night without spending anything.
- Thủ Thiêm riverside park. Over Ba Son bridge, sit on the concrete steps and look back at D1. Late it is breezy and empty and nobody moves you on. Bring a light jacket for the other person.
- Landmark 81 SkyView, Bình Thạnh. For when the first night should feel like something. Going up at nine still works; it closes at ten.
If the evening is not going well, the beauty of this plan is that it ends right after dinner without anyone feeling awkward. "I should head back, early start tomorrow." Done.
If dinner feels like too much
Coffee is the easiest first date to walk out of. Forty-five minutes if it is not working, two hours if it is, and the money is nothing.
- Cheo Leo, D3. Sock-filter coffee since 1938, wooden chairs, old music. If you do not know what to say, the café's own history is the first topic.
- The Workshop, D1. Upstairs in an old building on Ngô Đức Kế, high ceilings, daylight. Busy enough that nobody feels watched.
- Hiên Cúc Trắng, Tân Bình. A Đà Lạt-style garden corner down an alley. Sit on the veranda, go around four.
- BeanThere, Hoàng Dư Khương, D10. Down an alley, so it is quiet. Near Chamie and Calóre, in case coffee turns into dinner.
- Pơ Cafe, Gò Vấp. For people out in Gò Vấp or Phú Nhuận who do not want to ride into the centre.
If you are scared of running out of things to say
- Clover Pottery, Bình Thạnh. Coffee and clay at the same table. Busy hands talk on their own, and you leave with a lopsided bowl.
- Ceramic Club, D3. A two-hour pottery class near Chamie, so you can go straight from clay to dinner.
- Hoa Túc cooking class, D1. The most expensive thing in this post, but three hours at a stove tells you more about someone than three coffees.
Two nights already laid out
We have put two of these evenings on the map, stop by stop:
- Dinner in D3, then the river: Chamie at seven, Rehab at nine, the Thủ Thiêm riverbank at half ten.
- A D1 night: Vietnamese dinner, a skybar, coffee across the bridge: Bếp Mẹ Ỉn, Chill Skybar, Thương Rooftop.
Every place in this post is in the First dates collection.