Con Dao Islands on a Budget
Travel Adventures
Con Dao Islands on a Budget
Text by: VietnamCoracle. com
The Con Dao Archipelago is one of the most beautiful and least developed destinations in Vietnam. There are beaches, forests, mountains, history, mythology, and a quiet town with crumbling French colonial villas on the seafront. And, it’ s only a 45 minute flight from Saigon( Ho Chi Minh City). I can’ t understand why more foreign travellers don’ t visit!
EAT & DRINK: Brief Overview
Con Son Island doesn’ t have the wide variety of food that you would expect to find in most Vietnamese towns, but there are still some good options for a nice meal on the island.
BEST FOOD ON THE ISLAND: QUAN THANH HUYEN Quán Ăn Thanh Huyền – $ 5- $ 15 per person; Khu 3, Hoang Phi Yen Street; Tel: 064 363 0411 – My favourite place to eat on the island for food and atmosphere, this place is 5 minutes out of town by motorbike, on the left hand side after crossing the lotus lake. There’ s a sign for the restaurant: drive down the dirt track and over a rickety wooden bridge until you see a few shacks over a pond and a big sign on top saying‘ Saigon Beer’. It might not promise much from its ramshackle entrance, but once you settle down in one of the makeshift‘ gazebos’ clustered around ponds, paddies and herb gardens, you’ ll start to appreciate the ambience here. The menu is short and exotic, and the food is fresh and delicious. Try the chicken with kaffir lime leaf( gà luộc lá chanh) or the buffalo hotpot( lẩu trâu). There’ s now an English menu, but some of the translations can be hard to understand. It’ s especially nice to arrive just before dusk while there’ s still some light left to enjoy the surroundings. Bring bug spray so as not to let the mosquitoes ruin a great meal!
Con Dao Market – $ 1-2 per person; corner of Vo Thi Sau and Pham Van Dong streets – This recently repainted market hides all sorts of delicious breakfast foods. It’ s a great place to fill up in the mornings, especially if you’ re staying at one of the cheaper accommodations that don’ t include breakfast. The earlier you get here the better. The market is also a good place to buy ingredients for a picnic to keep you going during the day while you’ re exploring the island.
ATC Resort Restaurant – $ 5- $ 15 per person; 8 Ton Duc Thang Street – This is the pick of the resort restaurants in Con Son town. There’ s an extensive and reasonably priced menu with all sorts of classic Vietnamese dishes on it. The food is fresh and well-presented. Try the canh chua cá – sour fish soup – a southern classic. First and second floor seating offer great views over the promenade and out to sea. It’ s a particularly good spot for a late lunch: after the Vietnamese tour groups have left, you’ ll have the restaurant and sea views all to yourself. Come around 1pm. However, sometimes it’ s so quite that it closes!
Infiniti Cafe – $ 2-7; corner of Pham Van Dong and Nguyen Van Troi streets – This popular cafe serves fruit juices, smoothies, coffee, cocktails and ice cream. It also bakes its own bread( try the homemade pizzas) and offers excellent western-style dishes, including set breakfasts. It’ s a cute,‘ mini-cafe’ of the sort that’ s trendy in Saigon and Hanoi. The staff are young and friendly. It’ s great for a refreshing drink in the middle of the day or a relaxing post-dinner cocktail. Undoubtedly the‘ trendiest’ place on the island and a good place to meet other travellers.
ON THE WATERFRONT: CON SON CAFE Con Son Café – $ 2-5 per drink; Ton Duc Thang Street – In the middle of the seafront promenade, Con Son Café remains the only place( apart from the resorts) for a sundown cocktail in town by the sea. A few tables are set under big trees in front of the old French customs house, but you can also take your drink over the road and sit on the seafront wall. It’ s a superb setting and the cocktails are surprisingly strong. However, as Con Dao has grown in popularity, Con Son Café has started playing loud pop music to entertain its( increasingly young and hip) customers from the bright lights of Saigon. However, on my last visit they had at least closed the 3D mini cinema on the premises – the volume of which was so loud that it drowned out the lapping of the waves and the peace of the promenade. Barring the loud music( mostly on weekends), the cafe is still a stunning place to be. Note that this cafe is sometimes closed for long periods during the winter months when strong winds blow in from the sea( November to February).
Night Market – The area around the intersection of Tran Huy Lieu and Nguyen An Ninh streets has recently been turned into a night market. There are currently around a dozen stalls selling food and souvenirs. Food includes local shellfish, hotpots, and soups. It’ s reasonably-priced, good quality and a nice place to spend an hour or two eating and drinking in the cool evening air. Perhaps this night market might one day become as popular and lively as the one in Duong Dong town on Phu Quoc island.
Other Options: The Coco Restaurant at the Con Dao Resort has recently been spruced up: the menu is long and the food is good. Bar 200 is a new addition to the island’ s slowly growing list of western-style bar-cafe-restaurants. Coffees, beer, and pizzas are all available. The intersection of Tran Phu and Pham Hung streets has several street stalls selling noodle soups throughout the day which are decent enough and very cheap. There is also a new soup and hotpot street eatery on Pham Hung Street, just up from the Phi Yen Hotel, near the seafront promenade. Food is good and it brings in a local crowd: serves breakfasts and dinner.
The MAG Vung Tau 43