My final stop on the Saigon Michelin star tour took me to chef Peter Cuong Franklin’s Ăn Ăn. Among the restaurant’s many accolades, Ăn Ăn (translated as “eat eat”) holds the title of being Vietnam’s first-ever Michelin-starred restaurant which it earned in 2023. Located on the first floor of a quintessentially tall and narrow Saigon building — a result of historical tax policies based on street frontage and high land prices — the energy inside and out was palpable. Stuffy fine dining this was not.
Our party of eight was seated by the front entrance and ordered a round of cocktails before the meal started. After much hemming and hawing, I settled on the tamarind whiskey sour ($14++). No doubt I was eyeing my cousins’ Old Fashioneds the entire meal — this happens to me all the time.
Chef Peter is a real one. Born in Vietnam and raised in Connecticut, he attended Yale and worked in finance before leaving it all behind for a cook’s life. The chef opened a pair of restaurants in Hong Kong before establishing Ăn Ăn in 2017. He also operates Nhau Nhau cocktail bar and Pot Au Pho noodle bar in the same building as Ăn Ăn.
The chef’s tasting menu ($135++) is self-described as a “homage to a new Vietnam” and “a culinary journey from North to South.” Whereas chef Viet Hong’s menu at Ciel approaches New Vietnamese cooking through a global lens, Ăn Ăn brings together classic Vietnamese culinary traditions with modern flourishes. Each of the evening’s 10 courses was inspired by a specific Vietnamese city or region as noted in parenthesis.
First up, sea clam (Phan Thiet) with spring onion sauce, glass noodles, peanuts, and coconut foam.
Crab and sea urchin (Ca Mau) with crab ice cream, Saigon curry, and coriander.
Foie gras spring roll (Ha Noi) with pork, truffle, herbs, and mango.
Le petit banh mi (Sai Gon) with pate, waygu beef, air baguette, and pickles.
Salmon waffle tart (Mekong) with smoked salmon, dill, and salmon caviar.
Young tamarind leaf sorbet with Sauvignon blanc.
Prawn and pomelo (Ben Tre) with sea cucumber prawn mousse and prawn head sauce.
Duck dumpling soup (Hue).
Banh bot loc tapioca dumpling with consomme broth.
Turmeric soup (Ha Noi) with black cod marinated in turmeric, rice noodles, and dill sauce.
Grilled pigeon (Sai Gon) with pigeon breast, pigeon la lot, turmeric sticky rice, Tonkin jasmine flowers, and Phu Quoc pepper sauce.
Fish sauce ice cream (Phu Quoc) with coconut ice cream, fish sauce caramel, Phu Quoc pepper, and…
NUOC MAM PERFUME!!
Hot tea served with a trio of mignardise to finish.
Dinner at Ăn Ăn was a festive and delightful experience, especially gathering around the table with my cousins, aunt, and uncle. (Thank you to Michael and Danny for footing the bill upon losing credit card roulette!)
As Vietnam’s New Vietnamese cooking scene continues to evolve across the country, it will be exciting to see how a pioneering restaurant like Ăn Ăn matures with time. I’ll be back to eat eat and see.
