Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc is an island off the coast of Cambodia, but it’s Vietnamese. I spent months and months there during the pandemic and I go back once a year. It’s one of my favorite places to chill and eat good food. Spend 4-7 days there depending on your vibe. Go before it becomes more touristy.

Getting Around

You definitely want a motorbike or scooter. Getting around without one is very limiting. Driving is very chill there and it’s a good place to learn, it’s actually where I learned.

Where To Stay

Phu Quoc Eco Beach Resort is one of my favorite resort places to stay because it’s quiet, nice beach they clean and no bugs, and it’s relatively close to everything. About 20mins from “town”.

Laundry

Giặt Sấy Lan Lê Giang is the laundry I like.

Local Dishes

Bún Quậy Bạch Đằng (28 Bạch Đằng) for another unique local dish that I really like. It’s a sweeter broth with noodles and a seafood cake, and you mix your own sauce with kumquat and salt and chili.

Bún Cá Châu Đốc - Phở Bò (145 ĐT47) is the best place for bun ca chau doc. They have smoked fish in it that melts in your mouth. And strangely they also have my favorite bun bo hue I’ve had, even in Hue.

Banh canh: thick chewy noodles, fish cake. A few places around the night market do it.

Tiểu Nhị Quán has amazing kho quẹt.

Phở Lý Quốc Sư is a solid enough pho place.

Saigonese Eatery is a more upscale place that’s got some solid dishes.

Seafood

Nhà Hàng Biển Thương at Bai Thom is the best. It’s a great drive to get there. Tamarind shrimp, grilled urchin, tomato sauce fish, satay squid, crab soup, huge coconuts. Show the owner a picture of my face and she’ll smile.

Quán 93 (93 Nguyễn Văn Trỗi) is super local and open at night. You sit right on the beach and eat tons of amazing seafood, super affordable. They also have an excellent seafood hot pot.

Mama Sunset: if you’re on the north side of the island, great views right on the water, lots of fresh seafood. Great at sunset, obviously.

If you go to Ham Ninh on the east side there are a bunch of really nice waterfront restaurants, just head there and pick one. There’s a raw herring salad that’s a local specialty, great marinade, you roll it in rice paper. You can get it at the night market too, but it’s legit out here.

There’s also a pretty farm, Ngọc Thuỷ Farm, with an amazing (and huge) banh xeo with tons of different fillings and toppings.

Vegan

Khánh Ly (35 Nguyễn Trãi) is my fave vegan. It’s a great spread and you just pick dishes and pay by the amount you get. They have the best fake eggs I’ve ever had.

BoDe Chay (used to be Quang HD, 189A 30 Tháng 4) is my 2nd favorite. It’s a buffet and it’s amazing. Fairly strict lunch / dinner hours (open in between but the spread’s not as impressive).

Chay Minh Tâm (245 30 Tháng 4) is a sit down, solid fake meats and great use of mushroom and pepper.

Street Food + Sweets

The Ho Chi Minh statue square on the north edge of Duong Dong is a good place to go for street vendors food.

Chợ Dương Đông (21 Trần Phú), the biggest local market, near the night market, has many local sweets and amazing fruits. Custard apples, durian, jackfruit, the best mangoes, longan, lychee, rambutan, mangosteen, soursop, star apple, sapodilla, dragon fruit, and sim, the local berry they also make into wine. All worth trying. Get the red not white dragon fruit, you can tell by which way the scales go.

Yogurt Place (Nguyễn Du), delicious fresh yogurt.

Go for a smoothie bowl at Nora’s Café (Hẻm Chùa Ông, Cửa Lấp). It’s my friend Dao’s place, who ill advisedly chose the name “Nora” as her English name.

There’s also a chè place a few doors down from Bún Quậy Bạch Đằng.

Kem Trái Dừa Kim Ngân has good coconut ice cream.

Cafes

Chuon Chuon is up a hill and has a panoramic view of Phu Quoc and is perfect for sunset.

The Peak Sanctuary on Dien Tien Mountain, past Chuon Chuon, is the cafe on top of the world. Super cool.

Bars

Origin 1982 (149 Trần Hưng Đạo) is a really good cocktail bar, up a drive off the main road.

Bittersweet is a really solid mixology-focused cocktail bar hidden in the back of a clothes shop. Great selection of liquors.

Beaches

Bãi Sao (Sau Beach) is one of the nicest beaches, great for a shallow calm swim and a sunrise view. Check out the wooden pier, Cầu ngắm biển, if it’s open.

Kiki Coconut Beach on the east side is a great place to stop by, eat and drink, and say hi to my friends.

Secret beach. If you know me, text me for how to get there.

Activities

I love biking the ring road up to Bai Thom, picking one of the waterfront restaurants, eating, then sitting in their hammocks by the waves and reading and napping.

The Phu Quoc Bee Farm tour is really worthwhile. It comes with a honey-chocolate making class, a tour of a beautiful area, delicious snacks and honey teas. Just a nice morning to spend.

Visit a pepper farm, but either way buy the pepper to take home, it’s the best in the world.

If you can handle the smell, visit a fish sauce factory. Phu Quoc is where the fish sauce comes from that goes all over the world.

Attractions

Grand World is a complex you have to see. A weird take on European streets with random novelty shops and museums, and two shows a night: Quintessence of Vietnam, a more cultural paid one earlier in the evening, and Sắc Màu Venice, a free live show that ends in a laser light rave.

The Hon Thom cable car at Sun World goes nearly 8km over the sea to an island, the longest sea-crossing cable car in the world. The cable car alone is worth it, and there’s a fun water park at the end. Time the return around sunset for bonus points. The night market there is way overpriced for a sit down meal but there’s some solid street food.

Sunset Town, by the cable car, has two shows a night, Symphony of the Sea around sunset and Kiss of the Sea later on. They’re both ridiculous. The Kiss Bridge is right there too, two halves of a bridge that don’t quite meet. Go at sunset.