On Bui Thi Xuan street in District 1 stands a shop with a golden sign: 'Di Nam Sa Dec — Hu Tieu, Banh Tam', and a smaller line beneath: 'family shop since 1988'. That is all the introduction the place needs — a Sa Dec family brought their home-town hu tieu recipe to Saigon, and kept it to this day.
The house menu is short and plain: Sa Dec hu tieu in ten variations — mixed, special, pork bone, Sa Dec muscovy duck, spare rib, beef, heart and kidney, meatball, vegetable — 45k to 69k; Sa Dec banh tam with shredded pork skin, plain or with meatballs, 48k; noodle, macaroni and banh canh with pork hock, mixed, or muscovy duck; plus add-ons for anyone who wants a 49k pork-bone bowl or extra beef balls and duck meat.
A small shop with a narrow front, bikes parked out front at all hours — the familiar sight of a good Saigon eatery. Inside: the glass topping cabinet, steaming broth pots, and wooden tables busy from morning to night. This is not a place for staged check-ins; it is a place people come back to because the hu tieu tastes right.