A mom-and-pop since 1958
Hòa Mã is one of our mom-and-pop exceptions: a real fixed corner shophouse at 53 Cao Thắng since 1958 (not a cart), run by three generations of one family, with a bánh mì ốp la that became legendary — name-checked by Saigon locals and by street-food experts quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
Alley 51 Cao Thắng — the corner of old-Saigon breakfast
The corner at 53 Cao Thắng
Since 1958, Hòa Mã has held its Cao Thắng corner: a real family shophouse, the kitchen set right by the roadside, plastic tables and stools spilling into the alley. Three generations of the same family — from the founder to their grandchildren — still wake before dawn to light the stoves.
Bánh mì ốp la — eggs sizzling on the iron skillet, the house's signature
The sizzling skillet
Runny-yolked eggs, cold cuts, pork loaf, pâté — all of it sizzling on the iron skillet, eaten hot with crackling baguette. Saigon locals name-check Hòa Mã's bánh mì ốp la like a legend, and the street-food experts quoted in the Wall Street Journal nod along.
Plastic tables in the alley — the Hòa Mã Bánh mì sign on the wall
Breakfast in the alley
Low tables, plastic stools, a steaming skillet in the alley — the definitive old-Saigon breakfast ritual, and Hòa Mã keeps it most intact. 4.3★ from 1,962 reviews: people come for the food and stay for the feeling.