Hanoi-style boiled snails, done right, in the heart of Saigon
Oc Luoc Ha Nguyen is a Hanoi-style boiled-snail house on Tran Nhat Duat — fresh snails steamed with lemongrass in bamboo baskets, dipped in hand-mixed ginger fish sauce, eaten steaming hot.
Three to order first
Three dishes to order first — every one steamed to order in a bamboo basket.
French bulot whelk
Thick-meated bulot whelk, lemongrass-steamed to keep its ocean sweetness.
Steamed spotted babylon
Fresh spotted babylon, steamed just through, fragrant with lemongrass.
Double-core clams
Plump double-core clams, steamed hot with lemongrass.
Why the bamboo steamers here never cool down
Three things make Oc Luoc Ha Nguyen: northern-style steaming, hand-mixed ginger fish sauce, and bamboo steamers that never cool down.
Photos: Google Maps — owner and diners
From Hanoi to Saigon, with the bamboo steamer
How a Hanoi way of eating snails found a home in Tan Dinh.
Boiled snails, ginger fish sauce
Boiled snails, Hanoi-style: lemongrass in the basket, hand-mixed ginger fish sauce in the bowl. Simple, hot, and honest.
Hanoi flavor in Saigon
A Tan Dinh storefront that glows warm from early afternoon — low stools on the sidewalk, steam in the air, the alley slowing down.
A full tray, still steaming
Order a tray and the table fills up: bowls of snails, clams and mussels, every one with its own small dip.
Oc Luoc Ha Nguyen — the Hanoi-style boiled-snail house on Tran Nhat Duat, District 1. Steamed to order and eaten piping hot, on low stools, dipped in ginger fish sauce — the northern way.
Address
10/6 Tran Nhat Duat, Tan Dinh, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City