Temple Club: High End but Approachable in Ho Chi Minh City

In a city of excellent high-end restaurants, I had my best Ho Chi Minh City meal at Temple Club. The beautiful restaurant is located on the second floor of a yellow building, above the HCMC branch of legendary Ha Noi ice creamery, Fanny’s. The space features dark woods, gray-blue lanterns, colonial-style fans, and exposed brick walls.

Dapper waiters dressed in white shirts and black vests. Service was stellar. And the food was IN-credible.

I began with a half-portion of Tong Hop Kha Vi, the Temple Club Platter (50000 Dong, $3). The platter held two each of the Cha Gio (traditional home-made spring rolls, Goi Cuon (fresh shrimp and pork salad rolls), Cuon Diep (Hue salad rolls wrapped in mustard leaves) and Bo La Lot (charcoal grilled beef in lot leaves). The dish was only a quarter the cost of the roll platter I ate the night before at the downright regal Nam Phan, and three of the four dishes were clearly better at Temple Club. The spring rolls were a draw. Temple Club’s were crisp outside, with a seriously thin rice paper wrapper, a juicy pork filling accented with wood-ears and scallions. The goi cuon were remarkably fresh, filled with springy rice vermicelli, grilled pork and shrimp, mint leaves, and a wonderful peanut dipping sauce studded with ground peanuts and red chilies. The bo la lot were incredibly juicy, utilizing top quality ground beef. The cuon diep were quite good, the mustard greens adding a slightly bitter flavor that I liked.

My entrée was a contender for best entrée of the trip. It was certainly the best duck I’ve ever eaten. Ucvit Quay Gung (grilled duck breast with ginger and shallots, 100000 Dong) was tremendous: tender scallops of duck, lightly sauced with a ginger jus, crispy fried strands of ginger and little crunchy flavor bombs of pepper. The spice and taste built as I ate the large pile of lean quacker. On the side was a pile of millimeter-thin butter noodles with shallots. Mmm.

I drank fresh squeezed lime juice (25000 Dong), pulpy and refreshing.

Banh Chuoi Hap & Nuoc Dita (banana coconut cream pudding, 40000 Dong) wasn’t what I expected from dessert; it was better. There were four glutinous rice rectangles, studded with thin-sliced banana, topped with coconut milk and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Good stuff.

Address: 29 Tôn Thất Thiệp, Ho Chi Minh City, VN

Phone: 090 3866688

Website: www.templeclub.com.vn