Foreign visitors are excited about the Vietnamese Bread Festival

Many foreign tourists said they had been looking forward to the Bread Festival since early, eagerly waiting for the opening day to enjoy Vietnamese breads. The two-day bread festival took place in Le Van Tam park, District 1, with stalls attracting thousands of domestic and foreign diners to enjoy. Will Courageux, a Frenchman, said he flew from Hanoi to Saigon to attend the Bread Festival. On the first day, May 17, he tried Hai Phong bread sticks, special mixed bread, avocado bread, and fried bread. Will continues to return to the second day of the festival today to have fun on the weekend with friends, looking for the famous Huynh Hoa bakery in Saigon. French tourists know this shop through videos recording scenes of long lines lining the streets waiting to buy loaves of bread from foreign customers. He said that when he stops by the shop at the festival, he doesn’t have to wait too long, it only takes about 5 minutes to receive the cake. Huynh Hoa’s loaf of bread is “exactly as everyone describes”, 2 or 3 times larger than regular bread, with many types of fillings, pate and butter soaked in. “Eating one loaf is enough to fill you up all afternoon,” Will said.   Will Courageux (right), a French tourist and Keiichi, a Japanese tourist at the bread festival at Le Van Tam park, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, on the afternoon of May 18. Image: Bich Phuong The French male tourist said he had lived in Vietnam for 5 years and had a special love for Vietnamese bread. He traveled many places across the country, tried many delicious dishes and ate many types of bread, each time with a different filling. Will likes roast pork sandwiches, spring rolls sandwiches, egg pate sandwiches and butter fried sandwiches. Banh mi is also a French specialty, but Will said it’s completely different from Vietnamese bread. French bread often has a fatty taste, not many fillings like in Vietnam. “In France, sandwiches with savory fillings are often separated like ham, chicken, and pate, not combined like in Vietnam,” Will said. One thing that makes Will “love” Vietnamese bread is its convenience, it can be eaten anywhere, for every meal of the day. Keiichi, a Japanese tourist, came to the bread festival because of a friend’s introduction. He has been in Saigon for 7 months and eats bread almost every day. As soon as he heard that the city had a bread festival, Keiichi was eager to come because there were many famous shops in Ho Chi Minh City that he had not had a chance to try. He commented that the festival was fun, crowded but had spacious space and did not have to queue too long to buy cakes. Before coming to Vietnam, he used to eat banh mi in Japan, at a restaurant opened by Vietnamese people. Keiichi finds the taste not too different, but the fillings in Vietnam are “too many to count”. Keiichi expressed his desire to experience more Vietnamese culinary festivals, such as pho and rice paper festivals. Most foreign visitors are impressed with the bread fillings, many combinations of which they have never known.