55 Best Restaurants in The South-Central Coasts and Highlands, Vietnam

This hip café would compete with the best in Ho Chi Minh City for both their passion for coffee and quality of arabica beans, which they roast in house—they even have a menu of beans from around the world. Though they do still offer Vietnamese phin filter robusta, this is the place to get your European-style coffee fix.

Set in traditional Ede houses, long timber buildings on stilts, this restaurant is designed to give tourists an atmospheric introduction to Ede and other Central Highland minority cuisines. Though touristy, it's an uncommon opportunity to try food outside of Vietnam's dominant culture, and the dining experience is done tastefully, with pretty dishware, relaxing music, and a fire pit at night. The dishes are meant for family-style sharing.

Banh xeo is a great example of how regional Vietnamese food is. These fried savory rice pancakes are a staple in Vietnam, but Binh Dinh Province's version are small, thin, crisp, and topped with fresh shrimp (beef, egg, or squid are also available). To eat, cut it up and wrap it in rice paper with herbs, lettuce, and green mango, then dunk it in some chili-lime-fish sauce and tuck in. It's mesmerizing to watch one woman manage a dozen pans over flames.

What began as a modest seafood restaurant is now a bustling three-story eating emporium that's jam-packed on weekends with tourists from Ho Chi Minh City who come to Mui Ne to feast on fresh seafood. To order, head out front to the buckets of prawn, fish, clams, and other sea critters and make your selection (price is by weight), then choose how you want it cooked (steamed, grilled, stir-fry, hotpot). There is also an à la carte English menu.

A quirky, fun little coffee shop serving coffee as well as tea, smoothies, and beer, Bicycle Up is a great place to hang out and recharge with a book or gawk at all the wondrous retro treasures.

This delightful and delicious fast-casual Italian shop has ready-to-go focaccia pizza slices and panini, as well as heartier hot dishes that come out quick. This is a great place for aperitivo, where you can sip an Aperol spritz or a Peroni while nibbling arancini rice balls.

This American-style barbecue restaurant, complete with a smoker and long tables, serves up sweet, delicious barbecue (brisket, ribs, pulled pork) and Vietnamese craft beer in a hip, contemporary space. Outdoor and air-conditioned indoor seating is available.

With a terrace overlooking rooftops sloping down the hillside, this sweet bistro has an eclectic menu, from brunch classics, healthy options, and an all-day vegan menu, to heartier pizza, pastas, and burgers, all consistently good.

This clean, cheap, cheerful joint serves a delicious bun cha Hanoi, rice vermicelli and fresh herbs you plunge into a brothy dipping sauce with little pork meatballs. Be sure to get bun cha nem truyen thong, which comes with a fried spring roll and charcoal grilled pork.

True to its motto of “Eat, drink, relax, be happy,” this is the place to eat and hang out in Mui Ne. Order from any of the eateries, from seafood hotpot and sausage platters, to Hungarian goulash and fish tacos, underneath swaying palms with sweeping views of the water. The open-air space is family-friendly during the day, before the on-site Nirvana Beach Club cranks up the tunes at night.

A centrally located café-restaurant, Alpaca's quirky, creative atmosphere pairs nicely with its versatile menu of coffee, alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, brunch bites, pastas, and burritos, all prepared with great care.

There’s good reason this café, conveniently located just across the road from the cable car station, has been in business for over a decade: this plant-filled oasis has pretty views of the verdant valley, as well as a delectable brunch menu.

Opened in 1995, Banh Xeo Cay Phuong only serves Central Vietnam–style banh xeo (sizzling pancakes), meaning they are smaller and have less filling than southern-style ones. A default order at this local family-run shop is four palm-size pancakes, but you can order as many as you like for 10,000d each. Notice the original sign hand-painted in classic South Vietnamese typescript.

Kind service, a calm setting, and a big menu of simple plant-based dishes (including grab-and-go meat-free banh mi Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) are reasons to come to this vegan restaurant.

A baguette and home-cooked bo kho, a slow-cooked beef stew with obvious French influences, is the perfect breakfast for Dalat’s spring-like morning temperatures, and this shop of only four tables serves delicious bowls fragrant with cinnamon, star anise, and lemongrass. The shop is open until she sells out.

If you're looking for a change of scenery away from Mui Ne's main strip, head up the hill to Cargo Remote, and enjoy salads, burgers, pastas, and other casual Western dishes in a modern space made from industrial metal and bamboo.

The small, romantic restaurant inside boutique Cham Villas Resort adds an extra touch of class to Mui Ne. Overseen by the German owner, who also runs Ratinger-Lowe Restaurant, the kitchen serves a range of Vietnamese dishes, such as beef-and-prawn skewers and spicy lemongrass beef served with fried thien ly flowers, as well as international options if your heart desires.

One of the most popular com binh dan (canteens) in town, Com Sau Thu has been making locals happy with their economical fare for over a decade. The husband and wife Sau and Thu have another shop, but locals agree the original one at this address remains the best. The daily options are displayed in a glass case at the front of the restaurant, so just point to what you want and then take a seat. Vietnamese usually eat family-style, ordering one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup, all placed in the middle of the table and shared. There's no need to order rice because it comes automatically.

Dalat's night market is famous within Vietnam, and evenings here soaking up the energy of all the happy tourists is a must. The market sprawls down an enormous staircase to the roundabout and down Nguyen Thi Minh Khai to the lake. Try Dalat "pizza," banh trang nuong, rice paper mounted with toppings and grilled over hot coals. Look for mobile vendors selling hot silky tofu in sweet ginger syrup, grilled corn, and kem bo (avocado mousse ice cream), 

A Mui Ne favorite, El Latino serves up homemade Mexican and Tex-Mex with a very chill vibe. Warm and cozy with exposed brick, fun painted murals, and loads of color, the kitchen nevertheless takes its food seriously, making fresh tortillas, breads, and brownies to accompany the mainly slow-cooked meats that will melt in your mouth. Check their Facebook for events, such as live music on Friday or Saturday night.

A beautiful, restful garden café filled with tribal wood carvings, antique gongs, and art installations, this is the place to come for excellent coffee, sweet egg coffee (a Hanoi specialty of whipped egg yolk and coffee), and fruit shakes. The English-speaking owner, Mr. An, is a fountain of knowledge about the local area and can organize multiday treks or tours through nearby ethnic minority villages.

This restaurant is squarely aimed at tourists who want to try a range of Vietnamese cuisine, including dishes that traditionally are street food, in a clean, relatively upmarket atmosphere. It's a safe option for those who are wary of real street food, or for families or groups who all want something different.

This long-standing Indian restaurant serves delicious North Indian and tandoori dishes, with large naan bread. Located in the heart of Mui Ne's tourist strip, Ganesh offers a break from Vietnamese cuisine.

This cheap-and-cheerful restaurant has gone viral for their coconut chicken curry, which also comes in a vegetarian or shrimp version, but there's an array of other dishes, all slightly Westernized versions of Vietnamese fare. The food is reliably delicious and reasonably priced.

The restaurant, part of Green Bamboo Lodge Resort, is one of the few places in the village with a deck on the river's edge, so you can enjoy tranquil river views with cold beer and tasty Vietnamese dishes from their extensive menu that includes many vegetarian options.

This bright, modern, clean restaurant serves flavorful Asian plant-based dishes, from noodle soups and tasty stir-fry, to rice dishes with soy-based "meat" and vegetable tempura. They have menus in English to boot.

This stunning café was designed by international-award-winning Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia, who specializes in structures made completely out of bamboo. Part of the Indochine Hotel, it's a local drinks-and-ice cream spot overlooking the Dak Bla River, with soaring inverted cone-shaped bamboo columns and many peaceful fish ponds.

This artsy little café fits right into the vibe of the street art alley it inhabits, and the owner-barista Huy crafts each cup of specialty egg coffee (hot coffee whipped with egg yolks, sugar, and condensed milk) with care.

A staple in Mui Ne for live music, Western food, and draft beers, the café's cavernous property is located right on the seashore in the heart of the strip. Filled with greenery and dappled sunlight, Joe's is open from early morning until late, so enjoy a sea-view breakfast or hang out when there's live music at night.

Located a few steps from the beach, this Japanese-inspired café is a great place to refresh with a coffee, matcha, or a drink with house-made rice milk, joined by youth who use the space as a backdrop for kawaii photos. The café rents yukata robes to dress up in.