Vietnam price information: Fixed-point observation, 20250505, Bakery

2025.05.05 Ho Chi Minh local food "Bánh mì không" fixed-point observation 10 cm size (on the small side = about the same size as a mouse lol) 1 piece = 2,000 VND = about 12 yen

When Japanese people hear the word "bánh mì," I think many of them picture a sandwich made with bread baked until it's crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, packed tight with vegetables, meat, ham, and more. And in Vietnam too, that's of course the classic. But actually—and here's where it gets a little tricky—plain bread with nothing tucked inside is sometimes called "bánh mì" as well. Since that can be confusing, there's a special name for when that's what you want: it's called "bánh mì không." "Không" means "none" in Vietnamese. In other words, it refers to plain, unfilled bread. At the street-corner bánh mì stalls, this plain bread is delivered in big loads by motorbike from the bakery. When an order comes in, that's when they start busily stuffing in the fillings. Shops baking bread are scattered all over town, and the fact that you can casually grab it fresh out of the oven is another great thing about it. Before COVID, I recall the going rate was around 10,000 dong for three. Lately, though, the wave of rising prices has reached here too.

The bread has gotten a size smaller, and on the flip side there are shops now selling tiny "baby bánh mì" too—so the sizing is in flux as well. (Maybe it was always like this…) Personally, I actually love this "slightly-smaller" trend. Because, you know, a bánh mì that's about 15 cm long gets pretty hefty once it's stuffed with fillings, and my stomach ends up stuffed to bursting! So the smaller sizes are really a blessing. The petite ones, just a touch bigger than a computer mouse (about 10 cm), are great. On top of that, the long, slender bánh mì called "bánh mì que" is nice too—you can just munch away at it. Spreading on some peanut butter, almond butter, or liver pâté and enjoying it with wine is my moment of pure bliss. The bakery in my neighborhood has a rich lineup—the long thin ones, the small ones, the regular size, the huge ones… and the one I always buy is the "mini size.

When you hand over a 10,000 dong note, they give you a bag containing five of them. You can make a simple sandwich with just cheese and vegetables. They're also perfect as a side for pot-au-feu. At 2,000 VND each, this plain bread is simple, but it's incredibly handy, isn't it? Expat Life Ranking