Food towns · My Tho and Ben Tre

What to eat in My Tho and Ben Tre

My Tho and Ben Tre face each other across the Tien River and are the delta's nearest food towns to Ho Chi Minh City. My Tho is now in Dong Thap province and Ben Tre in Vinh Long, but on the plate they share noodles, coconut and orchard fruit.

By Mekong Cuisine editors · Published 2026-10-12 · Last reviewed 2026-10-12 · Corrections

Write to the editors

My Tho and Ben Tre in a minute

Provinces since July 2025My Tho: Dong Thap · Ben Tre: Vinh Long

BreakfastHủ tiếu Mỹ Tho

Known forCoconut, coconut candy, green-skin pomelo, Cái Mơn durian

Fruit areasVinh Kim, Cai Be, Cai Mon, Cho Lach (former district names)

Fruit seasonMay to September for most orchard fruit; Hòa Lộc mango March to May

Sources: Báo Lào Cai — Nghị quyết sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh (Jun 2025); SGGP — Miền Tây có hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho (Jan 2023); Thời báo Tài chính — Bến Tre đặc sản chỉ dẫn địa lý (Dec 2021); Nhân Dân — Du lịch miệt vườn, sông nước Nam Bộ (May 2023); Ministry of Industry and Trade — Xoài cát Hòa Lộc (Sep 2022) · checked 2026-10-12.

Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho

My Tho's noodle soup began on roadside carts between My Tho and Go Cong in the early 1960s, according to SGGP; the shop owners were mostly Hoa and the noodle makers Kinh. The noodles are cut from dried rice sheets made with local fragrant rice — Gò Cát, Nàng Hương, Nàng Út — and served in a broth of pork bones and ribs, dried shrimp and grilled squid, with bean sprouts, chives and lime. My Phong and the Ward 9 craft village still turn out more than 40 tonnes of noodles a day.

Eat it in the morning, when the noodle shops are busiest. Our noodle soups page compares it with other delta bowls.

Sources: SGGP — Miền Tây có hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho (Jan 2023) · checked 2026-10-12.

Ben Tre: coconut country

Ben Tre had nearly 40,000 hectares of coconut in 2021, according to Báo Pháp luật, and coconut shows up in everything: coconut milk in bánh xèo, coconut water to drink, and coconut candy as the town's souvenir. Znews describes the candy as grated coconut meat, coconut milk and cream, sugar and malt syrup cooked to caramel, set, cut and wrapped in rice paper. In 2024 TasteAtlas placed it 26th in a list of 70 confections. We found no ministry decision making the craft national heritage, so we do not claim it.

Green Siamese coconut (dừa xiêm xanh) and green-skin pomelo (bưởi da xanh) both received geographical indications in 2018. VOV reported in December 2008 that Ben Tre would hold its first coconut festival on 13–19 January 2009; we could not confirm whether it still runs regularly.

Sources: Báo Pháp luật — Khám phá sản vật miền Nam, Kỳ 14 (May 2021); Znews — Kẹo dừa Bến Tre (Sep 2024); Thời báo Tài chính — Bến Tre đặc sản chỉ dẫn địa lý (Dec 2021); VOV — Bến Tre tổ chức lễ hội dừa (Dec 2008) · checked 2026-10-12.

Orchard fruit on both banks

The former districts around My Tho and Ben Tre are among the delta's main fruit areas. Nhân Dân lists Vinh Kim for Lò Rèn star apple, honey orange and rambutan; Cai Be for longan, rose apple and mango; and Cai Mon and Cho Lach for durian and pomelo. The main harvest across the area is May to September.

Three fruits have stories worth knowing. Xoài cát Hòa Lộc, from the former Cai Be district, holds a geographical indication; its main harvest is March to May. Cái Mơn durian received its GI in 2020; local history credits the teacher Phó Lưu with bringing durian from Cambodia in the early 20th century. And Lò Rèn star apple from Vinh Kim, despite its GI, has shrunk from more than 3,000 hectares in 2000 to about 50, SGGP reported in January 2026. The fruit calendar has the months.

Sources: Nhân Dân — Du lịch miệt vườn, sông nước Nam Bộ (May 2023); Ministry of Industry and Trade — Xoài cát Hòa Lộc (Sep 2022); Thời báo Tài chính — Bến Tre đặc sản chỉ dẫn địa lý (Dec 2021); Tuổi Trẻ — Sầu riêng hạt lép Cái Mơn (Dec 2019); SGGP — Khôi phục vùng trồng vú sữa Lò Rèn Vĩnh Kim (Jan 2026) · checked 2026-10-12.

Cai Be and the riverbank

Cai Be, upstream of My Tho and now part of Dong Thap, was once known for its floating market. Sources now disagree: SGGP saw only a few boats in June 2023, while Al Jazeera wrote in 2025 that it had closed for good in 2021. Either way, do not plan a food morning around it. VNAT mentions Le Longanier, a riverside restaurant in Cai Be that opens for lunch only.

Sources: SGGP — Mai một chợ nổi Cái Bè (Jun 2023); Al Jazeera — Vietnam's floating markets (Feb 2025); Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — Dining in the Delta · checked 2026-10-12.

My Tho and Ben Tre on the plate, in pictures

Rows of coconut palms along a narrow canal with a small boat

Pieces of coconut candy being cut and wrapped by hand on a table

A bowl of clear noodle soup with shrimp and sliced pork

Ripe yellow mangoes and green-skin pomelos stacked at a fruit stall

When My Tho and Ben Tre disappoint

These are the delta towns closest to Ho Chi Minh City, and the islets and canals near them are common day-trip stops. If your meals are chosen for a group, you may not taste what the towns themselves eat; for that, go to the markets and noodle shops in town in the early morning.

Outside the fruit season — roughly October to April for most orchard fruit — the orchards have less to offer, though pomelo and coconut are available all year.

Sources: Nhân Dân — Du lịch miệt vườn, sông nước Nam Bộ (May 2023); Báo Pháp luật — Khám phá sản vật miền Nam, Kỳ 14 (May 2021) · checked 2026-10-12.

Common questions

Questions readers send

What should I eat in My Tho?

Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho for breakfast: rice-sheet noodles in a broth of pork bones, dried shrimp and grilled squid. In season, add Hòa Lộc mango and orchard fruit from Cai Be and Vinh Kim.

Is Ben Tre still a province?

No. Since 1 July 2025 Ben Tre is part of Vinh Long province. Products are still sold under the Ben Tre name.

Is Cai Be floating market still open?

Sources disagree: SGGP saw a few boats in 2023, while Al Jazeera reported it closed in 2021. Do not plan a food morning around it.

Boats on a wide brown river at sunrise with a market in the distance

Food towns · Can Tho

Can Tho

Cai Rang breakfasts, bánh xèo, lẩu mắm, bún nước lèo and orchard fruit.

A riverside market town on a wide river with boats moored along the bank

Food towns · Chau Doc

Chau Doc

Mắm, bún cá, palm sugar and flood-season cá linh on the Cambodian border.

Baskets of tropical fruit — rambutan, mangosteen and pomelo — at a riverside market

Know · Fruit

Fruit calendar

Harvest months, growing areas and geographical indications for delta fruit.

A large golden pancake folded on a plate beside a basket of fresh green leaves

Eat · Cakes and sweets

Rice cakes and sweets

Bánh xèo, bánh pía, bánh tằm, bánh cống, coconut candy and the folk-cake festival.

Steam rising from a bowl of clear noodle soup with pork, shrimp and spring onion at a market stall

Eat · Breakfast

Noodle soups

Hủ tiếu, bún nước lèo, bún cá: broths, toppings and ordering.

Start planning

Write to the Mekong Cuisine editors

Ask about Mekong Delta food, tell us when something on a page is out of date, or suggest a source we should list. Mekong Cuisine does not sell tours or tickets and does not pass your details to any company.