The bartender lifts a clay teapot and pours phở broth over a pot of wagyu and rice. Two of us at the bar, first visit.
SÂM Herbal Bar (蔘, ginseng) is upstairs at 51 Trần Nhật Duật in Tân Định, from the people behind ORYZ and NÔM. It’s been getting noticed, so we tried it.
Saigon gets a new bar every week. Rooftops, speakeasies, another modern Vietnamese tasting menu. SÂM isn’t any of those. It takes Chợ Lớn, Saigon’s old Chinatown, its medicine halls and the cooking of its Chinese communities, Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hainanese, and brings it to Tân Định with a serious bar attached. The team behind it runs NÔM next door, which won the Michelin Guide’s first Opening of the Year award in Vietnam this year. That was enough for me to book.
Neighborhood: Tân Định (old District 1), 51 Trần Nhật Duật (Tran Nhat Duat), upstairs · Best for: a date, serious cocktails, a seat at the bar · Booking: yes, through TableCheck · Google Maps
Inside SÂM Herbal Bar
Up the stairs and I’m no longer in Saigon. Hong Kong, maybe. Taipei. Hanoi, even. It’s all Indochine and old Cantonese: apothecary drawers behind the bar, lattice, red velvet, built like a Chợ Lớn medicine hall. Next to the tea jars, a rotary evaporator. So, a lab. Okay.
It’s never crowded, and that’s by design. The staff are attentive all night, the kind you notice only because nothing ever goes missing.
The cocktails at SÂM
Bangkok. Tokyo. That’s the level here, and I don’t say that about Saigon bars often. The menu, “Season I — ROOT,” is built on teas, herbs and fermentation.
First, two pink drinks on the house, a welcome for first-timers. Sake-ish, infused with fruit. A good start.
Then Old Tea & The Pipe. The gaiwan comes out, the bartender torches a wooden pipe beside it, and smoke rolls over the bowl. Under the theater is a whiskey drink an Old Fashioned or Manhattan person will know: stirred and strong. The peat hits you first, then the smooth herbal notes soothe it over.
What to eat
Everything was good. These three, I’d go back for.
Sweet & Sour Pork (Cantonese, 280,000₫). I know. Sweet and sour pork. Trust me. Crisp all the way through under a glaze that keeps changing on you, sweet, then sour, then something deeper, with a chopped salsa and sesame cutting through it. My favorite thing all night, and it’s not close.
Mala Prawn Potato Salad (Cold Dish, 260,000₫). Mala, but it won’t ruin your evening. The numbing kick is there and everything else still gets a say. The prawns crunch. The potato holds its shape, which never happens with stir-fried potato. Lime on the side.
Wagyu Beef Tenderloin Soaked Rice (Teochew, 580,000₫, for 2–3). The teapot pour gets the attention, but the wagyu earns it. Phở-style, incredibly tender, full of flavor. Bring a friend, or two.
Prices are from our visit. The menu has changed a few times since opening.
Good to know
- Open Tuesday to Sunday, 6pm to 1am. Closed Mondays. Check before you go, since the hours have shifted.
- Book through TableCheck, at info@sam-saigon.com, or on +84 392 880 951. Groups of four or more pay a small deposit.
- Cocktails are around 320,000₫. Dishes run from about 200,000₫ to 580,000₫.
SÂM Herbal Bar FAQ
Upstairs at 51 Trần Nhật Duật, Tân Định, Ho Chi Minh City, next door to NÔM.
Yes. They keep the numbers down, so book before you go.
Both. It’s a cocktail bar with a full menu of Chinese regional dishes.
The sweet and sour pork, the mala prawn salad, and the wagyu soaked rice if there are two or three of you.
Cocktails are around 320,000₫, and dishes roughly 200,000–580,000₫.
Earlier in the day, find a table at one of my favorite cafés in Saigon for reading. Know a spot I should try? Tell me on the contact page.
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