Vietnam Cookery Center
Vietnam Cookery Center
4.5
Cooking Classes
This location was reported permanently closed
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The Vietnam Cookery Center School is definitely closed. We thank you in advance for your interest. Vietnam Cookery Center 26, Ly Tu Trong, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles228 reviews
Excellent
174
Very good
43
Average
4
Poor
4
Terrible
3

lovetoexploretravel
New York City, NY5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
(It's spelled 'Centre'). We are a family of 4 (all adults). We took an afternoon class, during which we cooked dinner. We all loved it! The school was very clean and well organized. The chef was Vietnamese and didn't speak English but they had a very sweet translator who explained everything. Everything we made was authentic and delicious! After the class everyone sits at a big table and eats together. Two of us are vegetarian and I was expecting it to be difficult but they knew all about it and had substitutes ready when we got there). This was a fun thing to do while visiting Saigon and I highly recommend it.
Written July 8, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Svein_Norw
Porsgrunn, Norway9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2017 • Couples
Me and my wife booked a VIP class just for the two us. The cost was 200$, and My oh My was it worth it!

We agreed on the dishes to make the day before. They had a big menu to choose from, and we got very good assistance on what to choose. We opted for a Salad, Soup, Chicken wings 3 different styles, and Fried pork.
What we got was 2 distinctively different fantastic salads, both Pho Ba soup and Hue style soup, the pork was used both in a separate dish and in their fantastic Banh baguettes, the chicken wings were both barbecued and deep fried, in 3 different (super tasty) ways.
Salads may sound a bit boring, but don't be fooled. That included different meats and seafood cooked in different ways, and man were they tasty..! We started with the salads first, and we had to really constrain ourselves to not eat too much, so we could also manage to try the other dishes.
We got a nice bottle of French white wine to go with it all.

Our Chef Linh (I hope the name is correct) was very knowledgable, and she spoke very good English. She taught us a lot about the 3 different styles of Vietnamese cuisine and different ingredients while we were cooking. The food was in abundance. I'd say we managed to eat half of it, including 2 full meals that they carefully packed for us to take home. We were so full I could hardly walk down the stairs after, but the food was so delicious that we had to bring some with us. They do donate the leftovers to charity, which I thought was a very nice touch.
We skipped the market tour, as it was rainy season, and they explain all the ingredients you use in detail at the class anyway.

There were staff taking care of all the cleaning, boring peeling/cutting, etc. We were still hands on ourselves, but were spared for the boring stuff. They even had an extra chef attending.

After the class we got all the recipes in a very nice and fancy book. The book also included a lot of trivia about food history, ingredients, etc etc.

Overall a great experience. I can absolutely recomend it, and I can guarantee that we will go back on our next trip here to Ho Chi Minh!

Thanks again to our Chef Linh! My wife wanted a manicure/pedicure after the class, and she came down with us to a salon 2 floors down and helped her book what she wanted.
Written August 6, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Svein_Norw, Warmest greetings from the Vietnam Cookery Center! We are proud and happy to read your nice comments on us, yours and other travelers support have helped us earn the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, and we are thankful for that; Looking forward to welcome you again soon. Raymond Reichardt Manager
Written August 9, 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

DaKingskid
Seria, Brunei Darussalam18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2014
My whole family took the Tuesday class. My 9&11 years old sons, are enthusiastic about cooking and my dear hubby happily joined in. It was a lovely family time starting from the market.
Ms Chau was very nice in amending the set menu to suit our preference, without any fuss.
Lovely family time and lovely lunch. Worth every cent and time spent. Highly recommended.
Written March 28, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, Greetings from the Vietnam Cookery Center ! we appreciate your nice posting on us, hope to see you again to teach you some more dishes…best regards. Raymond REICHARDT Manager
Written March 29, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

fersure
Dublin44 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
This is an okay cooking class--but it's definitely aimed at tourists who are looking for an activity, not for people that actually want to learn to cook Vietnamese food. However, it is a fun activity, and would maybe be fun for a family group.

They didn't bother really teaching us anything, and their version of having us cook was to give us jars of MSG (called chicken powder) and say "Now add 1 teaspoon." Although we didn't learn anything, we were given a certificate stating that we can now cook Vietnamese food.

Classes are meant to go until 1, but our instructor rushed through the class and we were out the door before 12. As such, it wasn't great value for money. It's a nice space, but I took another class in Hue that only cost $16.

Overall I think this place could really improve. The space is great and if they just made some sort of effort and didn't rush the classes (and use MSG!) I think it could be a nice class.
Written March 13, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mary Hiscox
West Vancouver, Canada19 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2011 • Couples
We echo the previous remarks about this being a course for tourists looking for a fun outing. The class was only 2.5 hours long including about an hour eating and talking to classmates. To have to pay for drinking water was a little rich given e price of the lesson. If you are going to Hanoi go to the Hanoi cooking centre. In addition to the classes, they have an excellent street food tour. Wine was included with the lunch that we cooked completely during the lesson and the cost was similar.
Written September 23, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bill T
Changzhou, China31 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2012 • Couples
We met the chef and host at Ben Thang market a little after the appointed time. Eventually a group of 10 or so. The tour of the market was very interesting and thorough. Maybe a little bit too much information. After a while the herbs started to run together. Fresh ingredients are a key to Vietnamese cooking. Once we got to the cooking school it was a typical set up. You were paired with someone and shared ingredients. It was promoted as a five course learning and cooking experience. There was a chef although I'm not sure he was necessary. The entire thing was conducted by a very nice, English speaking hostess. We were instructed to chop and slice various veggies for the dishes. There really wasn't any explanation of how they were going to be used and everyone seemed to kind of wing it on the prep. There was a salad first course that was made almost entirely of raw onion and was way to strong for me. There were a couple nice tasting dishes, one fish and one beef and I'm sure you could readily substitute main ingredients. Unfortunately you ate at your cooking station which was quite cramped and didn't make a lot of sense as there was an adjoining room with a long table. The dessert course was skipped entirely with no explanation. Just a bad tapioca was served instead. There was no offer or explanation to the drinks in the cooler. We helped ourselves and didn't mind paying when the hostess sort of scoldingly asked us to settle up before we left. It would have just been simpler to explain the process at the beginning. It was time well spent but could have been much more. It didn't compare to other courses I've taken.
Written December 26, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JONATHAN KIM
Seoul, South Korea3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Chef is great in cooking, of course. Teacher can speak English very well, so kind and funny. Center is sooooo clean and some helpers make us concentrate in cooking.
After the class, don't miss the certification paper :)
You can pay with cash(USD, VND), credit card and Paypal too.
But you'd better have lunch a little. You have to eat 3 kinds of meal and one dessert on and on during 2 and half hours.
Written December 24, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

C_Satya
Phuket, Thailand22 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019
A great half day, did 5 authentic Vietnamese dishes. Chef Thien and Miss Lillian very professional and have all the answers for all our culinary questions. Also, have fun to eat and enjoy the food after the cooking class. High Recommended.
Written May 11, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear C_Satya, Thank you so much for having taken your time to write about us. We appreciate greatly your support. Warm regards Raymond Reichardt
Written May 12, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

J T
London, UK22 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2018 • Friends
The morning commenced at the touristy but comprehensive wet market at Ben Thanh. Our host introduced us to a range of Vietnamese specialities (including some freebie tastings if you asked nicely!), and gave us an insight into the ingredients behind Vietnamese cooking.

Our actual cooking class started in a fascinating historic building - site of the last American helicopter to leave Saigon at the end of the war.

The class itself was instructive but informative. Menu itself was a good combination, where you can work on the next course while one is steaming / marinating so no time is spent idle. We weren’t a big fan of the desert, but everything else was delicious!

Our chef / host, Lynn, is a no-nonsense, knowledgeable lady with a great sense of humour. She is informative and answered all of our questions, including how to navigate between the many variants of fish sauce available in Vietnam.

Good value for money, especially given the number of staff looking after us and getting a big lunch out of it!
Written May 8, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear J T Thank you very much for visiting us and for taking time to share your experience at the Vietnam Cookery Center on TripAdvisor. We are very delighted to hear that you enjoy the cooking class and our service. We hope you do come back here in your next visit. Best Regards Raymond Reichardt
Written May 9, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

tinav3_travels
Edmonton, Canada774 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2018 • Friends
We booked a cooking class with the Vietnamese Cookery Center for our second day in Vietnam and it was a great experience! Our day started at 8:30 am, when our guide and translator, Mi, met us at our hotel. We walked to the Ben Thanh Market (about a block away) and got the most interesting market tour. We were exposed to so many vegetables, fruits, meats, and fish - many of which we had never before seen or heard of! It was a great way to start! We sampled herbs, fruits, and vegetables here and there, and got some background on daily life in Vietnam. We were then whisked away by taxi to our cooking class (just a few minutes away). For some reason, we were the only two booked for the day, so we had very personalized attention. After meeting the chef who would be instructing us (Mi would be translating), we were provided with a welcome cup of tea, which was really nice.

The menu for the day included lotus stem salad with pork, steamed pork pie, grilled pork, broken rice, and a grilled banana with tapioca and coconut milk. They were very careful and accommodating regarding my allergies (celiac and severe shellfish allergy), so that was much appreciated. The lessons were easy to understand and went at a nice, relaxed pace. In addition to learning how to make these dishes, we were shown a few presentation tricks which beautify any platter. Of course we got to eat our creations - yum! At the end of our session, we were provided with a cookbook with the recipes of the dishes we made, plus a nice certificate of attendance!

It was a morning well spent and I would definitely recommend!
Written January 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Tina, Xin Chao ! thanks for your kind post on Tripadvisor, you or your family or friends will be always most welcome here, to learn more dishes! Kind regards Raymond Reichardt Manager
Written January 31, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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Vietnam Cookery Center - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)