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Scrumptious Snails in Saigon @ Õc Ðào Restaurant

Fri, May 4, 2012 | 23 Comments

posted in: Asia, Restaurant Reviews, Travels | tagged as: Asia, seafood, vietnam

  • 64
Oc Dao, Saigon

ààÕc Ðào in Saigon

This week marks the one-year blog anniversary for Ginger and Scotch and I thought I’d celebrate by writing a post about…

…Snails!

Oc Dao

One of the great things about having friends and family living in a place you’ve never visited is the insight they provide on the best places to eat – more often than not, places that are off the tourist map.

Although Õc Ðào restaurant (Õc means snails) may not be off the tourist map anymore, it is a place my mom and I would never have found it on our own.

“Do you like snails?” my mom’s friend inquired.

With an enthusiastic nod from me in response, the deal was sealed. We ventured into the tortuous back alleys somewhere off of Nguyen Trãi and Cong Quynh streets (in District 1) with the goal of introducing me to more varieties of sea snails than I could imagine.

Oc Dao Storefront, Saigon

Õc Ðào Storefront

Our cab pulled up in front of the main storefront (pictured above) – which actually seats very little – so we headed over to the larger seating area just across the road.

But first I strayed behind to gawk and salivate over all the different baskets of snails and other mollusks – from what I could see, there were also clams, scallops, large shrimp, and mussels. A mollusk lover’s dream!

Õc Ðào

Choose your snail!

We arrived at the end of the lunch rush which meant that we didn’t have to queue for a table.

Apparently, this place is so popular that even with the large amount of seating they have, it still gets jammed packed!

Oc Dao - Seating Area

Õc Ðào - Annexed Seating Area

We settled ourselves on red plastic chairs and low tables that were more appropriate for the size of Wee Scotch and his little friends than five grown adults.

I arched my neck to stare at the selection of snails from the table next to ours – I couldn’t wait to start ordering! I was so excited, I forgot about sitting al fresco and sweating in the sweltering heat.

Oc Dao

Table next to ours

The menu was all in Vietnamese so didn’t make one iota of sense to me but my mom’s friends did all the ordering so I just sat back and waited for the food to arrive.

Look at the choices! There are about 27 varieties of shellfish on the menu and we barely made it through one-third.

Oc Dao Menu

Õc Ðào Menu

 

Oc Dao

 

Oc Dao

We began our snail fest by first ordering two things that I have grown to love since traveling to Vietnam: young coconut and bread.

Not being a big fan of coconut (whether in milk, cream, or shredded forms – the smell sometimes makes me sick), I’m constantly amazed at how much young coconut juice tastes nothing like it’s mature form. In fact, by the end of my month-long trip in Vietnam, I was ordering a young coconut at almost every meal so that I could drink its clear, thirst-quenching liquid. And a chilled coconut yielded much better tasting liquid than one at room temperature.

We also ordered some lovely bread which I could go on and on about but it really deserves a post on its own. For now, let’s just say that the bread plays a wonderful role in mopping up all the saucy goodness from the snail dishes.

Saigon bread

As the snail orders began to arrive, we were provided with tiny two-prong forks to assist in prying out the snail meat, and two different dipping sauces: Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam cham) and freshly squeezed lemon juice with finely crushed white pepper (my fave dipping sauce for bringing out the flavors of seafood such as lobster and crab – no clarified butter for me).

*   *   *   *   *

And here is what we ordered…

1) Õc Len.  These were served in a mild Thai yellow curry-like sauce.

To taste the meat of these snails, I had to learn and perfect a sucking action as the tiny forks could not reach into the openings. The first 2 I tried weren’t very succesful but by my third I got the hang of it.

Oc Len

Õc Len

2) Õc Mõ’.  Served stir-fried in sweet and sour sauce.

Oc Mo

Õc Mõ'

3) Sò Ðiêp.  Grilled scallops sprinkled with scallions and peanuts.

So Diep

Sò Ðiêp

4) Õc toi.  Large snails with a lovely smokey flavor from the grill. When I thought I had pried all the meat out, my mom could always find a few more pieces.

Oc Toi

Õc Toi

5) Nghêu.  Clams in a very spicy lemongrass broth.

Ngheu

Nghêu

The broth was so packed with flavor that I started to use my small sauce spoon to slurp up its yummy goodness but then gave up on these tiny efforts in favor of my drinking straw.

Ngheu

Broth was slurping good

6) Sò Huyê‘t.  Small clams that were all closed and necessitated the use of one’s fingernails to pry them open. Defies the belief that closed clams should be discarded.

So Huyet

Sò Huyê't

I had been so focused on eating the snails and other shellfish that it wasn’t until this dish that I noticed the little bits of fried pork fat in the sauces. There are few things better than a well-fried piece of pork fat (and on that note, crackling too!).

With each bite, there was some crunch and there was some tenderness. These tiny morsels were insanely addictively good. I could not stop eating all of it. Okay, I did eat ALL OF IT.

Hey, I was on vacation. Screw the calories and possible artery clogging properties. Nothing was going to stop me from eating ALL OF IT. Mmmm…pork fat, come to mama!

Allow me to zoom in on more of the fried pork fat heaven.

So Huyet

Fatty goodness

7) Õc huong .  Snails flavored with dry chilli.

Oc Huong

Õc Huong

8 ) Chem Chép.  Mussels that were more tender, less chewy, than the New Zealand variety. The meat was soft and plump with a briny oyster-like flavor.

Chem Chep

Chem Chép

9) Õc Ðo.  Possibly the largest snails on the menu. The meat was tough and chewy – grilled with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Oc Do

Õc Ðo

Oc Do

Õc Ðo

Our table was one big mess by the end of our meal as the dishes weren’t cleared in order to tally up the plates for the bill. Amazingly, with all this shellfish around, we were only annoyed by two flies (yes, I counted). In Dubai, even when the weather is nice to sit outside, Scotch usually opts for indoor seating as we are often besieged with flies often even before the food arrives. Perhaps we landed at Õc Ðào at the right time of day or year.

Oh, the bill came to a whopping 790,000 VND.

Sounds like a lot but it equates to $38 for 5 of us. A bargain at less than $8 per person. Crazy cheap in my books for all that food.

Oc Dao Receipt

Oc Dao Receipt

Unlike Americans, I’ve noticed that the Vietnamese and Chinese are very stingy about their napkins. But moist towelettes seem to be ubiquitous at all the restaurants – though you are charged for how ever many you use. However, I still prefer a nice large DRY napkin and tend to bring my own.

But one advantage of the moist towelettes is that they are printed with the names and addresses of the restaurants so I took pictures of them as a way to record the places we ate at.

Oc Dao

*   *   *   *   *

Õc Ðào Restaurant: 212B/C79 Nguyen Trãi, P: Nguyen Cu Trinh, District 1, Saigon. Phone: +84 0909.437033.

I *think* this was where we were. I can’t believe I left my iPhone at home that day and thus couldn’t google map it. But my mom’s friends say that the taxi drivers should be able to take you there.


View Õc Ðào Restaurant – Saigon in a larger map

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    Recipe Rating




  1. yes says

    Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    The bread and the spicy snails are the best.
    <3<3 cant get enough

    Reply
  2. Ira Rodrigues says

    Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Oh i love those snail, yum…

    Reply
  3. Phuoc'n Delicious says

    Mon, May 28, 2012 at 4:18 am

    YUM! Look at all the snails you can choose from! I love the way Viets prepare snails, there’s so much flavour going on. I’m salivating at the one with the fried pork fat. Thanks for sharing, I’ll have to keep it in mind and make sure I visit it next time. We didn’t get to try that many great places in Saigon

    Reply
  4. Cheese with Noodles says

    Tue, May 15, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    I’ve only ever had snails at an Italian restaurant, but these all look really good! The So Diep and Oc Len look most tempting to me. What do snails taste like? The ones I had actually reminded me most of mushrooms!

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Thu, May 24, 2012 at 12:09 am

      The smaller snails are a bit like clam (and I can imagine some of it having a texture of firm mushroom) and the larger snails have a much firmer texture, almost chewy – have you every had Conch? Which I think is a really really large snail.

      The fun part about eating at this snail restaurant was not just the actual snails but also the variety of sauces that were used.

      Reply
  5. francine @ life in the foodlane says

    Tue, May 8, 2012 at 8:43 am

    Absolutely a snails and mollusks person myself, I envy you for the sumptuous snail spread you got to enjoy! The picture of the table next to yours made me laugh. I can imagine their faces as you hover over their food with snail-hungry eyes, camera clicking away! And @ Sally, sea snails definitely have a different taste to land-ones. Firmer and salty, they are more like clam.

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Thu, May 24, 2012 at 12:04 am

      Haha! I think the table next to us saw the excitement in my eyes as I pointed at my camera and then at their table – they just nodded and smiled and let me snap away. I don’t know how they managed to get all those dishes on their table at one go – ours came one by one and each plate was practically devoured (mostly by me) before the next arrived!

      Reply
  6. Platetrotter says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    My mouth is watering just looking at this post. If I ever head back to Saigon, I’m definitely going to try and find this place 🙂

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:57 pm

      And if you make it there, let me know what you think!

      Reply
  7. Anh says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    Happy blog anniversary!

    Your posts about Vietnam have had me absolutely salivating. I was born in the US but speak and read the language. My dream is to be able to go to Vietnam with my parents and see where they grew up, as well as indulge in the amazing food. I can’t wait for more reviews on places to eat from you!

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Thu, May 24, 2012 at 12:01 am

      I wish my parents had taught me how to read and write Vietnamese as well but they thought that Chinese was enough. I don’t think I would have experienced as much with just English so was glad I had a bunch of translators there in the form of my family.

      More reviews to come! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Devina Divecha (FooDee) says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 10:25 am

    I’m not a snails/seafood person, but these photographs are absolutely gorgeous and is tempting me a wee bit! That does sound really cheap for all that food; gotta love good food at affordable prices.
    Oh and happy blog anniversary 🙂

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:55 pm

      LOL! I’m glad you like the photos if not the thought of eating the snails 😉

      Reply
  9. IshitaUnblogged says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 10:14 am

    Happy Blog-Anniversary! And this post could have been on snails but it was such a fast-paced read and equally interesting. I genuinely wish to visit this place if ever we are in Saigon:)

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:51 pm

      Thanks Ishita! And I hope you do get to visit Oc Dao – still drooling over the experience.

      Reply
  10. Shyzie says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 10:09 am

    Lovely post Sandy…have never tried snails though…Clams and mussels yes…
    Also happy one year blog anniversary:))

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:47 pm

      You should give snails a try – maybe at a French restaurant here in Dubai (called escargots) – not sure which ones serve it but I’ll be on the lookout.

      I have tried the frozen ones at Carrefour but was only good for a quick fix and wouldn’t recommend it for a first-timer.

      Reply
  11. Sally - My Custard Pie says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 8:06 am

    Fascinating post. You say that some of them are sea snails – do they have a different flavour to those on land? One of the menu items made me smile – Tom Hum Baby!
    Happy blog anniversary.

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:42 pm

      What a good question Sally – I have absolutely no idea! I was too focused on just getting the meat out of the shell and enjoying the bounty to even ponder sea versus land. (And there was some distraction with the pork fat).

      But next time I will be sure to see if there is any difference as Francine described.

      Reply
  12. Irini Savva says

    Mon, May 7, 2012 at 6:59 am

    Happy one year blog anniversary! Never tried snails before but it sure looks interesting with all those sauces 🙂

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:39 pm

      Thanks Irini! I hope you get to try it one day (and like it too).

      Reply
  13. Abigail-MyNappytales says

    Sun, May 6, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    Bad idea to read this post at this hour – now I’m craving. This just reminds me of weekends spent with my cousins on the beachside enjoying fresh shells.

    Reply
    • ginger says

      Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:38 pm

      I’ve never had a beachside snail-eating experience but wouldn’t mind it one day!

      Reply

About Me

Homemade Chinese Noodles From ScratchI’m Sandy (aka “Ginger”), married to “Scotch” (yes, he’s Scottish).

I believe that it’s not just noodles we are creating, but memories, traditions, and a sense of pride.

I believe in slowing down, relishing time spent with our children and loved ones, and bonding through shared noodle-making experiences.  Read more…

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