In this episode, Mischa Smith and I talk about his best spots for the classic hangover cure cocktail…. the Bloody Mary.
I’m Niall Mackay, an experienced expat who’s been living in Saigon since 2016. In this this episode we I talk with my friend and resident Bloody Mary expert-in-chief, Mischa Smith.
Mischa is a prominent figure in Vietnam’s craft beer and food and beverage scene, renowned for his in-depth knowledge and influence in the industry.
Whether you’re in for a lazy brunch or a classic cocktail experience, these insights will guide you through the top spots offering the best Bloody Marys in Saigon.
The Bloody Mary – A Unique Cocktail
Mischa and I have been podcasting together for a while now, and while people might know him as “the beer guy,” Mischa has plenty of other interests, one of which is finding the best Bloody Mary in Saigon.
A Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail known for its savory and spicy flavors. It typically consists of vodka mixed with tomato juice and is seasoned with a variety of ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce (often Tabasco), lemon juice, black pepper, salt, and sometimes horseradish. It’s often garnished with a celery stick, olives, pickles, or even a slice of bacon, depending on the recipe.
My love for Bloody Marys began during a hungover brunch in New Zealand. From that moment on, I was hooked. Mischa, on the other hand, didn’t always love Bloody Marys until he found one in Saigon that changed his mind.
We talked about what makes a perfect Bloody Mary. For Mischa, it’s all about balance – spicy but not overpowering, with flavors that come together harmoniously. While bacon is a nice touch, it’s not essential, and he’s particular about celery being fresh and crisp.
So now let’s discover Mischa’s best 7 Bloody Mary Spots in Saigo in no particular order other than number one!
- Bardo
Bardo is a little-known music, comedy, and cocktail spot in District 2. I had only been there once, and my memory of it involved a comedy night where three women were hilariously kicked out – not exactly relevant to our Bloody Mary conversation, but memorable nonetheless.
Mischa, on the other hand, had been to Bardo several times.
Bardo is mostly known as a space for events and comedy nights, but they also serve brunch. Mischa mentioned that a mutual friend, Ale Sorti, who used to live in Saigon, had recommended Bardo’s Bloody Mary to him. After trying it, Mischa found it to be fantastic, with the tomato juice bursting with flavor. He decided it was definitely worthy of making the list, even though it might not be the very best Bloody Mary in Saigon.
We discussed how Bardo is generally known for its cocktails, so it wasn’t surprising that their Bloody Mary was well-executed.
- Summer Experiment
This is a cocktail bar in District 1. They serve it in a big wine glass, complete with bacon – though he always tossed aside the olives. The key, as Mischa noted, was the quality of ingredients and the craftsmanship of the bartenders, which made this Bloody Mary far superior to what you’d find in a typical bar.
I had to laugh when we discussed The Summer Experiment because it had made it onto my top 11 list of cocktail bars in Saigon, but I barely had any recollection of the place. When I was recording that episode by myself, I realized I didn’t have many notes or memories of our visit there – something that would’ve been easily fixed if Adrie had been by my side.
Mischa helped fill in the details, emphasizing that The Summer Experiment was one of the best places in town for a Bloody Mary. He also reminded me of their solid happy hour deals, which I probably missed out on during my initial visit.
- Ministry – Social Club
Ministry – Social Club is located at the Sofitel Saigon and connected to the House of Barbaard, this spot isn’t just a cocktail bar—it also features a stylish barbershop behind.
The idea of getting a fresh trim while enjoying a top-notch cocktail is pretty cool, and it certainly adds to the unique vibe of the place. I admitted that I’d been to Ministry – Social Club once, but couldn’t remember exactly what I had.
Mischa mentioned that the Ministry of Men wasn’t initially a place he would have thought to visit for a Bloody Mary, but a recommendation from someone who saw his Bloody Mary posts led him there. And he was glad they did.
The bartenders at Ministry – Social Club are incredibly skilled, and it shows in their work. Because of their expertise, any cocktail they make is going to be top-tier, and their Bloody Mary was no exception.
- Layla
The next one on our list is Layla, another familiar place whenever I talk about cocktail bars. This place is a well-known cocktail bar, popular for its vibrant atmosphere and expert bartenders. It’s always bustling, and finding a seat can be a challenge, but it’s worth it for the quality of the drinks.
Mischa and I both agreed that Layla is one of those places where you know the cocktails are going to be excellent because the bartenders are true artists at their craft.
Mischa had recently revisited Layla specifically to try their Bloody Mary. Interestingly, they use beef jerky instead of the more traditional bacon as a garnish, which adds a nice twist. Mischa confessed that he typically goes for a gin martini or another cocktail when he’s at Layla, but this time he tried the Bloody Mary as part of his research.
He wasn’t disappointed. Layla’s Bloody Mary didn’t have any wild or unique twists, but it was a perfectly executed classic. The tomato juice was just the right consistency – not too thick – and the spice level was spot on. It was exactly what you’d want in a Bloody Mary: balanced, flavorful, and expertly made.
Layla was also feaetyred in when we featured Saigon’s best happy hours!
- Malt South
This one is located in District 7. Malt South is known for its great brunch, and it’s Bloody Mary is no exception. It’s a classic Bloody Mary, perfectly executed and topped off with a crispy slice of bacon. While there’s nothing particularly flashy or unique about it, sometimes a well-made classic is all you need, and Malt South delivers on that front.
The Bloody Mary is part of their Free Flow brunch deal (or was – we’re unsure at the time of recording), which led us into a discussion about free-flow offers in general. Mischa and I reminisced about how, as we’ve gotten older, we’ve both stepped away from free-flow deals. The temptation to get your money’s worth by drinking as much as possible usually ends up ruining the rest of the day—and sometimes the next one too.
Mischa recounted how he and some friends tested the FreeFlow deal at Malt South, tracking how many drinks they could consume to see if they could “turn a profit.” Although Mischa eventually got his money’s worth, he admitted that the effort left him wiped out for the rest of the day.
- WKND
When Mischa revealed one of his top 3 to be the Weekend in District 2, I immediately recognized the connection – WKND is owned by the same person who runs Layla, another top spot on our list. Mischa acknowledged that with three of Jay’s places in the top seven, some people might accuse him of bias, but as he pointed out, the quality speaks for itself.
The unique twist at WKND is that their Bloody Mary isn’t even called a Bloody Mary—it’s dubbed the “Orient Snapper.” What sets it apart is that it’s made with gin instead of vodka. Mischa admitted he was kind of cheating by including it on the list, but as he rightly noted, it’s still tomato juice. He compared it to other variations like the Bloody Maria, which uses tequila instead of vodka.
Mischa is a big gin fan, and he was extremely impressed with the Orient Snapper and recommended everyone should give it a try.
- Lubu (and Mischa’s #1)
When Mischa and I sat down to discuss our favorite Bloody Marys in Saigon, it was clear that his top pick was going to be something special. As we worked our way through the list, Mischa finally revealed his number one spot: Lubu, a Mediterranean restaurant in District 2.
Mischa shared that Lubu was where he had his first Bloody Mary that he truly loved. The secret, according to Jim, the owner at the time, was in the tomato juice. Jim explained to Mischa that using only fresh tomato juice wouldn’t work because it tends to be too bitter.
The key was in blending fresh tomato juice with a bit of the pre-packaged stuff to balance out the bitterness with a hint of sweetness. This blend not only made the Bloody Mary thicker but also hit the right level of flavor and consistency without being too much.
Mischa loved the level of spice in Lubu’s Bloody Mary. Although some of his friends found it a bit too spicy, Mischa thought it was just right. He admitted that, unfortunately, Lubu’s Bloody Mary didn’t come with bacon, but you could always order a side of it, which he often did.
For those who want to have a great deal, go for Lubu: on weekends before noon, you get a complimentary Bloody Mary with any brunch item. Mischa added that during the week, they offer a buy one, get one deal on brunches, which is an even better bargain.
Whether you’re there for the brunch, the great atmosphere, or just a perfectly crafted Bloody Mary, it’s a spot worth visiting.
Notable Mentions
- The Brix
- Birdy
- Cargo Remote
- Stoker
Conclusion
I couldn’t help but joke about how we should have recorded the podcast while visiting each of these bars. Maybe that’s an idea for part two – actually going out and sampling all of these Bloody Marys in person. Stay tuned for that!
If you’re as passionate about Vietnam, Saigon, and all the unique stories we share on A Vietnam Podcast, then you’re in the right place.
Join the Vietnam Podcast community to share your love for Vietnam with us!
7 Top Bloody Mary’s in Vietnam with Mischa Smith
Niall: [00:00:00] Welcome to an extra special episode of a Vietnam podcast with me, Niall Mackay, and my guest today who has been a regular on this podcast since the very, very beginning is Misha Smith. Thank you for joining me today.
Mischa: It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me on again. Uh, have you kept track of how many pods we’ve done together now?
Niall: It must be at least four or five or six.
So no, I’ve not kept track.
Mischa: Yeah, no, four or five sounds right. And then all the, all the beer stories, ones that you produced for us.
Niall: we did, uh, Vietnam is Awesome as well.
Mischa: Yeah. at least. Yeah.
Niall: So this podcast, for those that don’t know, is all about sharing stories of people connected to Vietnam. We started in 2019, just as a hobby, me and my front room.
Very similar to this, you were, I think, the third or the fourth guest at the time, and it’s grown over the years from just sharing stories of people in Saigon to people all over the world connected to Vietnam. I moved here in 2016, thought we’d, thought we’d be here for six [00:01:00] weeks, that turned into six years pretty quickly, and it’s now been eight years.
And despite its ups and downs and its challenges, I absolutely love this country. Now, over the last season, and this is season 10, incredibly, and the seasons are pretty arbitrary. People ask me, like, how many episodes are in a season? I’m like, eh, sometimes four, sometimes 10, sometimes 12, whatever I feel like.
But, uh, we’re just finishing up season 10. And for the first time ever, Ever, I have started to share my story with you, the listener, and I’ve never done that before. I’ve always interviewed other people. And as part of that, I shared my favorite places to go for food, favorite Vietnamese places, my favorite cocktail bars, my favorite happy hours.
My favourite happy hours. And of course, if anyone listens to this regularly, if anyone knows me, my favourite places to go for craft beer in Vietnam. And a lot of that is due to this man here, Misha Smith, who is a massive influence on the craft beer community. in [00:02:00] Vietnam. But Misha, we are not here to talk about Craft
Mischa: No, no, I have other interests.
Niall: You’re not one dimensional, you’re kidding me on. I do remember when I first started comedy, I talked to another comedian and I was like, I find it really hard to go from being a podcaster to a comedian. And she’s like, you can be multifaceted, like you can be more than one dimensional. And I was like, Oh yeah, I didn’t really think about that.
I kind of thought I just had to be one thing. Do you get that? A lot of people just think of you and.
Just think craft beer and that’s it.
Mischa: yeah, yeah, of course. A lot of people are like, Oh, you’re the beer guy. And I’m like, sure. Like if that, if that helps you to, to, to define me in a certain way.
Um, and then also obviously, uh, you know, people ask me, what do you like to do when you’re not working, when you’re not drinking? And I’m like, pretty much, I like to keep drinking. Um, which actually,
Niall: brings us to today’s topic. It does. Well, so to give a bit of an introduction,
Mischa: of the unintentional segue over here.
Niall: was a great segue. The, the, the segue or the, the background to today’s topic is [00:03:00] about 12 years ago. Uh, I was in New Zealand with my beautiful wife, Adri, her sister, and Arika, who’s briefly been on this podcast, on the Pubcrawl podcast.
podcast? Pod podcast. Podcast. It’s not
podcast.
would
be pretty good. And one day, well of course we were just getting very drunk every single night and meaning we were very hung over most mornings and there was one morning we were particularly hung over like a really really bad one I remember it was not good and we went out for brunch as you do and they were like get a Bloody Mary and I was like fuck that no way a Bloody Mary that with tomato juice.
That sounds disgusting. I’m already giving away my heritage when I say tomato, but tomato juice, tomato juice. I was like, no way. I’m not getting a Bloody Mary. That sounds absolutely disgusting. I like olives, but I’m not having a Bloody Mary. Sure enough, I ordered the Bloody Mary and I went from feeling like [00:04:00] garbage to feeling on top of the world with within half a glass, tomato juice and vodka, Tabasco pepper, everything else in it.
I was sold and I changed, man.
Mischa: Yeah. So that’s , that’s an interesting, uh, to give you my background, I I, I never really liked Bloody Mary’s, uh, until I found one here in Saigon that I really, really liked. Um, and then I, I was actually sharing that so much that I felt like maybe I was giving short shrift to other places. So about. Just looking back at my social media history, uh, going back to like 2022, I just kind of did like, started informally trying different Bloody Marys around town to see if there were any that were as good or better than the one that I had kept touting as the best.
And like, obviously you can’t call something the best in the city if you don’t do the research, you know, it’s like,
Niall: well there’s people
Mischa: you’ve only had one.
Niall: the best food with I’m thinking of somebody’s best pizza that was, uh, doing the round with definitely not the best pizza, but Sorry to
Mischa: Yeah, [00:05:00] no, no, not at all. That’s funny. Um, but then yeah, I did find a lot of others that I liked. Um, I’ve, just spoiler alert, I’ve still, I’m sticking with my, my old number one as the best one. Uh, but yeah, so, maybe you can tell the story better than I can, but I, I guess you just noticed what I was doing, and then you had, you Obviously, you needed, right, so you did the cocktail bars, we did,
Niall: beer, happy hours, showing my Scottishness, which somebody that we know got annoyed with me on social media that’s
Mischa: I have no comment
Niall: basically calling me out for portraying Scottish people as being stereotypically cheap.
It’s a stereotype. It was a joke. Uh, we are very generous people. Honestly, if you go into a bar in Scotland and they’ve never met you before, they will buy you a drink. Like they, they will not let you leave. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s, they’re very generous people. It is just a stereotype. And I was just joking for comedic effect and it wasn’t even a good joke.
It’s such a bad joke, like such an old stereotype. [00:06:00] But anyway, I joked about Scottish people liking happy hour. So I got in touch with Misha and I said, Hey, I want to keep doing these review, uh, like lists. Episodes are really fun and, uh, as I’ve been here long enough, as I told you, I’ve been here for eight years.
Misha’s been here for 10, 11. Um, I want to bring to you more of what makes Saigon so amazing, so special, because I make the mistake of always saying Vietnam when I really mean Saigon. Saigon downtown, which I can see out my window from here. is not the same as two hours out in the rice paddies. It’s a completely different place.
Here there’s amazing craft beer, amazing cocktails, happy hours. Oh, that was another one. Someone got annoyed at me for promoting where to get cheap drinks because they like to spend more money when they come to Vietnam because it’s such a poor
Mischa: Oh, I remember that. Yeah, I remember that exact comment.
Niall: I was like,
Mischa: should be stimulating the economy more by spending our tourist dollars.
Like,
Niall: it wasn’t even that intelligent about stimulating the economy. It was just like,
Mischa: And obviously for [00:07:00] us, like, we live here. Like, all of our money is spent in, in,
Niall: the economy. . a good one. But anyway, so I said to Meisha, let’s do, uh, obviously I had seen you on social media.
You’ve been doing reviews of Bloody Mary’s.
Mischa: Well, not, they were never formal reviews, uh, in, in as much as I was doing like beer reviews with actual scores and
Niall: Yeah. Yeah.
Mischa: I was just kind of like doing very informal research. Uh, I noticed going back through some of this stuff, I have two different places that are owned by the same guy that were on the site, like I posted on the same day. So like some days I was doing, I was having a few Bloody Marys. Some days I was only having one.
Yeah. Some of them, there’s like months between, and like I said, I started in 2022 and now we’re recording in 2024. So it’s, it’s, it’s been very informal. Um, but I do have my list and I, I, I’m very, uh, solid on, you asked me for seven,
Niall: Yeah.
Mischa: Classic
number, um,
Niall: Anyone listening going, why seven? [00:08:00] Apparently there is research that seven is like the key number so that’s why you have a list because people will more likely to click or listen to something. If you’re listening to this right now, ha, we got you because you, you saw this seven. Um, apparently that’s why.
So that’s why we’re doing seven. And you’ve definitely inspired me. I’ve definitely seen your social media and been like, hey Dre. Should we go for a Bloody Mary right now? Misha is
Mischa: Well, that’s some, some new restaurant. Uh, uh, the guy just posted in one of the foodies groups. He’s like,
he’s trying to be a little clever. English was a second language. Obviously he’s like, I don’t know if you guys have this feeling, but I know I get this feeling every time I post on here, my orders go up.
So I’m posting, you know, and I almost ordered from him. So like, Like advertising works, you know, marketing works, social media works.
Niall: works.
Mischa: Not a hundred percent of the time, obviously, or else it’d be very easy. But, uh, yeah, if you read an article that said seven’s the number, I brought you seven with some honorable mentions.
I think that’s also, uh, I think it’s very common for these, like, listicle type things to have, you know, the honorable [00:09:00] mentions. Uh, but we didn’t talk at all about the format, so I don’t have them ranked, like, seven to one. I’ve got my, I’ve got my number one favorite.
Niall: do that last. Keep
Mischa: Okay, build up
Niall: Keep that in
Mischa: Okay, that’s what I was gonna think,
Niall: Before we did
Mischa: what I was gonna think. That’s what I was thinking, sorry. God.
Niall: what makes your perfect Bloody Mary? What are you looking for?
Mischa: Um, so for me, like, uh, , so knowing that we were recording today, I was, I was, I was thinking about that. Um, and also I had one, uh, last night on my way home, just as a refresher to see if it was gonna be on the list or not.
Uh, and I won’t name the place ’cause it’s not gonna be on the list. It wasn’t, it was just way too spicy. Um, it wasn’t the only problem with it, but it, that’s the thing like. For a Bloody Mary, like, you want it, you want a kick. Like, you want that spice. That’s part of getting over the hangovers, like, not just the vodka and the tomato juice, but also, like, that kick from the Tabasco, the, uh, the Worcester sauce, uh, the salt and pepper, obviously.
Um, but also, you don’t want it too spicy, because you can [00:10:00] always make it more spicy, just ask for a bottle of Tabasco. You can’t, once it’s spicy, you can’t be like, Can I get a chaser of tomato juice to, like,
Niall: or Tabasco? I’ve definitely,
Mischa: Chunk this up a little bit.
Niall: ordered a curry and we, this was in New Zealand and me and Adrian were like, no, no, make it spicy.
Right. They saw us have one bite and our faces, they actually had to bring us out yoghurt to, to, to make it milder because we were like dying, so you do have to be careful.
Mischa: So yeah, you want, uh, obviously like, You know, it’s, it’s, it, at the end of the day, like craft beer, like anything else, it’s about the flavor, like how, how do the flavors, uh, come together in your mouth as, as the drinking experience.
Uh, so yeah, like spicy, but not too spicy, uh, for me personally. Um, I noticed, uh, while I was going over the list that, uh, bacon was not as essential as I assumed it would be. Some of these have bacon in them, some of them don’t. Um, obviously with the Bloody Mary you always have the, the celery, uh, you mentioned
Niall: take out right away.
I hate Hil. I
Mischa: Oh yeah, that’s funny. No, you mentioned olives earlier. I don’t like olives. So [00:11:00] like, I would, I always offer my olives to someone else if the Bloody Mary has it. Uh, but the celery, if it’s, as they’re not using like shitty old celery. No, I, I’ll, I’ll like take a few bites of the, of the stock. I like it.
Um, but yeah, you want to
Niall: Let’s dive into it.
Mischa: in?
Niall: Um, I also want to add, thinking about like some of the comments that have been posted on social media before, have wanker than right now that we’re about to do a list of our favourite Bloody Marys in Saigon?
Mischa: I didn’t feel that way until you mentioned it. And now I’m, now I’m very self conscious.
Niall: I
know I’ve had a few of these as well, I would imagine as well, and I’ve had some really good Bloody
Mischa: so again, the
Niall: in Saigon.
Mischa: Uh, four are gonna be in no particular order, and then I’ve got like the top
Niall: Sounds good.
Mischa: Great. Okay, and I, and I did consciously try to not make this too, uh, District 2
centric.
Niall: Cause then you’d be a real anchor if it was all in District 2. I can see the comments already. You never leave Touting!
Mischa: two
Niall: is, which is a little bit [00:12:00]
Mischa: three of the seven are in D2.
Niall: Ooh, nice. That’s pretty good.
Mischa: Okay,
Bardo
So let’s start with one in D2 then. So, uh, uh, I don’t know if you’ve been to Bardo?
Niall: Only once for a comedy night.
Mischa: Okay, so
Niall: three white women get chucked out. It was hilarious.
Mischa: Fair.
Not relevant
Niall: Not relevant, but that’s my only experience of
Mischa: So yeah, Bardo, uh, I don’t know it that well. It’s kind of on the other side of, uh, of D2 from where I live. Uh, but I’ve been a bunch of times. Uh, I think it’s mostly like comedy events, space, uh, event nights. Yeah. And then, uh, and then also they do a brunch and,
Um, some of our mutual friends who will be watching this will know, uh, Ali Sordi.
Uh, he’s an Italian guy who, uh, used to live here. He’s moved now. Uh, but his last station before leaving was at Bardo. And he had seen me do one of the Bloody Mary things, and he’s like, Oh. Don’t sleep on the one at Bardo, like go check it out. And I went and it was fantastic. And, uh, it was a night that the, uh, the [00:13:00] tomato juice was very nice and it just like very flavorful, bursting with flavor.
And I was like, that’s on the list. You know, that’s, it’s not the best Bloody Mary I’ve had in Saigon, but it’s
Niall: They’re known for their cocktails in general, so they obviously know what they’re doing.
Yeah,
Mischa: exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah. Bardo.
Niall: Thick tomato juice?
Mischa: Not too thick.
Niall: Because that’s, that’s another thing, sometimes you get it like it’s,
Mischa: Yeah, yeah, well that was the other, that was my other complaint about the one I had last night. In addition to it being too spicy, it was so
Niall: Oh.
Mischa: And also the kit, I know that they usually serve it with bacon, but the kitchen was closed and the server was like, no bacon.
Niall: Yeah, I do think
Mischa: cancel it, that, no, I’m just, I’m really bitter. I’m going to name it before the end of this podcast. I
Niall: do think bacon is quite crucial because, uh, it gives that crunch, and a little bit of
Mischa: Right, well, and in fairness to them, like, yeah, I was ordering it at, 11pm,
Niall: How dare they not open the kitchen and make some bacon for
Mischa: You don’t have any cooked bacon lying around? [00:14:00] Cool. So, uh, is that, I don’t know how, we didn’t really talk about how deep you want to go on
Niall: these, That’s fine. That sounds good.
Mischa: but yeah, I think we’re just recommending places, right?
Niall: good. Yeah.
Mischa: so then, uh, I had to get, uh, one shout out to District 7, my, uh, my new home, my favorite part of Saigon.
Um
Niall: If you’re listening from overseas and you’ve not been to Saigon, District 7 is almost like another country.
Mischa: so it, that’s, it’s, it’s more like, there’s a, there’s a bit of a rivalry between District 7. Obviously I live in District 2. The only people who really complain about District 2 are the people who live in District 7. And we, I had you do that meme one time, the office one, show me the difference between these two pictures.
Niall: seven people
Mischa: D7 people hate D2 people because they, they hate us because they hate us. Anyway, come at me.
Niall: They’re just the two expat districts, basically.
Mischa: Yeah.
Niall: predominantly expats. And I’ve said this many times before, when I say expats, I don’t mean us white guy expats.
There’s Korean, Japanese, Indian. So [00:15:00] now. So many Koreans in D2 now as well. Yeah,
Mischa: that’s true. Yeah, there’s a lot more than there
Niall: means somebody not from Saigon who’s here temporarily. Maybe that becomes a bit longer, but anyway, the two districts are pretty similar. They’re just kind of far apart. And the joke is the district seven is, is very far away when it’s not that far away, really, but kind of, but anyway, we’re onto number two.
Malt South
Mischa: Yeah, Malt South, District 7. Uh, they do a great brunch there, they do a great Bloody Mary.
Bacon, 100 percent included. Um, there’s nothing, uh, like, particularly, like, noticeable or stand out about it. It’s just a really classic Bloody Mary, perfectly executed. Uh, and, yeah, it’s part of their, like, FreeFlow brunch deal, and I’ve had it
Niall: like free flow and brunch deal
Mischa: We cannot talk about FreeFlow, no, that would make us cheap. No,
Niall: times.
If you do not talk about free flow, [00:16:00] that would make us
Mischa: moment.
You never have
Niall: Not where I’m from, no. Never heard that until
Mischa: Never have
Niall: Is that a thing in Canada?
Mischa: a thing
Niall: I don’t think it’s a thing in the US, but I don’t remember. I lived in the US. I don’t remember ever hearing
Mischa: of it. And
Niall: Oh, you can drink. And so as I’ve gone a bit older, I’ve not matured in many ways at all.
But one way I have matured in the last few years is I’ve actually stopped doing free flows because I’ve realized they’re just not good news. For me especially, and for most people, you try and get your money’s worth, right? So you pay a million dong, for example, about 50 bucks. You’re going to try and drink that amount of alcohol.
You end up too drunk, don’t have a good time. Well, you probably have a good time. You will have a
Mischa: have a good time in the time it just ruins the rest of your day yeah generally
Niall: rest of your night generally gets ruined. The next day definitely gets ruined. And as I’ve gotten older, I’m like, I would actually just rather spend a million dong if I’m going to spend that and just, piece my drinks over four or five hours rather than trying to drink that within two hours.
So that brings me back to, [00:17:00] you put this to the test one time, did you not, at Malt’s house?
Mischa: Yeah, yeah. So they have a, uh, I don’t know if it’s the same deal now because the ownership did change a little bit.
Niall: it, like we’re not offering this anymore. No,
Mischa: no, no. I’m, I’m,
they’re they’re, actually making off like bandits on that deal. I, we, I was there with, um, A few friends and, uh, someone’s like, well, let’s put it to the test. So it was like one brunch item and free flow of like a small list of cocktails and all the craft beers they had.
So, and like, and, uh, you know, mimosas, Prosecco, like, but they would only serve me two drinks at a time.
Niall: I remember seeing the picture.
Mischa: Well, that was, that wasn’t a FreeFlow thing. That was just me being an idiot. Um, but for the FreeFlow, they said because of the rules and the timing, they could only, they were like, it was their policy that they only serve two drinks at a time.
And we’re like, okay.
Niall: Very responsible.
Mischa: we had someone, uh, the accountant basically, like keeping track of how many drinks I ordered, [00:18:00] what the menu price was for all those drinks, and how long it took me to, to turn a profit on the FreeFlow deal.
Niall: was two levels, was that if I remember
three. Yeah, yeah.
Mischa: But it wasn’t the best free flow deal in town and I’m praising their, the quality of their products and then calling them out a little bit on the deal because I had to power through those hours to get into the profit and it was either a Saturday or a Sunday brunch and yeah, the rest of my day was ruined.
So like, I got my money’s worth eventually, but like, I’m a drinker. You’d have to be nuts to be like, casually like, Oh yeah, let’s do that. Like I was, I was going for it and yeah, they didn’t have to cancel the deal. They’re, they’re making off. Okay. And most people who order that free flow,
Niall: On a quick sidetrack, my favourite, when I say favourite I mean the opposite, uh, free, free flow deal is Free Flow Tacos. I saw this recently and it was like Free Flow Tacos, I think it was 350k, I can’t remember where it was, two hours, Free Flow Tacos, and it’s like 50k a taco or [00:19:00] something, so I’m like, that’s, Seven taco.
You need to eat eight tacos. Yeah. To get your money’s worth. I’ve seen you eat a lot of tacos actually. So maybe you would get your money’s worth. I would only eat two or three tacos at once.
Mischa: not a big eater. Yeah. I’m a big drinker like, but I, I rarely do free flow food
Niall: dates. Why would you go somewhere you need to eat, eat tacos,
Mischa: you can eat chicken wings, all you can eat, whatever is like. And if we’re talking, if you’re thinking about the same place I am, like Munch does it and they do like Taco Bell style tacos.
It’s like those are actually like You can crush a bunch of those before you start to like if I go and have three and like you just give me Three more right away
Shout out to munch
But yeah, like somebody was like, oh, we’re gonna do an all you can eat wings thing. Do you want to come by him? Like I’ll never
Niall: I’ll have three wings?
Mischa: well, yeah, like six
Niall: No,
I
Mischa: don’t, I don’t know.
Competitive
and that’s, well, yeah, that’s what a sickle I am. Competitive eating sounds outrageous, but competitive drinking.
Niall: I mean, setting me up.
I did it a few years [00:20:00] ago at Outcast, they were doing a spicy chicken wing eating competition and I’m just not a big eater and don’t eat a lot, but I want to eat the wings. So I joined, I think I’ve told you this and you’ve made fun of me for being a cheap Scotsman, I joined the Outcast. and just slowly ate a couple of wings on stage and then was able to take the box.
I think there’s like 12 wings they put in front of me and was just able to take them back to my table because they’re like, here have all these wings. I mean, for one, they were so spicy. I’m not a good eater. Other people are just like, I’m like taking the whole bit of meat off in one bite. And I just quietly, slowly sat there having a couple of wings.
Anyway, move on, moving on to number five.
Mischa: Uh, four, I think. Yeah.
Niall: What have we done so far? Bordeaux?
Mischa: Malt South. Oh, that’s
Niall: it. What are we at number five? Well, seven, six, five.
Mischa: Oh, if we’re going countdown.
Niall: yeah, yeah. Sorry. Sorry, making that more complicated than it needed to be. [00:21:00] Number five.
Layla
Mischa: Uh, so I’ve got two here in, uh, District One. Uh, we’ll just do them kind of both together before we get to the top three. Uh, the first is Layla. Uh, very popular cocktail bar in District One. Um, uh, It’s always full. Hard to get a seat some nights. Uh, the bartenders are amazing. They’ve got a massive back bar.
They know how to do cocktails.
Niall: As featured on the episode I did of Top
Mischa: Mmm, we’ve talked about,
Niall: Go back and check that one out.
Mischa: talked about Layla before. Um, so I just revisited my photo from the last time I was there. Uh, they actually do a little bit of beef jerky instead of bacon for the garnish.
Niall: think I’ve tried their cocktail, their Bloody Mary. I’m normally there
Mischa: one of the seven best in the city, I promise
Niall: I’m normally there at the time where I have an espresso, a caramel
Mischa: right, right, right. No, that’s, and,
Niall: It’s another episode.
Mischa: and honestly, I, I think I only had the Bloody Mary there for the purposes of research. I, I normally, yeah, normally at Layla, I would get, [00:22:00] you know, gin martini or something, but, uh, did, I was there, and you know, I hadn’t tried it yet, and I know how good their cocktails are, so I assumed it would be one of the best.
Um, so yeah, again, nothing, uh, like, crazy unique about it, it’s just a classic Bloody Mary, really, really, really, a classic Bloody Mary, really well executed. Again, nice juice, not too thick, spicy, but not too spicy, just right in the wheelhouse. They’re, they’re, uh, They’re artists over there behind the bar at Layla.
Yeah, we should
Niall: just like, why did we not record this in each of these bars?
Watch out for part two where we will go and drink all of these Bloody Marys.
Ministry of Men
Mischa: So the other one in District 1 that I wanted to mention is Ministry of Men. Um, it’s at, uh, the Sofitel Saigon, uh, it’s connected to House of Barbard there. I don’t know exactly what the deal is between the two companies, but it’s a, it’s just a really nice, uh, bespoke cocktail bar with a really awesome barbershop behind [00:23:00] it.
So, obviously, uh, you can have a nice cocktail
Niall: It’s a cool spot.
Mischa: uh, for your beard, uh, trim. Um, But yeah, that was another one that, uh, was recommended to me by someone else. Not necessarily a place where I would think to have a Bloody Mary. Um, but yeah, because someone else saw me posting these bloodies, they were like, Oh, you got to try the one at Ministry of Men.
And I’m so happy I did. Again, just another, like, because the bartenders are so good. Any cocktail they’re going to make is going to be amazing. So they just, you know, nail these classic cocktails with precision and perfection and had to be on the list.
Niall: I’ve been there once, but I can’t remember what I had.
let’s move on now to
the vaulted top three.
We’re
Mischa: going to the top three. Uh, I’m glad I took notes because again, like I said, uh, the number one was never in doubt. Uh, number two and three, uh, are the examples that I [00:24:00] mentioned before of the ones that I had on the same day.
Um, one in district two, one in district one. Uh, the first one I had was in D2 and my note on the post was, this is a close second. to my number one. And then my note on the post for the one in D1 was this is an actual contender to be number one. So the top three are all very close together. Uh, they’re all amazing.
Weekend
Uh, my, my third favorite Bloody Mary in Saigon is that, uh, Weekend,
Niall: Ooh, nice. Which is also owned from Leila, right? Same owner as
Mischa: Yeah, well, this is the thing is he’s got three in the top seven. So
Niall: So we know this is
Mischa: going to
Niall: right? Jay, sorry,
Mischa: more. Yeah. So some people are going to accuse me of bias, but I just, uh,
Niall: He’s good at what he
Mischa: real respect. Real. Yeah. The quality is there. So number three is weekend.
Um, it’s actually really unique. It’s called the Orient snapper. It’s not even called a Bloody Mary and he was gin instead of vodka. So I’m kind of cheating, putting it on the list, but it’s
Niall: tomato juice. It’s a [00:25:00] Bloody Mary.
Mischa: that’s how I feel. Like, uh, you can do a tequila, like a Bloody Maria. Yeah. So why not do a gin called the Orient Snapper?
And I’m still putting it on the list because it’s fucking awesome and everyone should try it. Uh, Weekend’s a great brunt spot in D2. Um, and yeah, that’s, that’s really the most unique selling point of it is that it’s, it’s a, it’s their take on a, on a Bloody Mary because, because of the gin and I’m, I’m a big gin guy as you know.
Um,
and
yeah, I just remember the first time I tried it, it was like,
Niall: fuck you guys. That’s one of the
Mischa: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, so yeah, I gave it away already. There’s three of Jay’s places. So, number two, my second favorite Bloody Mary in town, is the Summer Experiment, which is a cocktail bar in District 1.
Summer Experiment
Um, and
that one comes in a big wine glass, it’s got the bacon, it’s got the, uh, again, I threw away the olives, but, uh, It’s, uh, And again, it’s just the, the quality of the ingredients and the quality of the craftsmanship of the people [00:26:00] making it really elevated into something more than you would get at a, a diner or a dive bar, like where you’re just like hung over as shit and you’re yeah, I need a Bloody Mary to like, just feel awake and alive again.
Niall: and alive
Mischa: So yeah, some of the So obviously that day that I had them both, I had brunch at weekend and had So I had that one, like, as kind of a hangover cure. And then, uh, the other one was later in the day, like, during cocktail hour, after after summer opens. Um, and I don’t know if Summer Experiment made your made your happy hour list,
Niall: but
Mischa: they they have a really good one.
Niall: I’m laughing really hard at Summer Experiment because, uh, they did make my cocktail bar list and, uh, when I got to it, when I was doing the recording, I came by myself, one of the first ones I’d done by myself, I realized I didn’t have any notes for it or memories because I think we’d only been there once and it was one of those, one of those moments where I really needed Adrian next to me.
So I was in the flow of the episode. I had it on my notes was Summer Experiment and I was like, yeah, Summer [00:27:00] Experiment. Yeah. I don’t really remember going there, but I know it’s on my top 10 list of cocktail balls to go to in Saigon. Adrie would be able to give more information on this and then sure enough, Adrie later on is like, I think we only went there once and I was like, I can’t even remember what it looks like.
I just know it made
Mischa: quality preparation. Good
Niall: I know, I know. I never have enough time to prep probably and that that was the one, not the one time, but that was at time. I was definitely found out by not preparing but it’s a good, I knew, but I knew it was a good place and I knew it was Jay. Yep. And I knew it was quality.
So it made the list. Yeah. It was just scan on detail. Right.
Mischa: Well, I’m glad I could flesh it out a little bit for you. Um, yeah, again. Great cocktails all around, and literally one of the best Bloody Marys in town. So, uh, do you have a drum roll sound
Niall: Well, I was gonna say before we, yeah. Before we unveil the top Bloody Mary.
Yeah. Saigon.
Mischa: who knows me knows what
Niall: Yeah, but there’s a lot of people that listen to this that don’t know you.
Mischa: of people listening to this.
Niall: [00:28:00] Um, let’s recap from seven to two. Go on.
Mischa: Okay, so we started with Bardo in D2, and then we swam over to D7 for Malt South, uh, in D1 we had Ministry of Men and, uh, Layla, that’s four, and then the top three was Weekend, Summer Experiment.
You want to do the Honorable Mentions first?
Niall: Yeah, sure. Yeah, let’s do some honorable mentions.
Mischa: a few honorable mentions.
Uh, as again, as I was going through my social media for the notes, uh, the bricks is another, uh, brunch ish. They’re open for dinner as well, but I think of it as a brunch place in D2.
Niall: cause of The Bricks I stopped in Freefall. yeah. Cause I did the Freefall there and I was like, this was not
Mischa: we did theirs as well, we, we took advantage of that one, we got in the profit pretty quick.
Niall: it’s like, just non stop champagne, I was like, I don’t need this
Mischa: Yeah, yeah, but uh, yeah I definitely had them, I’m pretty highly rated. Um, yeah, Birdie, uh, and Fan Viet Chan. Of course any, uh, cocktail, uh, related, uh, [00:29:00] Content should include Birdie, uh, and as you would expect, they do an awesome Bloody Mary. Um, this is just, this is Saigon’s Seven Best Cocktails, but I did want to shout out, uh, Cargo Remote in Moynai.
My buddy Rod was very proud when he saw I was doing the Bloody Marys, he wanted me to try his. And it was really, really good, and part of that was the setting, and you know, being out there in Moynai, up at, uh, up at Cargo.
Niall: I’ve got some great memories and great pictures from when we did New Year’s there a couple years ago. I’m pretty sure you were there. And there’s a great picture of me from the next day. And I’m again, one of those ones just so hung over with a Bloody Mary from Cargo Remote.
And it
Mischa: oh yeah, I remember the, the face
Niall: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s like I’m dying. I think I had two or three of those Bloody Marys and I was like on top of the world again, ready to go.
Mischa: Another
one I wanted to mention is, uh, not. A cocktail bar, but it’s a steakhouse, and the owners have some cocktail bars as well, so you would imagine the cocktails would be good. Stoker, uh, they have locations [00:30:00] in D1 and D2. Uh, I’m pretty sure I’ve only actually had a Bloody Mary at their D1 location, but I’m not sure they’re, they’re the same at both.
Uh, but that was really good, uh, just didn’t quite make, didn’t quite make the list. Yeah. Number
Niall: one,
Lubu
Mischa: is Flying Away, uh, Lubu, Mediterranean Restaurant in District 2. Um, it’s the first Bloody Mary I’d ever had that I really loved. And the key for me that I found out from, uh, Jim, the owner at the time, uh, he’s since moved on, uh, is that they use Uh, a mixture of fresh tomato juice and the packaged stuff.
He said if you use only fresh, it’s just not gonna
Niall: too sweet.
Too watery?
Mischa: no, too bitter.
Niall: Like
Mischa: there’s no sweet, so you need some of the sweetness from the, from the pre packaged tomato juice. Um, but the fact that they squeeze their own, and that’s the majority of it, it does make it a little thicker, but like, not too much.
Um, And the level of spice is just right. Um, some of [00:31:00] my friends said it’s too spicy. don’t like spice that much. It’s not too spicy for me. Um, no bacon, unfortunately, but you can, you can order a side of bacon if you want. We do often. Um, but yeah, it’s my go to. It’s the one I always go back to there. If I’m in town, uh, it would be rare that I wouldn’t have a brunch at Lubu either.
On a Saturday or a Sunday, at least once, usually with a group of friends, uh, it’s just a great spot,
Niall: And it’s not even a cocktail bar.
Mischa: No, yeah, it’s a restaurant. It’s
Niall: It’s number one.
Mischa: do great brunch, and uh, and they do the best Bloody Mary in town.
Niall: again, just showing the stereotypical Scotsman that I am. You get a free Bloody Mary before midday with any brunch item?
Mischa: On, on the weekends, yeah. On Saturday and Sunday,
Niall: who goes for brunch during the
week?
Mischa: Well, you can get brunch during the week and then it’s buy one, get one on the brunches, which is an even better deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, before noon on the weekend, uh, you get one complimentary Bloody Mary with any brunch purchase and it’s the best bloody Mary in
Niall: it’s [00:32:00] the best Bloody Mary in town. When you say cocktail crawl,
Mischa: When you say cocktail crawl, you mean,
What
would the logistics be? Like, would we pick a cocktail and do that at a bunch of places or just pick a list of bars?
Niall: pick
Mischa: Like your top seven bars and then just everyone gets whatever they
want? Seven cocktails isn’t too many for me.
Niall: too many for me.
Well then, you held it here first. So, join the Patreon community. We want to bring together people who love, love, love. VNAM, Love Saigon, Love A VNAM Podcast. You can join for free or you can chuck in a few bucks, whatever you want to do. We want to build that community. So thank you so much for tuning into this episode.
Thank you very much, Misha Smith, for coming on again. And also, I have a super, super amazing announcement to make. Misha and I are going to be launching a new podcast soon.
Mischa: are we telling people?
Niall: We can tell people, right?
Mischa: I don’t [00:33:00] see why not.
Niall: Go on then.
Mischa: committed.
Niall: Yeah.
Mischa: Uh, yeah, so, uh, So you had asked me about maybe doing a, like a recap of a television show and you thought it’d be interesting to do one that I’ve seen already and that you haven’t seen.
You’d watched for the first time. I’d obviously rewatch to prepare for the episode.
Niall: okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I don’t
Mischa: okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don’t, I’m sure
I
Niall: don’t know.
Mischa: words that were exchanged. Um,
but yeah, so, Did I give you a few options or did I
Niall: There was a few, yeah, yeah, but we, we settled on that one.
Mischa: so we chose Deadwood, uh, because it’s one of my top five favorite shows of all time.
Uh, it’s only three seasons, so it’s not like I just actually rewatched Mad Men, which is seven
Niall: Oh shit, I’ve never seen that, I need to
Mischa: and I was, yeah, and that would have been the other one, but yeah, seven
Niall: It’s a big commitment. It’s a
Mischa: and no, no slight against Mad Men, because again, [00:34:00] it’s one of my favorite shows, but I think Deadwood’s a little more fun, and more fun to talk about.
Um, we could have like, deep, deep conversations about Mad Men. And we can have deep conversations about Deadwood as well, we will. But, uh, it’s a, it’s a really fun show. It’s, you know, set in the frontier times and the, you know, the gold rush. And it’s a lot of drinking, a lot of swearing. Uh, David Milch is just an absolutely amazing writer.
Um, yeah. Uh, yeah, so I’m excited. Uh, that’s what we agreed on. Deadwood.
Niall: we agreed on. I
Mischa: I suggest chopping wood because we’re going to chop it up. Deadwood, chopping wood.
Niall: to chop it up. Chopping