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Rex's Hotel Rooftop Bar

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jmineo
jmineo
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Rex Hotel Rooftop Bar

  • September 16, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by jl32 from Chicago, Illinois
This place is ridiculous--large gold crowns, gilded elephants, bonsai trees, neon lights, christmas lights, pagodas--the Rex rooftop has a stellar view of the glitzy and picturesque District 1. The setting is hysterically done in bad taste to the extreme it becomes comfy. The bar menu is extensive, but overpriced. Drinks, like a 7-UP, run $2 and then up, up, up. While $2 might not seem like a lot for a soft drink, remember, this is Vietnam, where out on the street a soda or beer runs anywhere from 30 cents to a dollar. A little pricey, but with its crazy decor and quality service, it's worth a drink, or two, or three. As for drinks, try the Saigon--we did and loved it. As always, a Tiger Beer is good too.

From journal Hectic Ho Chi Minh City

Editor Pick

Rex's Rooftop Garden Restaurant

  • February 10, 2001
  • Rated 4 of 5 by jmineo from L.A., California
Rex's Rooftop Garden Restaurant

This was my favorite place to eat while in Saigon. We brought my brothers back a second time, although I think unknowingly at the time that they all came back for my sake. I had been oohing and ahhing during the first experience in this restaurant. The restaurant is entirely in the open air atop the Rex Hotel, with an exception of the bar area in the middle which was covered by a cabana style hard umbrella. They served both French and Vietnamese cuisine. Some dishes were a fusion of both cuisines.

Absolutely the best views of Ho Chi Minh Square from the rooftop. We insisted on a table by the edge for views of down below. From our table we had a vantage point of the busy traffic circle and the famous Continental Hotel across the street with its revolving globe. The Rex also has its own revolving icon atop its building - a jewelled crown (similar to the Parkay commercials). The rotating crown looked small from the street below but if you managed to get a rooftop table next to it, your view could be obscured by the six foot behemoth. Be sure to get seated at one of the tables on the roof side that face Ho Chi Minh's statue and the ornate french city hall building. Good photo op.

My appetizer was vietnamese spring rolls (Chai Gio), one of my favorite anyway. These delectable rice paper wrapped "egg rolls" came to the table on a platter that were interestingly pierced by long toothpicks through a hollowed-out pineapple. An A+ for presentation. You'd simply pull at a spring roll from the toothpick jabbed into the pineapple from all around the table. Quite an experience.

We all ordered different main courses, some Vietnamese, some French. The best dish we ordered was a steamed shrimp batter that was cooked and molded around a sugar cane section. I ordered crepes suzette for dessert, which they cooked at the table and put on a kind of flambe show for us using Grande Marnier and some other flammable liquor. Bottomline on the crepes, it tasted better than any I'd had in France, when Pops used to take us on his gastronomie' excursions. Highly recommend coming here for the views and food when in downtown Saigon!

From journal Ho Chi Minh City - My Wife's Homeland

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