Rico Taco - Mexican food in Saigon

Rico Taco - Mexican food in Saigon

I read about Mexican restaurant Rico Taco before traveling to Saigon.

That’s the restaurant over there.

The description ticked several of my boxes: good Mexican food in a colourful decor with murals on the walls. Sounded as music to my ears.

How’s your Vietnamese?

So I immediately put it as a pin on my personalised Google city map of Saigon.

The decor

Rico Taco has a covered terrace in the front, where they played live music when we were there.

Since the terrace was ‘taken’ by a large group, we chose to sit inside. Plus there’s airco inside, which makes for a more pleasant temperature.

We went inside.

Somehow I expected a more grungy ambiance, which it was not.

I still loved what I saw.

It’s colourful, Mexican and pretty, for sure.

Love it, from the trompe-l’oeil walls to all the colors everywhere and the gorgeous tiles on the floor.

It’s obvious that I’m in Mexico Vietnam, isn’t it?.

Love the styling of Rico Taco.

You didn’t; did you???? Yep, we sure did!

Looking at all the colourful straw hats, I just couldn’t resist.

Sombreros galore!

Frits did a weak attempt to protest, but he did not put up much of a fight. So here we are, both wearing one of the hats.

Viva Mexico Vietnam !

It doesn’t get mucho more tacky than this, does it?

Ok, one more for the road:

The food was great!

We both took fajitas, one with beef and one with chicken and I have to say that both were great!

In the neighbourhood of Rico Taco

There are several other cool places nearby, that you can check out when you are in the neighbourhood.

Although I have to note that we were very disappointed about Acoustic Bar. But we loved the other places.

• MC2 Cafe at Le Quy Don
  This is where we met up with our friend Daan, an upbeat Dutch guy who works and lives in Saigon.
  
  

  Daan and me in MC2 Cafe.

  MC2 Cafe is a cool cafe during the daytime, for breakfast, lunch, coffees, working and hanging.
  

• Cafe Soi Da
  Enjoy live classical music and local easy listening songs in a garden-like setting.
  

  Entrance to Cafe Soi Da.

  

  The musicians at Cafe Soi Da.

  

  We were placed far far away from the stage. We wondered why??? Not that we were upset by it really. We sat on a romantic couch and enjoyed our drinks, the music , the ambiance and each other.

  

  Look at us! What’s wrong with us that we needed to be tucked away in the most dark and far away corner of this cafe? Don’t we look adorable? Hahaha…

  But on a more serious note: it feels like a place from a past era, somehow. It’s relaxed, green and I enjoyed it.

• Bar Acoustic
  I read raving reviews about this place, in particular about the live music and the ambiance.
  

  Acoustic Bar is at the end of the alley (Hem 6 Ngo Toi Nhiem) in which you also find Cafe Soi Da and B3Beer and it certainly looks interesting from the outside!

  But the reception was quite unfriendly here. And that’s an understatement. What was wrong with us that night, that we were sort of whisked away everywhere???

  

  Once inside we were not that enthusiastic anymore. We were routinely directed to the darkest corners of the place. The bouncer seemed to look straight through us and there were no smiles or friendly looks from anyone anywhere. No seats for us either.

  

  On top of that we did not particularly like the band that was on, so we did not even have a drink, but left after two minutes. Their loss. Not that they care, hahaha….

  IF you decide to check out this place, I’d be curious to know how your experience was. Were you as badly treated as us, or was it just us or were we just unlucky?

• B3Beer
  We passed by this semi-open corner bar and although we did not go in for a drink, I really liked the ambiance and the decor.
  
  It looks like they serve special beers and craft beers, and apparently you can also eat there. If we would have had more time, I would have gone back to check it out on another day.
  So what do you think? Are you warming up to Saigon? Is it more interesting and hip than you thought?