Dinner for Eight Costs 807,400

Ordering family style in Ho Chi Minh City, we ate rice, noodles, seafood, passion fruit drinks and lots of different veggies, for eight, for a cool 807,400

by Bob Kerstetter

The Vietnamese Dong (VND) to Dollar Exchange rate on this day is about 19,000 to 1. Trade in $52.63 in US currency and you’ve got yourself 1,000,000 VND. You’re a millionaire in a foreign country. But don’t laugh. You can do a lot with 1,000,000 VND.

Consider our dinner for eight at the Sen Viet Restaurant in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Ordering family style, we ate rice, noodles, seafood, passion fruit drinks and lots of different veggies. Our waiter stood by, providing excellent personal service, including snapping the photo below. The cost was? Well, look at the receipt. We fed eight people on simple, nutritious, tasty grub for 807,400 VND. And we had enough left over for two or three additional meals.

While this is not exactly Jesus feeding the 5,000, you don’t need the financial skills of an investment banker to know it is a good deal.

Dinner for Eight at Sen Viet