A great location and venue are not everything, but we all know that fine feathers make fine birds. La Villa French Restaurant’s home is Thao Dien, which skyrocketed from poor to posh in less than two decades. Today, District 2 is where Ho Chi Minh City is the most rapidly evolving.
Here’s an impressive fact: between 2012 and 2016, the number of apartment units available for sale in District 2 nearly tripled, growing faster than in any other district in Ho Chi Minh City!
Only minutes from Thao Dien, the city’s business and high-tech area of the future is being built in Thu Thiem ward. Plus, this expat area will be among the first to enjoy Ho Chi Minh City’s biggest infrastructure project of the new millennium: Vietnam’s first ever metro.
Thao Dien in the near future
Where the Amazing Happens
Thao Dien is already only a stone’s throw away from downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Just hop in a taxi – or opt for even cheaper transportation apps like Uber or Grab – to visit Ho Chi Minh City’s high-end living area in less than 15 minutes. With the metro line that will soon connect Thao Dien to the very heart of District 1, Ben Thanh Market, you’ll commute between the city’s greatest entertainment hubs in the snap of a finger.
Did we say entertainment hubs? We did: Thao Dien, where greenery and spaciousness meet convenience, nightlife and fine dining, offers everything you could possibly wish for.
The area is not only home to a variety of international schools, top-of-the-range medical centres, contemporary exhibition halls and opulent shopping malls – it also provides abundant outdoor activity options. Space is a rare commodity in ever-so-crowded Ho Chi Minh City, yet this is just what District 2 has plenty of.
Outdoor activities in Thao Dien
Be it playgrounds for the little ones or football pitches for the grown-ups, large, bicycle-tour-friendly roads for family excursions or climbing walls for sporty challenge-seekers – Thao Dien has it all. But this is just a fraction of its plentiful open-air delights. You’re looking for the top places in town for a sunset cocktail or a real Italian afternoon coffee in a lush garden area? Thao Dien has the answer.
A Cosmopolitan Food Scene
There’s a great deal of fun to be had during the daytime, but wait until the night has fallen. Thao Dien transforms into one of the most exquisite areas for a joyful evening programme. While it cannot compete with District 1’s clubbing scene, Thao Dien’s bars and restaurants are among Ho Chi Minh City’s finest. So before you get a fresh, malty craft beer draught by your favourite barman, a proper dinner is in order. This is where Thao Dien truly excels.
Local street food in District 2
Some ten years ago, Thao Dien, like all of District 2, was dominated by local residents who habitually opted for street food. The supply naturally catered to the demand and fine-dining options were located in central Districts 1 and 3.
A luxury meal in Ho Chi Minh City’s fine-dining hub, Thao Dien
As soon as expatriates and wealthy Vietnamese flowed into Thao Dien by the late 2000s, turning it into a deluxe living area in next to no time, top-notch restaurants sprung up like mushrooms and a certain number of venues even decided to relocate there, to where their client base had settled. Since then, Thao Dien has become the definite hub for top-quality Western and Asian cuisine.
Oasis Behind Garden Walls
Let’s start with the variety of cuisines: Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, French, or a succulent American burger… Local Vietnamese specialties are still to be had – but at renowned food chains or hip, boutique-style restaurants. Thao Dien is your culinary gateway to the world. More importantly, the quality lives up to its great reputation.
World-class French food in Thao Dien
As Westerners make up an approximate 70 percent of Thao Dien’s population, French and Italian restaurants naturally dominate its culinary landscape and spoil guests with a broad variety of top-class meals and accompanying wines. Quality has its price, of course, but it’s a price that residents of a prosperous living environment are ready to pay to indulge in fine dining of the highest international standards.
People don’t mind travelling the extra mile to Thao Dien because the experience that awaits them is unique in Ho Chi Minh City: while in the city centre, one has to retreat to old apartment buildings or glittering rooftops to take in their first-rate meals, restaurants in Thao Dien make good use of the lavish surrounding. Fine dining in this neighbourhood happens in luxurious venues boasting lush outdoor areas with swimming pools next to lavish villas.
La Villa’s lush outdoor area
La Villa French Restaurant, ranked first among Ho Chi Minh City’s Western fine-dining venues in several online lists, is in the vanguard of this development.
Hidden behind white garden walls and rife with greenery, La Villa gives you that one thing District 1 can never offer: peace. After all, a truly great dining experience consists of more than 5-star food and service – it consists of an ambience that allows you to savour the wonders of a perfect meal.
