Ho Chi Minh City Durian Guide

Ho Chi Minh City’s fame is its traffic, not its durian. But as the Durian Boom makes southern Vietnam the second largest durian-growing region in the world, that’s about to change!

Here’s your guide to having the best Ho Chi Minh Durian experience possible, any time of the year.

When is the Ho Chi Minh City Durian Season?

Vietnam has the unique benefit of being an enormously long, skinny country oriented north-south with over 800 km of durian-growing farmland.

The durian-growing region stretches from Gia Lai in the north – on latitude with northern Thailand – to beyond Can Tho in the south – parallel to Phuket and Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand.

This huge area gives Vietnam (as a nation) an enormously long local durian season, stretching from mid-March in the south to late October or November in the north.

Durians get sent from all over the country to Ho Chi Minh City, which is the wealthiest city in Vietnam and has a population of over 9 million people. So you can expect to find Vietnamese-grown durian anytime from March to November, with some out-of-season durians available at other times of the year.

We were also told by some vendors that Vietnam actually imports durian from Thailand during the off-season (December-February).

Durian Varieties to look for in Ho Chi Minh

These are the 5 durian varieties that we found during our trip to Ho Chi Minh, but Vietnam has lots more! Here’s a guide to some Vietnam Durian Varieties.

Ri6 (Ri-Sau)

Pronounced “Ree-Sow” where the “sow” rhymes with the noise you make when you hurt yourself – ow!

Ri6 is the most famous durian in Vietnam and is the main commercial export variety. It’s the easiest to find, and while its bright canary yellow color is reminiscent of Chanee in Thailand or Puyat in the Philippines or Musang King in Malaysia, its taste is 100% distinctive.

It brings the hefty fleshiness of Monthong with the buttery caramel sweetness of Kradumthong, with no discernible “bitterness” or “alcohol” even when it’s fully ripe and soft.

No Vietnam Durian Hunt is complete without Ri6!

6 Hữu (Sáu hữu)

Pronounced Sow-Hoo, where “Sow” rhymes with “ow! that hurts!” and Hoo sounds like the noise an owl makes

Originating in Cai Lậy, Tiền Giang province, this durian is apparently one of the more rare and sought-after durians in Vietnam. It’s buttery-sweet flesh is floral and very thick, with teeny-tiny seeds.

It’s an old variety that has fallen out of favor as farmers have turned to commercial farming for export, but one that is remembered and kept for local consumption.

Chuồng Bò

Pronounced “Choo” like a choo-choo train, ong like “I hung something up” and Bow, like a bow-tie.

Another old variety originating in Cai Lậy, Tiền Giang Province, this one has a funny name. It’s called “Cow Barn,” apparently because it was originally discovered as a volunteer durian tree growing behind someone’s cowshed.

It’s a thick-fleshed, milky, creamy durian that is mildly sweet, like eating a thick meringue or pastry filling.

Anyone who loves the old-school flavor of Kampung durians in Malaysia will love Chuồng Bò, because it has that classic durian taste but the flesh is a lot thicker and meatier.

Monthong (Dona)

Monthong came to Vietnam from Thailand in the 1990’s or even before, and has spread widely as a commercial variety. One company that was very active in promoting Monthong was the Dona Techno, which is why Monthong is sometimes called “Dona” in Vietnam.

I was actually lucky enough to visit the Dona Techno plantations and packing facility back in 2012, at the beginning of this blog. You can go back in time and check out that little memory here.

*Spoiler* I was very wrong about the future of Vietnamese durian in the USA.

Musang King

Musang King made it to Vietnam a number of years ago when investors realized Vietnam would soon be able to ship durian directly to China. The cheaper land, cheaper labor, and proximity to China is turning Vietnam into prime real-estate for export farms.

And Musang King is the biggest player. So in the coming years, there is likely to be more and more Musang King available in Vietnam.

For now, it can most easily be found in tourist zones where Chinese and other Asian tourists will recognize it’s name. We saw it at Bến Thành Market and also at Sầu Riêng Chín tự nhiên – 9 Phe (Quận 8).

Regional Speciality

Ho Chi Minh City Durian sellers almost always prominently display the location where the durian was grown, as well as the variety name. You’ll usually see signs saying things like “Ri6 Cái Mơn” or “Monthong Bến Tre” or “Musang King Lam Dong” where the first word is the variety name, and the second word (or words) is the location the durians grew. So as in the picture above, the durian variety is Ri6, and the location it was grown is Cái Mơn.

But sometimes you’ll only see the regional name, and not the variety.

This is because the different types of soils and environment are believed to effect the durian flavor just as much as the type of durian, and since certain regions are really famous for having excellent quality durian, the region is what the seller is interested in advertising.

Ho Chi Minh Durian Foods

We did look for the infamous Vietnamese durian coffee, but were told that this delicacy is something people make at home for fun but not something you can generally find for sale in cafes.

Instead, here’s a few ways we did find Ho Chi Minh Durian Lovers enjoying their favorite fruit.

Durian Sugar Cane Smoothie

Walking around Ho Chi Minh City, it’s clear that this is a city taking free-flowing sugar cane juice for granted. There are sugar cane juice stalls on almost every corner, and often you’ll find multiple in a row. It’s definitely one of the greatest ways to rehydrate in a hot afternoon.

We noticed several durian shops also selling Durian-Sugar Cane smoothies. The durian flesh is whipped in a blender with freshly made sugar cane, and then poured over large ice cubes. Usually the shop has both fresh durian and the sugar cane juicing machine on hand, so both items are super fresh!

As expected, it’s a very sweet drink, slightly foamy drink that is just slightly creamy and tastes very strongly of … caramel?! Really delicious.

Xôi Vò Sầu Riêng

Xôi is my new favorite durian discovery, it’s so delicious! It’s a childhood favorite for many people in Vietnam, and the lady selling them had parked her baskets in front of a school about to release hordes of snack-ish children.

Xôi is a crumbly-textured, chewy rice dish that is made from sticky rice cooked in mung bean paste. It’s mildly sweet, and can be flavored with any kind of fruit. The lady selling these also had Corn Xôi, which had large steamed corn kernels and was topped with fried onion.

For the durian version, she simply mixes fresh durian flesh into the Xôi until it’s evenly distributed and the Xôi has a wonderful durian aroma. At only 12,000 dong per scoop, this is definitely an affordable and delicious way to eat durian.

Bánh Crepe Sầu Riêng

The last and most common “durian food thing” we saw for sale in Ho Chi Minh City were these durian crepes folded into squares around a block of thick clotted durian cream – maybe the result of French influence?

This type of shop was even more common than fresh durian stores. So people in Ho Chi Minh must really like Durian Crepes!

Finding Durian in Ho Chi Minh City

The old city is located in District 1 (Quận 1) and a normal tourist would likely never have a need to leave it.

You, Durian Lover, are not a normal tourist. You will find your best durian locations outside of District 1, in the suburbs where local Ho Chi Minh people live and would also like to eat durian. These areas are easy to access using the Grab App, just enter the address of the durian shop and the App will guide the driver to the correct destination.

If you don’t feel like braving the traffic, you can definitely find durian in District 1 too.

Here’s a guide to the best Ho Chi Minh durian shops we found both in District 1 and in other Districts as well.

Quận 1

All of the Tourist Stuff you came to Ho Chi Minh City to see is located in District 1.

The old French colonial buildings, the sky scrapers, the trendy Vietnamese coffee shops, the incredible array of vegan and vegetarian restaurants, the Michelin hole-in-the-walls, the war museums.

If your only mission in life was durian, you wouldn’t bother with Ho Chi Minh City at all. You’d bee-line straight for the durian farms and find yourself a nice farm-stay in the countryside.

But then you’d miss all the nice stuff to do in Ho Chi Minh City, and since there is plenty of nice durian in the city as well, you might as well get the best of both worlds!

Chợ Bến Thành Market (Quận 1)

Somehow I always feel pressure to at least stop by and see popular tourist destinations. Since Bến Thành Market is conveniently located it was like – why not? And then the market actually exceeded our expectations.

For one, it was far more chaotic and desperate than I expected.

The inside of the market is huge, and encompasses everything from t-shirts and dyed cloth, to toys and Buddha statues, a hawker food section, and three or four stalls selling fruits.

The hum of voices ricocheted off the ceiling, the crowds struggled to navigate around protruding displays and each other. As we wandered through the hawker food section, hunting durian, I made eye contact with an elderly caucasian gentleman seated at a juice stall who looked wilted with overwhelm.

But the inside of the market also had a much better selection of fruit, at more reasonable prices, than I expected.

What really surprised me was the variety of fruits they had on display. They had everything from the giant-sized chico sapotes, yellow dragonfruits, both orange and yellow jackfruit, and even cempedak!

They were selling three varieties of durian that day: Musang King, Ri6, and Chuong Bo.

I couldn’t get close enough to the durians to have a look at the quality, but a friendly seller whispered to me that the Musang King had actually been imported special from Malaysia, and that’s why it’s price was a whopping 550,000 VND ($22.20 USD) per kilogram. The Chinese tourist seated on a small stool eating Musang King out of styrofoam tray had paid over 1 million dong for her durian meal.

The seller suggested we buy the locally grown Ri6, at a reasonable 250,000 VND/kilo. This was comparable to prices elsewhere.

I felt like I could buy a durian at Ben Thanh Market and it would likely be an okay experience.

Outside the market, however, was another story. While we found lots of durian for sale at small shops ringing the market, as well in baskets on bicycles and motorbikes, none of these offerings looked very appealing. The whole fruits looked overripe and were mottled with phytophotora spots. The opened fruits looked both overripe and underripe at the same time, with patchy white marks.

Since we were already planning to eat durian elsewhere, we didn’t buy anything at the Ben Thanh market, but instead carried on to the next location on our durian hop.

Chợ Tân Định Market (Quận 1)

This more “local” market is technically still in District 1, but it’s on the outskirts at the edge of District 3. Walking from Bến Thành Market takes a good 40 minutes, so we took a Grab (this market can be combined with a visit to Sầu Riêng Sạch 3 Bao Durian House, scroll down for details).

The market is located catty-corner to the glowing pink Tân Định Catholic Church, which was completed in 1876 during the French colonial period. So you can do some historical sight-seeing at the same time as getting your durian fix!

The morning we visited, we happened to catch a procession of priests entering the church with the clanging of church bells and hymns sang over a loud speaker.

Tân Định Market is open all day, but the best time to come is in the morning or late afternoon. We got there about 7 am when all the food stalls were open, motorbikes trundled down the walkways amidst pedestrians, and the market felt bustling.

We did not see any other foreign tourists. The locals we interacted with seemed both surprised and pleased to see us.

Luckily the durian stall was prominently located at the entrance to the market and very easy to find.

They were selling only Ri6 from Bến Tre at 200,000 VND per kilo for whole fruits, and also by the packet. The packets looked fresh and new, too delicious to resist, so we chose one for 300K ($12.10 USD).

The quality surprised us, it was much better than we expected!

Thick-textured and rich like clotted cream, the Ri6 was nutty and sweet without being cloying. It tasted very fresh, and also like it had been picked at full maturity so the durian’s sweetness felt earthy and rounded without the onion-strawberry yogurt funk that comes when and underripe fruit becomes overripe.

We walked away highly satisfied with our durian selection and with shopping bags full of fat chico sapotes, giant Nhãn Xuồng longans, and two types of jackfruit.

Gánh Xôi Vò Sầu Riêng – Bến Nghé Street Food Market (Quận 1)

We first visited Ben Nghe Food Street under the mistaken impression that the old lady would be selling sweets in the morning. We were wrong.

She actually only sets up her baskets about 2 PM, just before the school behind gets out for the day. As a sweets seller, her primary customers are children hungry for snacks after school.

But her sweet snacks are way healthier than modern candy. She has been selling the same sweets for over 40 years, all of them based on real whole-food ingredients like mung beans, adzuki beans, soy beans, corn, sweet grilled coconut flesh, and sago.

But what has made her famous over the last 40 years is a sweet she makes with durian.

Her specialty is Xôi, a type of sticky rice coated in mung bean paste that gives it a crumbly, fluffy, chewy texture that is mildly sweet and nutty. Xôi can be flavored with many different types of spices or fruits, but hers is mixed with whole durian flesh.

As she opened the banana leaf-lined basket to scoop us out some Xôi Vò Sầu Riêng, we saw whole durian seeds floating in the yellow rice.

She told us she leaves the durian seeds there just for aesthetics. The durian flesh is already thoroughly mixed in, so the seeds aren’t really needed, but it looks nice and helps identify the flavoring of the Xôi.

I liked that little touch, and I ended up really enjoying the Xôi too. It was mushy and a little bit chewy, with the sweet musty taste of mung beans and an overall strong durian flavor.

At only 12,000 dong per scoop, this is a very affordable way to get a durian fix.

Sầu Riêng Quang Mingh Durian Shop (Quận 1)

We ended up staying around the corner from this little durian shop, and spotted it on our first morning as we walked to the delightful shade of Tao Dan Park’s looming old trees.

On our way back, we stopped to take a peek and maybe get some breakfast.

The shop was busy fulfilling orders and there was a line of Grab drivers loitering near the open door.

We ended up getting a plate of Ri6, as well as one of their Durian Sugar Cane juices.

I shared our full experience at the shop in another blog post, Sầu Riêng Quang Mingh Durian Shop (Quận 1).

You can contact them via Facebook

Durian Shops in Other Districts

The tourist zone in Ho Chi Minh City is honestly a bit scarce for durian. When you get out to the suburbs you start finding actual durian-specialty shops, and there are many.

Here are a few that are worth taking a taxi/Grab out to and fighting the traffic. Make sure to plan your trip on off-peak hours (before 4 pm) otherwise the traffic can feel really out of control and it can be difficult to convince a Grab driver to come get you. We experienced multiple cancellations.

Sầu Riêng Sạch 3 Bao (Quận 3)

We walked the 20 minutes or so from the Chợ Tân Định Market in District 1. It wasn’t an unpleasant walk, although it was hot and took us longer than necessary because we passed a dozen sugar cane juice stalls and stopped at least 3 for a drink.

Just over the bridge of the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal, we turned left down a shady road running parallel to the canal. Motorbikes whipped by, but compared to the claustrophobic careening of the main road, the smaller road felt quiet and peaceful. A sidewalk ran along the canal, with park benches.

The canal would also be a great location for a durian picnic, since the shop doesn’t have much seating space.

It’s really a to-go shop, a place to buy durian but not a place to eat it.

They also take many orders by Facebook and Food Apps like Grab, as the Dad was busy packing durian into styrofoam boxes when we arrived. The shopfront opens to the family’s personal living room, where the wife and daughter were seated. They offered to move for us when we indicated we intended to eat the durian there, but we were fine standing.

They had 2 varieties for sale: Ri6 and Monthong, both from Bến Tre.

To be honest, the durian looked rough. A lot of the stems were older and some of the durians had tip-rot. But when Richard picked one up to examine it, we could see that the durian had been picked at a later maturity, and it didn’t have any bad lingering aroma of stale durian or ripening agents.

The Ri6 was 120,000 VND per kilogram for a whole fruit. We waffled over which fruit to buy. But then the owner, Cảnh, offered us some durian pods in a plastic tray that looked pretty amazing.

The flesh was dark yellow, had a mottled shine, and looked delicious. We paid 500,000 VND ($20.20 USD) per kilo for the box of de-shelled durian pods.

Richard did a little happy dance on the first bite.

It was thick and fatty in texture, like whipped nut butter, with a nutty, caramel sweetness that was beautiful and relieving. It tasted fresh and good, just as good as the Ri6 at Tanh Dinh Market.

“I guess he knows his durian,” Richard praised. “Good pick.”

This shop is located on the same road as Tanh Dinh Market, just on the other side of the border between District 3 and District 1.

You can Contact them on Facebook.

9 Phe – Sầu Riêng Chín Tự Nhiên (Quận 8)

The moment we stepped through the air-conditioned doors of 9 Phe – Sầu Riêng Chín Tự Nhiên our eyes popped a little.

The shop was tiny, but lined with fresh-looking durians. A mural of a farmer in a durian tree graced one of the brick walls, and staff wore matching brown polos with checkered headbands.

This was a different type of durian shop. It had the vibes of like a cooperative or an organic shop, something trendy and “farm-to-table.”

Each durian bore a brown-paper tag printed in Vietnamese, along with the date that the durians had been harvested. We considered the Musang King durian, which had a nice smell, but after examining the durians carefully, we settled on a medium-sized, 1.7kg Ri6 that had been harvested only 2 days previously.

At 499,000 VND per kilogram this was the most expensive durian we purchased on our Ho Chi Minh City Durian hop.

Its stem looked fresh and plump, the skin easily nicking off under a scratch to reveal bright green. It had a noticeable sweet, bread-y aroma and made a resounding thump when we knocked it, so we decided it was ready to eat.

The staff, however, disagreed. They steered us toward a durian with a browner, more dried-out stem and a yellow-ish cast to the skin, which looked to our durian snob eyes just a wee bit overripe.

We assured them we wanted our choice. The staff looked nervous as she began to open it, but as she felt the knife easily enter the durian husk and heard the crack as the seams popped open, she smiled. It was perfectly ripe.

This was hands down the best durian we ate in Ho Chi Minh City.

It had the bright, fresh taste almost of a tree-ripe durian, with an almost almond-cookie aroma. It was thick and smooth, sticky in texture,

The name of the shop “Sầu Riêng Chín Tự Nhiên” means “Natural Ripe Durian.” When I used Google Translate to read the brown paper tags, they assured us that no ripening agents had been used on these durians.

I was so delighted to find a shop with late-harvested durians, offering a really quality experience.

As we waited for a Grab car to take us away, we ordered a sugar cane durian-smoothie to go. The staff member pressed the sugar cane juice before our eyes before plopping in pieces of fresh durian from a newly opened fruit on the table.

It was absolutely delicious.

This shop is part of a chain of 20 durian shops located all around Vietnam, including 3 outlets in Hanoi. If they’re all this good, I will pay the extra money every time.

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Cửa Hàng Sầu Riêng Tuấn Mập (Quận 10)

The furthest away we traveled on this Ho Chi Minh City Durian Hop was Tuan Map Durian Shop in District 10. We took a Grab here around 3pm, and it was clear by the snarling traffic that this is a place to visit only when you are feeling adventurous or really want to find a wider range of durian varieties.

The shop is located on a busy intersection where the river of motorcycle traffic became so clogged it frequently came to a standstill.

But, Mr. Truong was the only person in Ho Chi Minh who was selling both the Chuồng Bò and 6 Hữu variety.

I found the shop through a Google Maps search, and almost bi-passed it due to a few one-star reviews. Plus, it was kind of far away. I think we paid 110,000 VND just for the Grab ride.

But the website was well-made (http://sauriengtuanmap.com/), and it seemed like the shop specialized in on-line sales with a lot of varieties. So we decided it was worth the effort.

And to be honest, I don’t think the 1-star reviews are valid. We had a great experience.

We decided to go with the 6 Hữu, since we’d just had a tree-ripe one at our homestay in Ben Tre and wanted to compare it with a cut-harvested one.

The durian was surprisingly floral, with a jasmine-like aroma, and a light cashew-cream fattiness. The flesh was definitely stiffer than the tree-ripe one, which melted on the tip of our tongues like meringue. This one was a little bit dry, with the fibers visible.

Overall, we thought it was still good, and we ate it all – so that’s the final review 🤭

When we were done, Mr. Truong offered us napkins to clean our fingers and gave us tamarind-ginger candies as breath mint.

I’d go back if we’re ever in Ho Chi Minh City again. Here’s their website for online orders, or you can contact them on Facebook.

Cửa Hàng Sầu Riêng (Quận 10)

As we stood at Tuấn Mập Durian Shop, preparing to leave and surveying the traffic, we happened to notice another durian shop a mere 30 meters away. With the traffic giving no sign of slowing, we drifted up the street toward the mystery durians.

Here we found another durian stand advertising Ri6 for considerably fewer dong per kilo than anywhere we’d seen in Ho Chi Minh City.

Could it be any good? we asked each other.

After rummaging through the pile of durians which had clearly seen better days, we settled on a Ri6 weighing 1.3kg.

At only 91,000 VND ($3.64 USD) this durian was a real steal. It was fleshy and thick, a lot to eat, and very sweet.

It was not the best durian we’d had in Ho Chi Minh – it’s texture managed to be both a little fibrous and a little watery at the same time, and the sweetness was one-note, lacking the smoky complexity of the durian at Tan Dinh Market, Sầu Riêng Sạch 3 Bao, and 9 Phe – Sầu Riêng Chín Tự Nhiên.

But it really wasn’t bad. For a $3 durian, no complaints.

But for anybody durian-hungry and on a budget, it’s definitely possible to find some very good valued durians in Ho Chi Minh City.

How Much We Spent

Sầu Riêng Quang Mingh Durian Shop: 154,000 VND for durian + 25,000 VND for a sugar-cane durian smoothie (total 179,000 VND, $7.16 USD)
Chợ Tân Định Market: 300,000 VND ($12.00 USD)
Gánh Xôi Vò Sầu Riêng: 24,000 VND for 2 serves ($0.96 USD)
Sầu Riêng Sạch 3 Bao: 377,500 VND ($15.10 USD)
9 Phe – Sầu Riêng Chín Tự Nhiên: 873,000VND ($34.92 USD)
Cửa Hàng Sầu Riêng Tuấn Mập: 360,000 VND ($14.40 USD)
Cửa Hàng Sầu Riêng: 91,000 VND ($3.64 USD)

Grand Total: $84.54

Vietnam Durian Hunting Map

Love this Ho Chi Minh City Durian Guide? Check out more destinations in Vietnam using our Vietnam Durian Map below. You can navigate to different blog posts, just click on the destination and find the link.