Con Dao food guide
Côn Đảo eats from small day-boats and the bàng tree. Take home a bag of hạt bàng from the daily market, and spend the evening at the night market on Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng, where you pick the seafood and the stall steams or grills it.
Compare a room, or search a tour.
Check stays Klook tours
Photo: Phương Huy · Public domain
Hạt bàng is the island’s pack: the kernel of the bàng fruit, roasted with salt or candied, at 250,000–400,000 đồng per kilogram depending on the type. Prisoners once gathered the leaves and fruit when they were kept without greens, and they also used the leaves as insulation, as paper, and to mark the year. In peak season some kernels come in from the mainland provinces, so not every bag is island fruit.
The rest of the market shelf is ferments and one-sun seafood. Mắm nhum, made from sea-urchin meat, is salty, sour, and strongly fragrant, and is eaten with rice noodles, boiled meat, or hot rice. Mắm hàu is oyster, fermented by hand. One-sun squid and one-sun mackerel carry an OCOP three-star rating, and a workshop on Nguyễn Duy Trinh bakes the kernels into biscuits.
At night the open yard in front of the daily market fills from 17:00 and is busiest from 19:00 to 22:00. Choose tiger prawns, swimming crab, ốc hương, or squid and have them grilled or steamed, add a seafood hotpot, and finish with a tray of cơm cháy. The yard has no roof, so rain moves the tables.
Con Dao specialties
Start with hạt bàng from the daily market, then the ferments and one-sun packs. The evening belongs to the night-market plates.
- Hat bang
- Mam nhum
- Mam hau
- Banh quy hat bang
- Muc mot nang
- Muc kho
- Ca thu mot nang
- Cua mat trang
- Ca mu do
- Goi ca map
- Ca mo cat
- Sa sung
- Muc tuoi
- Oc vu nang
- Tom hum do
- Tom su nuong
- Ghe hap
- Oc huong hap sa
- Lau hai san
- Tom mu ni chay toi
- Banh trang nuong
- Com chay
Hat bang Hạt bàng
The kernel of the bàng fruit, roasted with salt or candied and sold by the bag at the daily market. Prisoners once gathered the leaves and fruit when they were kept without greens.
Mam nhum Mắm nhum
Sea-urchin meat fermented into a salty, sour, strongly fragrant mắm. Eat it with rice noodles, boiled meat, or hot rice.
Mam hau Mắm hàu
Oysters fermented by hand into a mắm and sold at the daily market to take home.
Banh quy hat bang Bánh quy hạt bàng
Biscuits made with hạt bàng, in chocolate or traditional fillings. They began as the welcome biscuit at hotel reception desks and now come from a workshop on Nguyễn Duy Trinh.
Muc mot nang Mực một nắng
Squid dried under a single day’s sun and sold as the island’s gift pack. Mực một nắng Côn Đảo holds an OCOP three-star rating.
Muc kho Mực khô
Dried squid sold in packs at the daily market, separate from the one-sun squid and the fresh catch.
Ca thu mot nang Cá thu một nắng
Mackerel dried under one day’s sun and packed to take home. Like the one-sun squid, it holds an OCOP three-star rating.
Cua mat trang Cua mặt trăng
A crab with red spots on its shell like a moon. Islanders say the meat is sweet and firm, and richer in minerals than other crabs, in the week of the rising moon.
Ca mu do Cá mú đỏ
A red grouper from the island’s coral, also called song fish. The flesh is lean, white, chewy, and sweet.
Goi ca map Gỏi cá mập
A shark salad, one of the island dishes that is hard to find elsewhere in Vietnam.
A local fish sold under two names, cá mó cát and cá mó sáp, and ordered with the island’s seafood meal.
Sa sung Sá sùng
A rare peanut worm that was once sent to the court as tribute.
Muc tuoi Mực tươi
Squid hand-lined from small day-boats and still moving when it reaches the tank. Cooked, it is crisp with a deep sweet taste.
Oc vu nang Ốc vú nàng
A spire-shaped snail found beside steep sea cliffs, gray-black and knobby outside and smooth pink, white, or cream inside. Boiled or grilled, it has a natural sweet taste.
Tom hum do Tôm hùm đỏ
A small red lobster nicknamed fire lobster, with firmer, sweeter meat than other lobsters. Côn Đảo a lobster-farming kingdom, yet also says this lobster cannot be farmed and is caught only in the wild.
Tom su nuong Tôm sú nướng
Tiger prawns you pick from a night-market stall and have grilled.
Ghe hap Ghẹ hấp
Swimming crab picked from a night-market stall and steamed. It is a different crab from cua mặt trăng.
Lau hai san Lẩu hải sản
A seafood hotpot shared at the open-air tables of the night market.
Tôm mũ ni, the slipper lobster, cooked with garlic at the night market.
Banh trang nuong Bánh tráng nướng
Grilled rice paper, a snack sold on the night-market stalls beside the grilled corn and sweet potato.
Com chay Cơm cháy
Crisp rice in three colours, plain white, green from pandan leaf, and purple from magenta leaf. Each tray is finished with scallion oil and pork floss.
Packs from the daily market
These are the foods islanders sell to take home: kernels, ferments, biscuits, and squid and mackerel dried in the sun.
Chợ Côn Đảo
Bàng kernels roasted with salt or candied, 250,000–400,000 đồng per kilogram depending on the type. Some peak-season bags hold kernels from the mainland.
Chợ Côn Đảo
Fermented sea-urchin meat, salty, sour, and strongly fragrant. Eat it with rice noodles, boiled meat, or hot rice.
Chợ Côn Đảo
Oysters fermented by hand into a mắm, sold to take home.
Nguyễn Duy Trinh, khu 5
Hạt bàng biscuits with chocolate or traditional fillings, first set out at hotel reception desks.
Muc mot nang Mực một nắng
Chợ Côn Đảo
Squid dried under a single day’s sun, the island’s OCOP three-star gift pack.
Muc kho Mực khô
Chợ Côn Đảo
Dried squid sold in packs, separate from the one-sun squid and the fresh catch.
Chợ Côn Đảo
Mackerel dried under one day’s sun and packed to take home, rated OCOP three stars like the one-sun squid.
Seafood on the island
Small day-boats land the island’s fish, and the seaside restaurants and the night market cook it. These are the catches Côn Đảo is known for.
Cua mat trang Cua mặt trăng
Seaside restaurants
A crab with moon-like red spots on its shell. Islanders say the meat is sweet and firm in the week of the rising moon.
Seaside restaurants
A red coral grouper, also called song fish, with lean, white, chewy, sweet flesh. It is grilled or steamed with ginger and spring onion.
Côn Sơn town
A shark salad, one of the island dishes that is hard to find elsewhere.
Côn Sơn town
A local fish sold under two names, cá mó cát and cá mó sáp, ordered with the seafood meal.
Côn Sơn town
A rare peanut worm that was once sent to the court as tribute.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Squid hand-lined from day-boats, still moving when it reaches the tank. Cooked, it is crisp with a deep sweet taste.
Seaside restaurants and the fishing village
A spire-shaped snail from beside steep cliffs, gray-black outside and pink, white, or cream inside. Boiled or grilled, it has a natural sweet taste.
Tom hum do Tôm hùm đỏ
Seaside restaurants
A small red lobster nicknamed fire lobster, with firmer, sweeter meat than other lobsters. Eat it steamed whole, in soup, in salad, or as sushi.
Plates at the night market
Pick the seafood at the stall and say how you want it cooked. One May 2025 dinner of five seafood plates for five people came to 1,200,000 đồng. The yard also grills skewers, corn, and sweet potato.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Tiger prawns you choose from the stall and have grilled.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Swimming crab steamed to order. It is a different crab from cua mặt trăng.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Ốc hương snails steamed with lemongrass.
Lau hai san Lẩu hải sản
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
A seafood hotpot shared at the open-air tables.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Tôm mũ ni, the slipper lobster, cooked with garlic.
Banh trang nuong Bánh tráng nướng
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Grilled rice paper, a snack sold on the night-market stalls.
Com chay Cơm cháy
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
Crisp rice in white, pandan green, and magenta purple, finished with scallion oil and pork floss. One stall charged 100,000 đồng a tray, and most people take it away because seats are few.
Casual dining
Buy the packs at the daily market by day. After dark, eat in the open yard in front of it on Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng, a night market that has run since 2023.
Con Dao market Chợ Côn Đảo
Côn Sơn town
The daytime hall where traders pack hạt bàng and sell mắm and dried seafood to take home.
Võ Thị Sáu and Phạm Văn Đồng
An open yard of seafood stalls from 17:00, busiest from 19:00 to 22:00, and on peak nights and weekends it can run until just before 02:00. There is no roof, so rain moves the tables.