Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Michelin-flagged wine bar, ₫₫ price point.
Little Bear is a Michelin Plate-recognised Vietnamese Contemporary wine bar in Thảo Điền, with a Star Wine List White Star and a Google rating of 4.8. At the ₫₫ price level, it is one of the stronger cases for the quality-to-price ratio in Ho Chi Minh City's contemporary dining scene. Book ahead for weekend evenings; weeknights are easier and more relaxed.
At the ₫₫ price point, Little Bear delivers a level of culinary ambition that punches well above its tier. This is Vietnamese Contemporary cooking with a wine bar backbone, and the combination works. A Michelin Plate recognition in 2025, a White Star on Star Wine List, and back-to-back Opinionated About Dining rankings (climbing from Recommended in 2023 to #339 in 2024 to #415 in 2025 across North America comparisons) confirm this is not a casual neighbourhood spot. If you are visiting Ho Chi Minh City's Thảo Điền district for the first time and want one restaurant that shows you what the contemporary Vietnamese dining scene is capable of, book Little Bear before you book anywhere else at this price level.
Little Bear operates as a wine bar with a serious kitchen, not the other way around. The address puts you in Thảo Điền, the expat-dense district of Thủ Đức, which is a deliberate positioning: this is a neighbourhood restaurant serving a crowd that travels, drinks wine, and expects cooking that goes beyond the street-level default. Chef Aaron Silverman leads the kitchen, and the cuisine is classified as Vietnamese Contemporary, meaning local technique and ingredients are filtered through a modern lens rather than replicated wholesale.
Visually, you are looking at a room that fits the wine bar brief: the kind of setting where the bottle list competes for attention with what arrives on the plate. For a first-timer, the key thing to know is that this is not a pho-and-bánh-mì operation. The format expects you to order around the wine, consider the kitchen's interpretation of Vietnamese flavour, and take your time. It is a slower dining pace than most of the city's ₫₫ options.
The Michelin Plate recognition is the clearest external benchmark for the cooking. Michelin's Plate designation signals food worth your attention without the full commitment of a star, and at the ₫₫ price level in Ho Chi Minh City, that kind of recognition is rare. What the awards record collectively suggests is consistent technical execution across multiple years, not a one-season spike. The OAD ranking climbing year-on-year from a regional recommendation to a top-400 North America comparison slot is a useful signal: the kitchen is improving, not coasting.
Vietnamese Contemporary as a cuisine category covers a wide range in this city, from ambitious fine-dining experiments to slightly loose fusion. Little Bear's wine-bar format shapes what the kitchen produces: dishes that pair, portions designed for sharing and grazing, and flavour profiles that hold their own next to a glass rather than demanding to be the only thing in the room. For a first-timer, this is actually an easier entry point into contemporary Vietnamese than a full tasting-menu restaurant. You can eat lightly or work through the menu at your own pace.
For direct peer comparisons within the Vietnamese Contemporary category in Vietnam, Gia in Hanoi and Backstage in Hanoi are operating in the same culinary register with similarly modern approaches, while Lamai Garden in Hanoi and Nén Danang in Da Nang show how the Vietnamese Contemporary format plays out in different cities. Little Bear's wine focus is a genuine differentiator within this set.
Thảo Điền's dining rhythm rewards earlier bookings. The district fills on weekend evenings with both local and expat diners, and Little Bear's Google rating of 4.8 across 268 reviews suggests a loyal returning audience that books ahead. For a first visit, a weeknight table gives you more room to engage with the menu and wine list without the volume of a packed Friday or Saturday service. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so you are unlikely to be shut out, but arriving without a reservation on a weekend evening is a risk not worth taking for a room of this calibre.
Ho Chi Minh City's dining calendar does not have the same hard seasonality as a northern hemisphere city, but the November-to-April dry season makes evening dining in Thảo Điền more comfortable, particularly if you want to extend the evening after dinner. The district has enough around it to make a full evening out of the neighbourhood: see our Ho Chi Minh City bars guide for what to do with the rest of the night.
For first-timers to this part of the city, the Thủ Đức location (formerly District 2) is a 20-30 minute ride from District 1, depending on traffic. Factor that into your evening, and check our full Ho Chi Minh City restaurants guide if you are planning multiple nights and want to map out the city's dining geography before you arrive.
The Star Wine List White Star recognition is not a throwaway credential. Star Wine List curates wine programs across Asia with specific attention to list depth and curation, and a White Star places Little Bear among the more serious wine destinations in the city. If you are travelling partly for the wine, this is one of the stronger arguments for booking. For a ₫₫ restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City to carry this kind of wine recognition is unusual, and it justifies treating Little Bear as a wine destination with food, not just a restaurant that stocks bottles.
Phone and website details are not in our current data, so reserve via the address directly or through a third-party booking platform. The venue sits at 36 Nguyễn Bá Huân in Thảo Điền. Other Vietnamese Contemporary spots in HCMC worth cross-referencing include Tre Dining, ST25 by KOTO, and Akuna. For broader Ho Chi Minh City planning, see our hotels guide, experiences guide, and wineries guide. If you are travelling across Vietnam, Hibana by Koki in Hanoi, La Maison 1888 in Da Nang, and Rice Bowl in Hue City round out a high-quality national dining itinerary.
Quick reference: Vietnamese Contemporary wine bar, Thảo Điền (Thủ Đức), ₫₫ price range, Michelin Plate 2025, Star Wine List White Star, OAD-ranked, Google 4.8/5 (268 reviews), booking difficulty: Easy.
Plan around the wine list as much as the food — this is a wine bar with a serious kitchen, not a standard restaurant. The cuisine is Vietnamese Contemporary, so expect modern interpretations of local flavour rather than traditional dishes. Book ahead even though it is rated Easy to book: weekend evenings fill up. The Thảo Điền location is a 20-30 minute ride from District 1, so factor travel time into your evening. The Michelin Plate and Star Wine List White Star credentials mean the quality bar is consistently high for the price.
Yes, clearly so. A Michelin Plate at the ₫₫ price level is an unusual value proposition in Ho Chi Minh City. You are paying mid-range prices for a wine program that has earned a Star Wine List White Star and a kitchen that OAD has ranked continuously since 2023 with an improving trajectory. Comparable ambition at this price point in the city is hard to find. The honest caveat is that without current menu pricing confirmed, the per-head spend is not pinned down, but the ₫₫ tier keeps this well below the city's fine-dining ceiling.
We do not have confirmed details on whether Little Bear currently runs a formal tasting menu format. Given its wine bar structure, the likely format is a sharing menu or à la carte rather than a set progression. Check directly when booking. If a tasting format is available, the OAD and Michelin credentials make it a strong case for committing to the full experience rather than ordering piecemeal.
Yes, with the right expectations. The wine list credentials and Michelin recognition give it the quality floor you want for a special occasion, and the ₫₫ price means you can invest in the bottle list without the bill spiralling. It works better for an intimate dinner of two or a small group than for a large celebration requiring a private room. If you need a more formal fine-dining environment, CieL at ₫₫₫₫ is the escalation option in the city.
A wine bar format is one of the more comfortable solo dining experiences available. You can sit at the bar, order around the wine list at your own pace, and engage with the room without the social pressure of a tasting-menu counter. The 4.8 Google rating across 268 reviews suggests a welcoming, well-run room. Solo visitors should consider a weeknight visit when the pace is steadier than a busy weekend service.
No dress code is listed in our data. Given the wine bar format, the Thảo Điền expat neighbourhood, and the ₫₫ pricing, smart casual is the reliable call. Ho Chi Minh City's dining culture at this level does not typically enforce formal dress, but arriving in shorts and sandals to a Michelin-recognised wine bar is worth reconsidering. When in doubt, treat it like a good wine bar in any international city: neat and comfortable.
If you want street-food energy at a lower price, Anan Saigon (₫₫, Vietnamese Street Food) is the clearest alternative and brings its own creative interpretation of local cuisine. For innovative cooking at a higher spend, Coco Dining (₫₫₫) and CieL (₫₫₫₫) are the escalation options. Bánh Xèo 46A (₫) is the city's go-to for traditional Vietnamese at the lowest spend. Within the Vietnamese Contemporary category, also consider Bờm and Madame Lam for different takes on the format.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Bear | Vietnamese Contemporary | ₫₫ | Little Bear Wine Bar is a wine bar in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was published on Star Wine List on December 26, 2024 and is a White Star.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #415 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #339 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Gourmet Casual Dining in North America Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Anan Saigon | Vietnamese Street Food | ₫₫ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| CieL | Innovative | ₫₫₫₫ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Coco Dining | Innovative | ₫₫₫ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Long Trieu | Cantonese | ₫₫₫₫ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Bánh Xèo 46A | Vietnamese | ₫ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Little Bear and alternatives.
Anan Saigon is the most direct comparison for Vietnamese Contemporary cooking with serious culinary credentials, and better suited if you want a more established dining room over a wine-bar format. CieL works for a special-occasion splurge where the room is the point. Bánh Xèo 46A is the go-to if you want traditional Vietnamese at a fraction of the price with no pretension. Little Bear sits between these: a wine-first setting with Michelin Plate-level cooking at a ₫₫ price point.
Yes. A wine bar format with a serious kitchen is one of the more comfortable solo dining setups: counter or bar seating typically removes the awkwardness of a table for one, and the wine list gives you something to work through at your own pace. The Thảo Điền address means a walkable, expat-familiar neighbourhood if you want to extend the evening.
The Michelin Plate recognition signals the kitchen is cooking at a level where a structured tasting format, if offered, is likely to show the food at its best. At a ₫₫ price point, Little Bear sits well below what a comparable multi-course experience would cost at Anan Saigon or CieL, making it one of the lower-risk bets in the city for this style of eating. Confirm the current menu format directly before booking, as specific offerings are not in current data.
It works for a specific kind of special occasion: one where the food and wine matter more than ceremony or a grand room. The Michelin Plate and Star Wine List White Star credentials give it genuine weight, but this is a wine bar, not a formal dining room. For milestone occasions where atmosphere and service theatre are part of the brief, CieL may be a stronger fit.
Nothing in the venue data specifies a dress code. Given the wine bar format and Thảo Điền's predominantly casual-to-neat expat dining culture, neat casual is a reasonable approach: clean, put-together, without formality. Overdressing for a wine bar setting in this neighbourhood would be unusual.
At ₫₫, yes. A Michelin Plate kitchen paired with a Star Wine List White Star wine program at that price tier is a strong value proposition by any measure in Ho Chi Minh City. The Opinionated About Dining rankings, including a #339 placement in 2024, add external confirmation that this is not a soft credential. You are getting a credentialled dining and wine experience at a price point that would buy you something far less serious in most comparable cities.
Come for both the food and the wine equally: the Star Wine List White Star means the wine program has been independently assessed as serious, so treating this as a food-only stop undersells the visit. Reserve in advance, particularly on weekend evenings when Thảo Điền fills with local and expat diners. Phone and website details are not currently in our data, so book via the address at 36 Nguyễn Bá Huân or through a third-party platform.
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