Experience Cooking classes in the best of
Ho Chi Minh City with Withlocals

"My first cooking class in Vietnam and I could not have asked for a better experience. We met at a local grocer, and Elise walked me through the fruit and vegetable section of the market. I was happy to learn about some new fruits that I’ve since been eating daily. Elise was very professional, knowledgeable, and thoughtful during the entire cooking class; her patience in helping me learn how to properly wrap spring rolls was amazing! From the prep to the final delicious end product, it was a lot of fun and great conversation. I highly recommend this class."

"Elise was so warm and welcoming, and did a great job of educating us on different Vietnamese foods and cooking skills. She went above and beyond and truly treated us like guests and not just tourists paying for a service! The food was delicious and healthy. "

"We had an amazing experience at the Vietnamese cooking workshop with Elise and her mother. Her mother was incredibly kind and, even though she didn’t speak English, she enthusiastically showed us how traditional Vietnamese dishes are prepared. Every ingredient was explained in detail, and the cooking process was demonstrated with great care and joy. The only surprise was that we expected to cook ourselves rather than just watch, but this didn’t take away from the experience at all. We truly appreciated the warm hospitality of Elise and her mother and, of course, the delicious food! To our delight, they had even prepared extra snacks for us, making this introduction to Vietnamese cuisine even more special. Highly recommended! "

"This was great. We were picked up as agreed, and drove to the village where the cooking class took place (our host was not Tan, but another super nice guide, with great English). We were a family of 6, and each of us had our own tools, own wok and and cooking area. We started off with a super interesting tour of the various ingredients, tasting it all and learning about how it was used. Then we proceeded to cooking and with some nice helpers (also cleaning up) it ended up great. We did four dishes in total. Probably this was the family highlight of our trip in Vietnam, and definitely in everyone's top 3. After eating we went to see the tunnels - a very interesting insight into the war and how the Americans were out-smarted with low-tech means. Our kids ended up shooting some overpriced bullets (not part of the tour), and loved that part. Overall this was super nice, and a day excursion I would recommend to anyone (our youngest kids were 15, probably min age is 10-12)."

"Elise and her mom provided an unforgettable Vietnamese spring rolls class. Elise was amazing and took her time explaining the ingredients and sharing insights into Vietnamese food and culture during our grocery store tour. Her mom was equally wonderful and taught me valuable techniques that I will definitely use again. The spring rolls were fresh and delicious and the homemade sauces added the perfect touch. They even shared some unique fruits I had never tried before. This was a warm, educational, and truly delightful experience. Highly recommend!"

"What an amazing experience with Elise and her mum. They were both so welcoming, I felt like part of the family. The spring rolls we made are the best I’ve ever eaten and my only regrets is I couldn’t stay for longer to cook Pho. I highly recommend any experience with this awesome duo."

"We did the shopping and cooking tour with Elise and her Mum . It was absolutely amazing . Such a privilege to be welcomed into Elise’s home. Elise was such a wealth of knowledge on local food and cooking traditions. Her mother was warm and welcoming and the memories of our day together will last a lifetime. We learned how to shop and cook like locals ….and came home with an absolutely delicious recipe for traditional pancakes . "

"My husband and I love spring rolls, so when we stumbled across Elise’s private spring roll class and found ourselves with a few extra hours to spare, well…it was destiny! From the minute we signed up Elise was super friendly and helpful: she offered to answer any questions we might have about HCMC, make recommendations for food, and even book restaurant reservations if we needed help. So sweet! We met at a local supermarket in her neighborhood and as we shopped for ingredients she taught us about how food is integrated into the local culture. Very interesting. Then we walked a few short blocks to her family home where we were greeted warmly by her amazing mom and adorable dog. We sat at the dining table and started cooking right away, mostly chopping and grating, though I was “fired” from the latter because my grated radishes weren’t up to mom’s standards. That and she did it three times faster than me. LOL Once all the ingredients were assembled we rolled…and we rolled…and we rolled some more. There were only two of us but I swear we made 50 spring rolls! I was in heaven! Her mom then took them into the kitchen and showed us how to fry them. She made it look so easy, using chopsticks to fit far more in the fry pan than I thought possible. In no time at all we were stuffing our faces with the most delicious spring rolls you can imagine, wrapped in fresh lettuce and herbs with a homemade dipping sauce to impart even more flavor. We washed them down with local beer and somehow made room for fresh fruit for dessert. Oh, they also offered us some local sticky-rice desserts wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with coconut, mung bean, etc. Heavenly! It was a fabulous few hours and we walked away fat and soooo happy! Elise, big thanks to you and your mom for one of the highlights of our time in HCMC! If you love spring rolls, you’d be crazy not to take this class!"

"Aura was an excellent tour guide, making sure that I was comfortable throughout the entire tour and waking up so early to meet me at my hotel. She thoroughly explained the background behind each ingredient of each dish we cooked and was indefatigable in her energy when cooking as well as guiding me through the Cu Chi tunnels. I 100% would recommend Aura and Tan's Cooking class to any future visitors - you will not regret it."

"We spent a great day with Elise in Saigon. We started our tour with a visit to a local grocery store where she explained all of the items there that were unique to Vietnam and identified several things that she felt we should bring home to the US. Following our trip to the store, Elise took us to her modest apartment where she and her mother cooked us an amazing meal while sharing with us the details of the recipes so that we can prepare the dishes back home. It was essentially an informal cooking class where we not only learned how to cook some delicious Vietnam dishes, but we also learned about Elise and her mom's life in Saigon. It was truly a special experience. "