Thanh Suong seafood Nha Trang

The busiest seafood house in the city, busy enough that a weekend evening means waiting for a table. At 15 Trần Phú in Vĩnh Nguyên, 3.3 km south of the centre, near Cầu Đá port and the island boat pier. Open 10:00–23:00 (Sundays to 22:30). There are two branches side by side on the same road: Thanh Sương 1 at number 15 and Thanh Sương 2 at number 21. The sign on the first lists both addresses, so do not be surprised if the staff walk you next door.

The thing most worth knowing here is not a dish but the price card stuck in the tank. Every figure is written on it. Two ends are worth carrying: fish at 300,000–450,000₫/kg at the bottom, and lobster at 1,350,000–1,550,000₫/kg at the top. Green lobster is far cheaper at 880,000₫/kg. In a city where seafood is where bills go wrong, a tank with the price already written on it is worth three kilometres.

On the food, the most useful advice is this: stick to the steamed and the boiled, because the heavily seasoned dishes are weaker, the Thai-style steams especially. The dish ordered most often is sweet snails in salted-egg sauce. The kitchen also does cheese-grilled lobster, prawns grilled on skewers and a plate of raw fish dressed like a salad.

It is very busy, which cuts both ways. Good: stock turns over fast, so what is in the tank is fresh. Less good: at the evening peak the food is slow and the room is loud. For a group, or for a comfortable table, arrive before 18:00. It sits on the road out to Cầu Đá port, so it fits an island day. Eat on the way back rather than driving into the centre. The seafood and draught beer page has fifteen others to compare.