Blue Monkey Bar Saigon is a cocktail-and-billiards bar at the end of an alley off Nguyễn Văn Hưởng , until a hardcore band plugs in, and then it becomes one of the hottest pits in the city.
In 2026 it has quietly turned into Saigon's go-to room for heavy nights. Out The Run brought touring bands from Lyon and Sydney through its door. Local hardcore, death metal and metalcore acts have filled the bill underneath them. I was there with a camera for Speed's first Vietnam show in June, and the floor never stopped moving.
Blue Monkey started life on Phú Quốc, where it bills itself as the island's first live-music bar. The Saigon branch sits at 199M Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, in what used to be Thảo Điền and is now An Khánh ward.
On a normal night it is an expat-friendly neighbourhood bar. There is a pool table in the game room, a house IPA at 7%, homemade coconut vodka and a daily free-flow beer deal. Its own Instagram bio tells a louder story: events, hard rock, live music, wild nights.
