A Japanese food festival where every table with a Vietnamese guest gets free food opened in Ho Chi Minh City on September 11.

Organised by Japan 's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the second Oishi Nippon Fair at the Tokyo Town restaurant, 188 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street , District 3, is part of a project to introduce Japanese cuisine culture to the world and follows an earlier one in April.

Until September 17, Tokyo Town will offer a menu with seven dishes – croquette, fried noodle with seafood, udon salad, fermented vegetable mixture, bacon wrapped asparagus and sausage, breaded butterfly shrimp with mayonnaise, and fish pie with soy sauce – and three beverages.

At weekend, food expert Nguyen Thi Dieu Thao will teach diners how to cook traditional miso soup though with some changes to suit the Vietnamese palate.

Japanese delicacies have also been on offer at the 17th Vietfood & Beverage until September 14 at the city's Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Yoshinori Yakabe, the Japanese deputy consul in HCM City , said Japanese restaurants used to mostly serve Japanese customers but now attract more and more Vietnamese.

Japanese food has become a "trend", he said.-VNA