Agave
Bib Gourmand 2026

🔄 Last checked 2 Jul 2026 · details and hours can change — check the venue before you go

If you're talking about Vietnamese food in Thailand, the Northeast is where people eat it the most seriously, and Ubon Ratchathani is one of the provinces where Vietnamese culture has run deep for a long time. Nem nuong here isn't some novelty — it's food that people in Ubon eat as a normal part of everyday life. Among the many Vietnamese restaurants in town, Agave is the one the MICHELIN Guide picked out for a Bib Gourmand tag, ever since the guide expanded to cover the Northeast in its 2023 edition, and it has stayed on the list continuously through to the 2026 edition. The restaurant's name comes from the owner's passion for agave plants, to the point that this high-ceilinged restaurant is decorated with agave plants throughout. Walk in and you get an airy, relaxed atmosphere unlike any typical nem nuong restaurant.

What makes MICHELIN like this place is its seriously homemade approach. The restaurant makes all its own ingredients, and it doesn't cook Vietnamese food strictly by the book — it adds local Isan spices until it becomes a Vietnamese-Isan style with a clear identity of its own. The dish you have to order is nem nuong, which has a twist you won't easily find elsewhere: you can choose pork or fish. If you can't eat pork or want to try something new, the fish nem nuong is a genuinely interesting answer. A set of pork nem nuong costs 280 THB, wrapped in fresh vegetables and dipped in sauce — so good you can't stop. Another highlight dish that has become the restaurant's signature is sticky rice waffle served with sun-dried pork, where sticky rice is pressed into a waffle mold until the outside turns crisp and fragrant while the inside stays chewy. Eat it with the sun-dried pork and you understand exactly why everyone talks about this dish.

The location also says a lot about Ubon, sitting next to the provincial governor's residence on Phaloerangrit Road, right in the old town surrounded by important temples and old-era shophouses of Ubon. Drive a short distance past Thung Si Mueang and you're there — great if you're planning to walk around temples in town and then stop by for lunch or dinner afterward. A review score of 4.4 from nearly a hundred real diners confirms this isn't a restaurant that's popular just because of its MICHELIN tag, but a genuine local favorite that people in Ubon eat at themselves. If you're in Ubon and want a Vietnamese meal, this restaurant is a choice you can recommend with full confidence.