Rach Vem seafood is served on wooden raft houses anchored 200 to 400 metres off the fishing village on Phu Quoc’s north coast. You choose live seafood from the cages or tanks, it is weighed and priced by the kilo, and the kitchen cooks it the way you ask. The dishes most often recommended are herring salad, grilled sea urchin, steamed crab, squid and a grilled or steamed grouper or cobia.
Ask the price per kilo and see the weight before anything is cooked. A seafood lunch commonly runs a few hundred thousand dong per person, but posted prices are rare and some visitors report surprise bills.
A raft-house lunch, ordered by someone who speaks the language
Your guide picks the raft, orders at the prices local families pay and times lunch after the starfish, before the midday tour groups. Free cancellation up to 3 days before.
★Starfish Beach Private Morning TourRach Vem by private boat before the crowds, a swim at the starfish sandbar and seafood lunch over the water. · About 5.5 hoursSee the tour →North Phu Quoc Private Day: Starfish Beach to SunsetStarfish Beach by private boat, lunch on the water, Ganh Dau Cape, the Cua Can mangroves by kayak and a west-coast sunset. · About 10 hoursSee the tour →How ordering works on a Rach Vem raft
Ordering at a Rach Vem raft house follows the same pattern at almost every raft: you choose the seafood live, the raft weighs it, and you pay for the weight plus anything else you order. Menus with fixed prices are uncommon, which is why the order of the steps matters.
| Step | What happens | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Getting out | A small boat or plank walkway takes you to the raft | Is the boat to the raft included with the meal? |
| 2. Choosing | Staff lift fish, crab or squid from cages and tanks | What is fresh today? |
| 3. Weighing | Your choice goes on the scale in front of you | What is the price per kilo, and the weight? |
| 4. Cooking | You pick grilled, steamed, stir-fried or in soup | Is cooking included in the kilo price? |
| 5. Extras | Rice, vegetables, drinks and dipping sauces | Are these charged separately? |
The raft houses themselves are working fish farms as much as restaurants. Many keep cobia and grouper in cages under the platform, and a cooperative of Rach Vem households formed in 2018 runs both cages and a raft restaurant. The story of the village behind the rafts is in our guide to Rach Vem fishing village.
What to order: the dishes worth trying
The best order at Rach Vem is whatever is live on the raft that morning, cooked simply. The dishes below appear again and again in local and travel guides to the village, and most rafts can make all of them.
| Dish | What it is | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Herring salad (goi ca trich) | Raw herring fillets cured in lime, rolled in rice paper with herbs, grated coconut and peanuts | The Phu Quoc speciality; dipped in local fish sauce |
| Sea urchin | Grilled in the half shell, usually with scallion oil | Ask the price before ordering |
| Blue swimmer crab | Steamed, or stir-fried in a sauce | Sold by weight; ask for the weight first |
| Squid | Grilled, steamed or stir-fried | Caught at night by village boats |
| Grouper or cobia | Whole fish from the cages, steamed or grilled, or in a sour soup | The largest item on most bills |
| Clams and sea snails | Grilled with scallion oil, or steamed | Good for sharing |
Herring salad is the dish to start with. The official Phu Quoc special zone website describes it as herring fillets squeezed with lime, served with wild herbs, shredded coconut and roasted peanuts, rolled in rice paper and dipped in Phu Quoc fish sauce with chilli, garlic and lime.
For two people, a sensible Rach Vem order is herring salad, a few sea urchins, one crab or a portion of squid, and rice. A whole grouper or cobia makes sense for three or four people, because a whole fish is priced by its full weight.
What a seafood lunch costs, and how to avoid a surprise bill
A seafood lunch at a Rach Vem raft house commonly runs a few hundred thousand dong per person, as of September 2026. The final figure depends almost entirely on which seafood you pick and how much it weighs, which is why no fixed per-kilo price is quoted here.
Some visitors report paying far more than that. TripAdvisor reviews from November and December 2025 describe charges for food and boats announced only after arrival, and delays that kept guests at a raft restaurant longer than they wanted. These are individual reports, not a pattern at every raft, but they show where the risk sits.
Four habits keep a Rach Vem bill predictable. Agree the price per kilo before anything is weighed, watch the weighing, ask the total for each item before it is cooked, and confirm whether the boat out to the raft is part of the meal. The other costs of a day in the village, from boats to parking, are covered in Rach Vem costs.
When to eat, and how to pick a raft
The best time to eat at Rach Vem is late morning, after seeing the starfish and before the group tours arrive. Group tours usually reach the village around midday for lunch, and the raft restaurants mainly serve lunch and wind down by late afternoon.
That timing works with the sea as well. The water at the starfish sandbar is usually clearest in the early morning in the dry season, so a morning in the water followed by an early lunch uses the day in the right order. The seasons are explained in the best time to see starfish in Phu Quoc.
A good raft at Rach Vem is one where the seafood is visibly alive in cages or tanks, the staff weigh it in front of you without being asked, and the price is given before cooking. If a raft will not give a price per kilo, choose another one; there are many along the shore. Our Rach Vem Beach visitor guide shows how the rafts fit into a half day at the beach.
If ordering on a raft sounds like hard work
Your guide chooses the raft, agrees the prices and orders the local dishes, and lunch is part of the tour.
Starfish Beach Private Morning TourAbout 5.5 hoursSee the tour →North Phu Quoc Private Day: Starfish Beach to SunsetAbout 10 hoursSee the tour →Rach Vem seafood: common questions
How is seafood priced at Rach Vem?
Seafood at Rach Vem raft houses is sold live and priced by the kilo. Ask the price per kilo and see the weight before it is cooked, because fixed menus with prices are uncommon.
Is seafood at Rach Vem expensive?
A seafood lunch at Rach Vem commonly costs a few hundred thousand dong per person as of September 2026. The bill rises quickly with a whole fish or a large crab, and some visitors report unannounced charges, so agree prices first.
What is the dish to order at Rach Vem?
Herring salad is the Phu Quoc speciality to order at Rach Vem: raw herring cured in lime, rolled in rice paper with herbs, coconut and peanuts, and dipped in fish sauce. Grilled sea urchin and steamed crab are the other common choices.
Are the Rach Vem raft restaurants open for dinner?
The Rach Vem raft restaurants mainly serve lunch and wind down by late afternoon. Plan to eat between late morning and early afternoon.
Is the seafood at Rach Vem fresh?
Yes. Rach Vem seafood is kept alive in cages and tanks until you choose it, and much of it is caught or farmed by the village itself, including cobia and grouper raised in cages under the rafts.
Starfish first, then seafood over the water
We reach Rach Vem early, take a private boat to the sandbar and Ham Rong Cape, then sit down to a raft-house lunch ordered at local prices. Boat and lunch are included.
★Starfish Beach Private Morning TourRach Vem by private boat before the crowds, a swim at the starfish sandbar and seafood lunch over the water. · About 5.5 hoursfrom$63/ person›
Choose your group size · price is the group totalSolo traveller$175BOOK →2 guests$200BOOK →3 guests$225BOOK →4 guests$250BOOK →See the full tour page →North Phu Quoc Private Day: Starfish Beach to SunsetStarfish Beach by private boat, lunch on the water, Ganh Dau Cape, the Cua Can mangroves by kayak and a west-coast sunset. · About 10 hoursfrom$91/ person›
Choose your group size · price is the group totalSolo traveller$255BOOK →2 guests$295BOOK →3 guests$330BOOK →4 guests$365BOOK →See the full tour page →Dishes, spending ranges and visitor reports as of September 2026.