The seafood along the main strip (Nguyen Dinh Chieu road) ranges from tourist-standard to genuinely good. The restaurants on the inland side of the road are generally cheaper and more likely to have local Vietnamese clientele. Look for sun-dried squid, fish hotpot (lau ca), and thick noodle soup with fishcakes (banh canh cha ca) — these are the regional specialities and far more interesting than the generic Western menus.
Lam Tong on the main strip is popular with kiters for its large bowls of noodle soup at low prices — the kind of place that does one thing very well. The Moon Restaurant near the beach is known for its pizzas — a surprise in a Vietnamese beach resort, but well-regarded by long-term residents. For fresh seafood by weight at the embankment stalls, the standard approach is to pick your fish, agree a price, and specify how you want it cooked.
The town of Phan Thiet, ten kilometres west, has a better range of genuinely local Vietnamese restaurants than the resort strip. Banh mi stalls here are among the best in the province.