Without a roof or dining table, Mrs. Quy's stall is nestled on Mac Dinh Chi Street (District 1). Although it is just a small street stall, customers always stand in line waiting to buy, and some days it is all sold out by 9am.
Said 20,000 but the customer... didn't believe it.
This food stall is often affectionately called "Son Quy breakfast". Mrs. Quy specializes in selling stir-fried dishes such as noodles, macaroni, rice vermicelli, and rice paper rolls at very cheap prices. Compared to the average price in the city center, this is a very affordable price.
Many people are willing to queue for tens of minutes to buy a portion of mixed fried noodles. Served with tofu, fried wontons, fried spring rolls, pork roll... the 20,000 VND portion is so full that many customers "think they heard the wrong price".
After chatting with her, we learned that Ms. Nguyen Thi My Ngoc (27 years old, District 3) has been having breakfast here since her student days. Ms. Quy's food is both cheap and delicious, the soy sauce she uses is super "addictive" so Ms. Ngoc rarely gets bored.
Mrs. Quy's breakfast stall is always packed with people lining up.
"In the city center, it's rare to find a place this cheap! I can't finish one portion, sometimes I have to wrap it up and bring it back to the company to eat. There are no tables at your place, just a few chairs to sit and eat, but my friends and I really like it, it's the typical Saigon breakfast," Ngoc shared.
This breakfast stall is the livelihood of Mrs. Quy and her husband. The couple works hard, waking up at 1am to prepare ingredients in time to set up shop. They only have one son, and they shared that they have not raised prices in the past few years because the customers here are mainly students and office workers. The couple considers them as their children, and giving them enough food and good quality food is their top priority.
Dishes are displayed and covered cleanly to ensure hygiene.
"Less is fine, as long as the customer is happy!"
Every morning, Mrs. Quy sells a few hundred portions. The appeal of this breakfast stall is the variety of side dishes. Everything is displayed in clean, neat stainless steel basins. Most of them are made by Mrs. Quy herself. She said that instead of importing ready-made goods, she makes them herself so that she can sell them at a "lower" price.
Whenever disabled lottery ticket sellers come to buy tickets, Mrs. Quy and her husband give them to them or only take 5,000 VND to make them feel less embarrassed. With that "cheap" price, she makes a profit by selling quantity, "selling out of passion".
New customers come here to eat for the first time, they enjoy the special sweetness of the soy sauce.
Banh uot portion 20,000 VND with full range of side dishes
Mrs. Quy confided: "I make little profit selling here, but seeing customers enjoy their food and have fun makes me happy. My customers are generally not well-off, but when the kids do eat, I add a piece of tofu or wonton leaves so they can eat their fill and study until the afternoon."
My friend and I ordered a portion of stir-fried vermicelli and wet rice paper. The vermicelli was still chewy, the wontons and fried spring rolls were not soaked in oil. In particular, the soy sauce mixed by Mrs. Quy was just the right amount of salty and sweet, adding a little chili made the flavor different. The couple worked hard to make sure their only son could study properly. The restaurant is also a part of the memories of many diners, a beauty of the streets of Saigon.
Mrs. Quy and her husband also added that they will continue to sell until they no longer have enough strength. When their children grow up, it will be a joy for them in their old age. Although it is tiring to wake up early to prepare, when they put their goods out, smiles appear on Mrs. Quy and Mr. Son's lips.
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