Located on Vinh Khanh Street (District 4), the grilled pork noodle shop owned by the family of Nguyen Ngoc Truong Tho (23 years old) is loved by many customers and is often crowded on weekends.
Only open from 5 PM to 2 AM the following morning.
Around 5 PM, Mr. Tho's restaurant finally opened its doors to customers. After a torrential downpour in Ho Chi Minh City, I stopped by to enjoy a bowl of grilled pork vermicelli to satisfy my rumbling hunger. As soon as I arrived, the delicious aroma of grilled pork wafted out, making my stomach rumble even louder.
Mr. Tho's family has been running a grilled pork noodle shop for four generations.
[CLIP]: Unique grilled pork noodle shop where customers eat from basins, a tradition passed down through 4 generations.
Although it hasn't been open for long, the restaurant already has a steady stream of customers, with all the tables sometimes completely full. Everyone is happily eating, laughing, and chatting. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen employees are busy working alongside the young owner, each doing their part to ensure that the grilled pork noodle soup is served to customers as quickly and meticulously as possible.
What I noticed particularly about this grilled pork noodle shop was that instead of serving the noodles in bowls like other eateries, they prepared the dish in a stainless steel basin. When I explained this, the owner smiled kindly:
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Tho, the owner of the restaurant. 
The noodle dish is appealing, and customers eat it from a bowl.
A bowl of grilled pork vermicelli at Mr. Tho's restaurant has all the same ingredients as other places I've eaten at: vermicelli, grilled pork, meatballs, spring rolls, pork skin... served with fresh bean sprouts, pickles, peanuts, fried shallots, and sweet and sour fish sauce.
However, the owner said that all the ingredients are homemade by his family using a secret recipe passed down from his great-grandmother. Furthermore, the pickled vegetables here are unusual because he doesn't use carrots or white radishes, but instead uses green papaya, which tastes quite unique.
The price of a bowl of vermicelli here ranges from 40,000 to 50,000 VND depending on the customer's needs. Unable to resist my hunger, I ordered a bowl of vermicelli to enjoy. Just as the owner had described, the vermicelli here was delicious because of the harmonious combination of different ingredients: the spring rolls were crispy with a rich filling, the grilled pork was tender, moist, and flavorful, and when eaten with the crunchy sour papaya, the creamy peanuts, and the fresh cilantro, it was truly "top-notch".
This Gen Z entrepreneur inherited the restaurant from his grandmother and mother.
I don't know if it was because I was hungry, or because the noodles here were really delicious, or maybe both, but the bowl of noodles here tasted surprisingly good to me, and I finished it in no time. For me, the grilled pork noodles here get an 8.5/10; it's worth trying and coming back for.
Mr. Thuong (34 years old, residing in District 1) also brought his wife to Mr. Tho's noodle shop in the evening. The customer said that he has been eating here since the old shop was located at a different address on the same Vinh Khanh street, and he has always loved the taste.
"It's impossible to say which restaurant is better than the other, because everyone has different tastes. But the grilled pork vermicelli here suits my taste; I have to come here to eat 3-4 times a week. This restaurant used to be open from 10 PM to 2 AM, but later changed to 5 PM to 2 AM, so you can eat earlier," the customer said.
The grilled meat here is marinated perfectly, retaining its moisture and tenderness.
Mr. Tho confirmed the selling hours, saying that he sells until dawn to serve customers who want to eat late at night. However, he also plans to change the selling hours in about a month, selling both in the morning and in the evening to better serve his customers.
Three generations of the family sell together.
At Mr. Tho's restaurant, his grandmother, mother, and he all work there. However, when I visited, his mother wasn't there because she was traveling . That's also why one important, signature ingredient of the restaurant, pork skin, was missing from the dish. Without his mother, the Gen Z owner couldn't keep up with the demand.
Watching her grandson and the staff busily serving customers, Mrs. Chu Thi Nhan (72 years old, Thọ's grandmother) said that she opened the shop more than 30 years ago on Doan Van Bo Street (District 4). Although called a shop, back then it was just a small mobile stall.
Grandpa Nhân opened the shop, selling the food using his mother's recipe.
Mrs. Chu Thi NhanFrom that day on, Ms. Chu Thi Nga (51 years old, daughter of Mr. Nhan) quit her job as a factory worker and started selling grilled pork vermicelli. Thanks to her mother's guidance, she gradually learned how to cook and prepare the dish to ensure the flavor was delicious and true to the family recipe.
In Thọ's memories of the noodle shop, his childhood was filled with days spent helping his mother and grandmother after school. But the young man never imagined he would pursue this career. After finishing 9th grade, he dropped out of school. Later, he learned to be a bartender and worked at a bar in the center of Ho Chi Minh City for a while.
The shop is open from the afternoon until 2 a.m. the following morning.
Mr. Tho decided to inherit and develop his family's restaurant.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he took a temporary leave from work. From then on, he returned to take over his family's noodle shop with his mother and grandmother. "My mother has two sons, and I'm the youngest. My brothers work in other professions and aren't interested in selling food. The more I sell, the more I learn and the more I enjoy this profession, so I decided to stick with it," the Gen Z man said.
For the young owner, seeing customers enjoy their meal, be satisfied with the food, and come to support him is a source of happiness. He is even happier knowing he is continuing the legacy of his family's grilled pork noodle shop, a business passed down through generations. He tells himself he must try even harder to live up to the expectations of his grandmother, mother, and all the customers who have supported him for decades…
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