Funny single owner, 3 generations of loyal customers

Many families have been eating broken rice here for three generations because Mrs. Nam (real name Diep Thi Ngoc Anh) has a secret to keeping customers coming back.

Inheriting mother's restaurant

One weekend morning, I stopped by Mrs. Nam’s broken rice shop, nestled on Tan Canh Street (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City), which is peaceful and cool. When I arrived, it was 7am, and customers were sitting at several plastic tables in the shop, leisurely enjoying their delicious breakfast. Before that, at 6am, the owner had set up her stall for sale.

Mrs. Nam's restaurant is crowded.

Mrs. Nam said that her mother opened this restaurant before 1975 to support her children. When she was young, Mrs. Nam dropped out of school to help her mother sell. At first, it was just a street stall with no signboard. The owner recalled that at that time, in addition to broken rice, her mother also sold other types of sticky rice to earn extra money to make ends meet.

Back then, my mother sold very simple rice, just pork skin and sausage, mainly for ordinary workers to eat to fill their stomachs. The price at that time was only about 2,000 - 3,000 VND per plate of rice. Later, after my mother passed away, I inherited the restaurant and created more ingredients so that customers wouldn't get bored...

Mrs. Nam, Owner

Mrs. Nam's family restaurant initially had only a steady stream of regular customers, mostly acquaintances living nearby. However, since the restaurant's menu became more diverse, the owner added a side dish of soft-boiled eggs, which customers found to be a hit. The good news spread far and wide, and more and more regulars and strangers came to the restaurant. Some days, she sold out in just 3-4 hours.

Rice plate 60,000 VND.

Many customers jokingly call Mrs. Nam the "happy single" owner because at this age, she is still single, without husband or children. When asked about this story, the owner confided that when she was a girl, she had many suitors.

“However, due to circumstances, I have to put aside my own happiness to take care of my family and siblings. I am happy and satisfied with life because my five siblings now all have stable lives. My joy every day is selling rice to my customers, that is enough,” the owner smiled.

Special secret

Having nothing to eat in the morning, I ordered a full plate of broken rice for 60,000 VND. Here, the dishes range in price from 25,000 - 60,000 VND, allowing customers to freely choose. In less than 1 minute, a plate of hot, fragrant rice was served in front of me.

The broken rice here, eaten with ribs, fried eggs, pork skin, sausage, Chinese sausage, soft-boiled eggs, pickles, shredded cucumber… and a little sweet and sour fish sauce is a wonderful combination. If we only consider the taste, I give it 8.5/10, worth stopping by to enjoy.

“I have been eating here since Mrs. Nam’s mother was still selling, which is 50 years ago. At that time, I was very young, only 5 years old. Now I am 56 years old, and I still often eat at Mrs. Nam’s restaurant. I often bring my children and grandchildren to eat here. Every time I eat here, I remember my childhood. 3 generations of my family have eaten here!”, Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Nu (Tan Binh District), a regular customer of the restaurant, emotionally recounted.

Mrs. Nam inherited her mother's restaurant.

[CLIP]: 50-year-old braised egg and broken rice restaurant.

Hearing that, the owner immediately added that there were people who came to her restaurant when they were still acquaintances, and even after they had children, they still brought their children to her restaurant to eat. It was the affection and support of customers like that that gave her even more motivation to sell the dish passed down by her mother.

Mr. Ngo Ba Hiep is also a regular customer at Mrs. Nam's restaurant. He said that he "loves" the soft-boiled eggs in Mrs. Nam's rice dish the most. That's why he has to come here 2-3 times a week, each time he can eat... 2-3 eggs. "The soft-boiled eggs here have been famous for a long time, the owner makes them so well, the eggs are cooked on the outside, the inside is just the right amount of soft-boiled, and they are rich and fatty," the customer commented.

The restaurant's famous soft-boiled egg dish.

Every day, Mrs. Nam devotes all her heart to the restaurant. She said that in the afternoon she goes to the market to buy ingredients, and in the evening she prepares them. She wakes up at 3am to cook and prepares to sell at 6am, until all the ingredients are gone.

Despite her old age, she said she will continue to sell as long as she has the strength, because this is her memory of her late mother, and it is also where she receives the love and support of many generations of diners near and far...

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/quan-com-tam-mon-dinh-trung-long-dao-ba-chu-doc-than-vui-tinh-khach-ruot-3-doi-185230910113902365.htm