Cho Lon Food Festival: Customers complain that even with money it is difficult to buy, dumplings, wontons, and chive cakes sell out too soon

58 food stalls packed into the 2nd Cho Lon Food Story Festival create a diverse color, typical of Chinese delicacies in Saigon.

Banh mi Tang attracted visitors to the Cho Lon food story event thanks to its Chinese-style stall design and attractive trays of meatballs and grilled pate - Photo: TO CUONG

The number of people coming to Cho Lon Food Story Festival is still high. The staff at the stalls are still working tirelessly to sell. Some stalls even closed because they ran out of stock.

Money can't buy

Go straight to the main gate of the festival on Tran Hung Dao street, there is Cuu Long restaurant. The staff is cleaning.

The owner, Ms. Duyen, had to explain to customers that the shop was closed and would only open again after 5 p.m. Many customers expressed disappointment. Some sighed: "We still have a few hours, how can we wait until then?" Another group of customers joked: "Oh my, even with money, we can't buy food anymore."

Cuu Long restaurant stall sold out in just a few hours - Photo: TO CUONG

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Ms. Duyen explained: "Actually, we had prepared enough dishes for the whole holiday. But there were too many customers so the food ran out early. The staff was rushing to prepare new quantities but couldn't keep up.

In addition to the restaurant's traditional dishes, we also serve dishes only available at the festival, such as the four treasures offal and Hong Kong beef offal, which are very popular with everyone."

The famous stall selling chive cakes and fried dough from Xa Tay market is also in a similar situation.

There was a customer who came to this authentic Chaozhou (China) chive cake stall two days in a row but couldn't buy any.

A stall full of delicious food at Cho Lon Food Festival - Photo: TO CUONG

I asked around and found out that the shop only made a few trays of cakes each day and was so crowded that they had to close early. The price of a cake was only 9,000 VND so it sold out quickly. On December 7th, the shop closed up around noon.

Try it, it's really delicious at Cho Lon Food Festival

Banh mi Tang is a famous restaurant at Thu Do market (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City) that has been around for over 50 years, established by a Chinese family in 1968.

Appearing at the Cho Lon Food Story Festival, Banh Mi Tang attracted diners with its famous meatball and grilled pate sandwiches. A full loaf costs 25,000 VND.

A full box of dumplings including chives, cabbage, celery, corn, dumplings... costs 40,000 VND. - Photo: TO CUONG

Having the opportunity to experience the famous Cho Lon bread for the first time, Ms. Linh (24 years old) shared: "I have seen many reviews of Tang bread on TikTok but have not had the chance to try it. I came to the event to eat dim sum, but the meatballs looked so attractive that I had to stop by."

Hoa's dumpling stall is located in a corner of the event but still attracts many customers.

Banh mi Tang was born in 1968 - Photo: TO CUONG

The sales staff kept picking up the dumplings one by one without stopping. Ms. Hoa's small dumpling and meatball stall located on a corner of Tran Phu Street (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City), only a few hundred meters from the event venue, has become a familiar address.

Therefore, some people realized that this stall at the festival seemed to lack a rather "unique" dish from the original shop, which is taro dumplings and salted duck eggs. A full box of dumplings including chives, cabbage, celery, corn, dumplings... costs 40,000 VND, enough to fill your stomach.

Two final year students Thu and Nhu, who live in District 3, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City, also took the opportunity to invite each other to the festival to enjoy delicious food.

Thu and Nhu bought two dishes at Hoa restaurant, Ca Chon bitter melon, to enjoy.

As commented that some dishes and drinks prices are quite high and the leftover food containers left on the table are quite a lot which looks unsightly.

Explaining, the representative of the organizing committee said: "Participating in the Cho Lon Food Festival are restaurants or reputable stores that guarantee quality. Therefore, the prices of the dishes will not decrease.

Instead, the store has other promotional policies such as flat prices and free extra items. Regarding hygiene, we also mobilize more people to ensure hygiene. With so many customers, we can't keep up."

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/le-hoi-am-thuc-cho-lon-khach-than-co-tien-cung-kho-mua-ha-cao-sui-cao-banh-he-het-qua-som-20241207172515693.htm