That is the unique and unnamed noodle shop of Ms. Tuyet (68 years old) located peacefully at the end of Nguyen Duy Duong street. This is the "favorite" place of many late-night diners in Ho Chi Minh City.

Only sold for 2 hours, customers are waiting

At 2:30 a.m., Ho Chi Minh City was still immersed in the quiet night. Outside, the weather was chilly, with only a few cars passing by, a stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere of the day. On the way, I drove over to Ms. Tuyet's noodle shop not far away.

Honestly, I learned about this unique restaurant through a friend's recommendation when I came home late from work. The first time I ate here, I was immediately attracted by the many strange things I witnessed, not just the deliciousness or badness of a dish.

The shop opens at 3 o'clock. But when I arrived at 2:50, more than a dozen customers were already waiting while she and an elderly woman were helping set up the stall. Because of her advanced age, she did everything slowly and leisurely, while the customers sat chatting and playing on their phones. Absolutely no one rushed or complained as if they were used to the schedule.

On time, customers gathered around Ms. Tuyet's food counter to order. "Tuyet! Give me a bowl of minced pork noodle soup", "Tuyet, give me a bowl of pork leg noodle soup without onions", "Please give me a bowl of bone noodle soup, Tuyet!"... There were also a few regular customers who just said: "Same as usual, Tuyet!", she looked at their faces and knew their thoughts and preferences.

A small corner of Ho Chi Minh City in the early morning became more bustling with the sound of customers ordering food mixed with the heat of the oil stove boiling the broth. I smelled a bit of the aroma of the broth, mixed with a bit of the smell of oil from the early morning stove, making my sense of smell awaken.

The restaurant is small, with only a few tables, but since it opened, there has rarely been any extra space. There are customers who eat in, and there are also those who take their food away. But all the customers who come here to buy food have one thing in common: they order at the counter, pay, and then bring their own bowl of noodles to the table; the owner does not bring it out.

This is understandable because Ms. Tuyet and her elderly assistant are only a few steps away from each other. She also considers the guests as her relatives, her children and grandchildren, and the way she cooks for them is as dedicated as if she were cooking for her own family.

When I first opened, I only sold for 2 hours in the morning, from 7am until I sold out. As time went on, customers asked me to open earlier to catch up with people going to work, so I opened earlier and earlier and have been open at this time for over ten years now!

Ms. Tuyet, Owner of Banh Canh Shop

Why is the shop open at such strange hours?

While serving hot bowls of noodle soup to customers, Ms. Tuyet confided that she opened this restaurant 40 years ago, using the space of her house. At that time, she wanted to have more income to raise her 2 children.

“When I first opened, I only sold for 2 hours in the morning, from 7am until I sold out. As time went on, customers asked me to open earlier to catch up with people going to work, so I opened earlier and earlier and have been open at this time for more than ten years now,” she confided.

It turns out that the shop opens at this strange time to please customers. Currently, the regular customers of the shop are people who come home late at night to have a snack, and people who go to work early near District 10. There are also quite a few people who are hungry in the middle of the night, missing the taste of Ms. Tuyet's cakes and stopping by to eat.

For me, this restaurant is also the work of my whole life, so if I stop selling, I will miss my customers very much. My daily happiness is meeting customers, doing business, and making money to support myself. This age has become more joyful and meaningful. A little hard but fun!

Ms. Tuyet, Owner of Banh Canh Shop

Mr. Long (living in District 8) took his newlywed wife from home to Ms. Tuyet's restaurant at 3am. He has been a regular customer of hers for more than ten years, since he was in his twenties. "I took my wife here late at night and told her to go to a restaurant that opens at a unique and unusual time in Saigon, but if I come late, there won't be any because it's only open for 2 hours. I like her noodle soup because it's delicious, suits my taste, and the meat is very fresh," he commented.

Next to him, his wife also nodded and said that although it was her first time eating at this restaurant, she still liked Ms. Tuyet's noodle soup. She was surprised that at this hour there were still many customers coming to eat, beyond her imagination before coming here.

As I observed, in just about an hour, the noodles were almost gone. Ms. Tuyet said that on days with record-breaking numbers of customers, she worked without stopping, selling out in just an hour. On normal days like today, it might be longer, but after 2 hours she would stop selling.

“Are you tired selling at this hour?”, the owner smiled and said that she was old and didn’t sleep much. She had been selling at this hour for decades so she was used to it. Every day, she would wake up at 2am to prepare to set up shop, even though she had prepared the necessary ingredients beforehand.

5,000 VND/bowl also sold, several hundred thousand also sold

Ms. Tuyet's bowl of noodle soup is not too big, just right for a late meal. The bowl of noodle soup looks simple with white noodles, clear broth and pork ingredients such as meat, ham, bone marrow, skin... served with onions but it is "top notch" for me.

Ms. Tuyet caters to customers to the point that she sells a bowl of banh canh for 5,000 VND, and she also sells a bowl of banh canh for a few hundred thousand VND. Most customers come here to buy a meal for 30,000 - 50,000 VND.

The owner said that thanks to this noodle shop, she raised her two children to be successful, one of whom is a deputy director of a bank. Now that her children are successful, she could have rested and enjoyed her old age, but she doesn't want to depend on her children and grandchildren, she still wants to make a living on her own.

“For me, this restaurant is also the work of my whole life, so if I stop selling, I will miss my customers very much. My daily happiness is meeting customers, doing business, and making money to support myself. This age has become more joyful and meaningful. A little hard but fun!”, the owner said with a smile.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the sun is about to rise, and her bakery is almost empty. The restaurant is like a beautiful addition to a city that has never slept for decades…