"U Ha Méo" is a familiar restaurant owner to many old town diners. Mrs. Ha (real name Tran Thi Thu Ha) is famous for "selling everything and it's always crowded". There was a time when her family sold pho in the morning, bun cha at noon, and grilled food in the evening, with customers coming and going all day long.

Before Covid-19, Mrs. Ha was most famous for her beef pho, often called salty pho on Gam Cau street by customers. The pho is rich, considered saltier than many other places and the price is quite high, but the restaurant is always full, often requiring a wait if you come on the weekend.

However, after the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Ha closed her morning pho shop, leaving many diners regretful. "There's no special reason. Making beef pho is hard work, so now that I'm old, I'm a bit lazy. Currently, I help my children make bun cha and grilled food. Maybe next year when I'm no longer lazy, I'll reopen the shop," Ms. Ha said, quickly marinating a batch of grilled meat.

Every day, Mrs. Ha and her son and daughter-in-law sell vermicelli with grilled pork to customers from 9am to 2pm. According to Mrs. Ha, her family has been selling pho since 1981 and vermicelli with grilled pork for more than ten years. Currently, Mrs. Ha’s son and daughter-in-law are in charge of the kitchen and managing the business. However, Mrs. Ha is still the one who marinates the ingredients and mixes the dipping sauce to create the restaurant’s unique flavor.

Mr. Le Quang Long, Mrs. Ha's son, shared: "My mother is famous for being meticulous in choosing ingredients and seasoning. From the size of the meat, the ratio of lean and fat, the type of oyster sauce, sugar, fish sauce... she is very picky. She is difficult, so my wife, I and the staff never dare to be careless."

Last September, during a visit to Hanoi, "master chef" Christine Ha also came to enjoy Bun Cha Gam Cau. The Vietnamese chef commented: "The restaurant's pork is grilled to perfection."

According to Ms. Ha, to make delicious sausage, you must use country pork. For pork patties, choose only lean pork belly mixed with fat. "Each piece of pork belly is usually only used half to make sausage patties. The rest, the meat and fat are separate, when sliced, it will not look nice, and when grilled, it will not be delicious. A delicious sausage must have meat and fat mixed in the right amount, not too greasy or too dry, soft and flavorful inside, and golden and crispy on the outside," Ms. Ha said.

The meat is cleaned, fat is removed, and then sliced ​​by machine to a uniform size. Ms. Ha sits in the shop and directly marinates each batch of meat with oyster sauce, sugar, shallots, salt, and massages it evenly. As the meat is marinated, the staff packages it tightly and then stores it in the refrigerator before grilling. "My family's meat marinade is very simple. However, to make delicious meatloaf, the meat must be fresh, butchered, and used within the day," Ms. Ha said.

The steps of making the patties take place right at the restaurant, so diners can watch. When the meat has marinated for enough time, it will be clamped on the grill and grilled until 60% cooked. When the customer orders, the staff will grill it a second time so that the outside is golden brown, slightly charred, the fat sizzling, the aroma is fragrant, hot. The restaurant grills the patties with a large and steady fire to burn off some of the fat, avoiding the patties from being too greasy.

Mr. Long, Mrs. Ha's son, is usually the one who makes the minced meat. The meat is minced with enough fat and lean meat, marinated with spices and then rolled into round balls. "Our minced meat is mixed with pepper to enhance the aroma," Mr. Long said. When placing it on the grill, Mr. Long adds a small piece of chopped perilla leaves to enhance the aroma and prevent the meat from burning.

Mrs. Ha mixes all the dipping sauces. She doesn't share the specific recipe, but she says that to make a delicious dipping sauce, you have to use "high-quality" fish sauce. She usually chooses Phu Quoc or Nha Trang anchovy fish sauce, with a protein content of 30-35. Spices such as garlic and chili are also carefully selected, peeling and chopping the garlic herself, and using Hue's signature spicy chili peppers.

"Diners are now very sophisticated and picky. If my food is not delicious, they will never come back," said Ms. Ha.

Mr. Long and his wife estimate that the restaurant sells several hundred servings a day. "We don't have a specific calculation, but we sell about 100 kg of noodles and 50 kg of pork sausage every day," they said. Each serving of noodles costs 50,000 VND.

The restaurant is busiest from 11:30am to 1pm. All tables are full of customers, and there are also many delivery people.

According to many diners, the meatloaf here is soft inside, well-seasoned, not greasy, the meat is fresh and sweet. The meatloaf balls have the aroma of pepper and perilla leaves. "However, if you go at noon, the restaurant is crowded and you have to wait a long time. Many days, the meatloaf may be grilled too quickly, causing the meat to be burnt and shriveled," said Mr. Hung, a diner. "I usually eat around 11am, when the meatloaf is fresh and delicious, and there are just enough customers," he added.

In addition, the dipping sauce at the restaurant is a bit sour.

Vietnamese-American master chef praises Pho Suong, Bun Cha Gam Cau and delicious street food Recently, "master chef" Christine Ha shared a series of famous delicious dishes in Hanoi that she enjoyed during her visit to Vietnam. These are all dishes from long-standing popular restaurants, loved by many diners in the capital and tourists.

Linh Trang - Tuong Linh