The husband quit his job as a chef at a 4-star hotel to open a cheap roast duck restaurant with his wife. Some days he makes several hundred ducks and delivers them to all provinces and cities.

Tran Quang Dieu Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi , near the Thai Ha Market kiosk area, has many duck stalls, but mainly grilled duck. Among those grilled duck stalls, there is a roasted duck stall, which is a popular destination for many food lovers.

Meet the couple who quit their jobs at a 4-star hotel to open their own roast duck restaurant

Thanh Beo Roasted Duck Shop is named after Mr. Thanh, the owner. The small duck shop was opened by Mr. Thanh, born in 1972, and his wife, Ms. Phuong, born in 1977, for about ten years now. However, few people know that Mr. Thanh and Ms. Phuong used to work in a hotel, and Mr. Thanh was also the head chef for many years.

Mr. Thanh, owner of Thanh Beo roast duck restaurant on Tran Quang Dieu street.

Mr. Thanh proudly talked about his time working at the hotel: "Most recently, before opening this duck restaurant, I worked at Bao Son Hotel. Before that, in 1994, I also worked here. I also worked at many other restaurants and hotels. I even spent a few years working at a restaurant in Korea. At Bao Son Hotel, I became the head chef. Parties like the one for the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long were also organized by me."

Ms. Phuong, Mr. Thanh's wife, also accompanies him in making delicious dishes.

With many years of experience working in hotels and restaurants, Mr. Thanh has been in the profession for more than 30 years. Mr. Thanh met Ms. Phuong when they were both working at a restaurant. Later, when Mr. Thanh returned to Bao Son Hotel, Ms. Phuong joined him. One day, Mr. Thanh and his wife decided to open their own restaurant.

"My husband and I both used to work in Hong Kong (China) kitchens. At that time, I thought and thought but didn't know what to sell because I actually knew how to make many dishes, probably thousands of dishes. In the end, I decided to sell duck because it's easy to eat. At first, I only sold take-out and didn't think I would open a store like this. So at first, I just opened a small kiosk for take-out. But when my brothers and friends came to eat, they told me to sell it here so everyone would have a place to sit and drink. So I sold it!" - Mr. Thanh confided about the reason for selling roasted duck.

Freshly roasted ducks.

When asked if he regrets the time he spent working at the hotel when he opened the duck restaurant, Mr. Thanh smiled and said: "No, I never regret it, each school is different. I worked as a chef, and when I became a head chef, I was at my limit. Because I had never been a boss before, I wanted to try being a boss to see what it was like. And so I have been doing it ever since, for 10 years now."

I still remember the first time I went to eat at Thanh's duck restaurant. It was called a restaurant but it was actually a tiny kiosk. The back was where the ducks were roasted and the food was prepared. The outside was where the roasted ducks were hung and cut for customers, so there were only 1-2 tables. On the sidewalk, there was both parking and another table. Customers who sat outside had to sit amidst the smoke from the surrounding roasted duck restaurants. Even though a new space with spacious seating was opened a few houses away from the old restaurant, many customers still preferred that cramped seating area.

Mr. Thanh shared: "That kiosk is small, so now it's just for cooking. But regular and old customers still like to sit on the sidewalk there. Because they like the cramped seating, like the smoky, dusty feeling."

Mr. Thanh took a photo with his family's cat named Tam Tam, which he also said was his lucky cat: "This cat is a stray, its mother carried it over here and it fell down, so naturally I raised it. I raised it since it was still drinking milk, it kept clinging to me. Now I call Tam Tam and it comes out right away. But the irony is that it only eats duck, it doesn't eat anything else, it only eats roasted duck."

The roasted ducks are shipped to all provinces and cities. Some days, the restaurant makes hundreds of ducks to satisfy demand.

Every time I go to Thanh's restaurant to eat roasted duck, usually if there are 2 people, I will order half a duck and add noodles and bamboo shoot soup to be full. Because the roasted duck here is a large duck, when asked, I learned that the duck used for roasting is butter duck or also known as super duck. If the grass duck is only about 1kg, then butter duck must be 2 to 2.5kg.

A whole roast duck dish, when eating, customers can order more noodles and bamboo shoot and blood soup to eat with it.

The duck meat is firm, moist inside, and the skin is crispy on the outside.

When you eat a piece of duck, you will immediately feel the crispy skin on the outside, the meat is firm but still soft and juicy, not dry at all. The ducks are roasted on the same day, when eaten they are still hot, the meat is marinated well so it is very attractive. Roasted duck is eaten with raw vegetables, dipping sauce and served with pickled bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots here are also very special, cannot be found anywhere else.

Roast duck dish looks delicious.

Pickled bamboo shoots are a complimentary side dish and are loved by many customers.

Mr. Thanh confided: "This duck is made in the Hong Kong style, which is also the Cantonese style. But this pickled bamboo shoot dish is actually a Vietnamese dish, it has nothing to do with Hong Kong dishes, I made it to suit Vietnamese tastes. These bamboo shoots are pickled on the same day, they have a sour, salty, sweet and crunchy taste, and go very well with roasted duck."

A duck here is sold for 280,000 VND/duck, this price is quite cheap compared to many other places, and the quality probably doesn't need much discussion, because it is made by a couple with many years of experience in cooking.

In fact, the customers who eat at the restaurant are mainly regular customers, but every day Thanh delivers ducks to all provinces and cities. He said: "The ducks you buy just need to be fried in oil and they will be as delicious as new. Nghe An , Thanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Quang Binh... even Saigon all buy ducks from him. All his ducks are vacuum-sealed, people just need to fry them lightly in oil and they will be delicious. There are days when I make 100 ducks, 200 ducks... Customers order more than eat at the restaurant, eating here is mainly regular customers. Because sometimes when there are many customers who want comfortable seats, I can't meet their needs, so they will order to take away."

The duck's skin gets its shiny appearance thanks to the malt and pink vinegar.

The roasted ducks are vacuum packed for long distance travel.

Actually, if you come to Thanh’s duck restaurant, you will see that the restaurant space looks very normal. But when enjoying the dishes here, you will have to nod because they are delicious. The interesting thing is, many times you don’t need to order from the menu, you just need to ask Thanh what delicious dishes he has today and he will suggest you right away. Sometimes when Thanh gets good tripe, he will immediately make an attractive fried tripe dish for customers, of course this dish is not on the menu.

This oven can make 12 ducks, when roasting the temperature is over 200 degrees Celsius.

Because for Mr. Thanh, cooking for the past few decades has been a passion, so when customers eat well, he is happiest. Mr. Thanh shared: "In the past, I only thought that I would only work for 5 years and then quit the kitchen. But it kept following me. Actually, it was not me who chose the job, but the job chose me. Because this job is so hard, it is really hard, but doing it so much makes you get used to it. There were times when I stir-fried food and my hands swelled up without me even knowing it, only when I took a break did I realize my hands were swollen. That's why I say it's because it's a passion."

The roast duck restaurant looks quite ordinary, but after eating it, you will see that the quality is not ordinary at all.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/chong-bo-viec-bep-truong-khach-san-4-sao-ve-cung-vo-mo-quan-vit-quay-binh-dan-co-ngay-lam-vai-tram-con-giao-khap-cac-tinh-thanh-20241022155905633.htm