What makes these familiar, affordable dishes special?

Recently, MICHELIN Guide officially announced the list of restaurants in the categories of 2024, including 99 restaurants in the MICHELIN Selected category (a list of restaurants recommended by MICHELIN). And one of them is Co Lieng restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. This is also the second year the restaurant has been mentioned in this category.

The popular beef wrapped in betel leaves dish is expensive but scores points thanks to its quality and meticulousness.

Located right on the front of the busy Vo Van Tan street, Ms. Lieng's restaurant is a place for those who love beef in betel leaves and grilled beef in caul fat. A portion of beef in betel leaves and other dishes such as beef in caul fat, grilled meat, grilled spring rolls... at Ms. Lieng's restaurant costs 80,000 VND, in addition, other dishes are also considered to have higher prices than other popular restaurants. However, Ms. Lieng's restaurant is always crowded at noon and at night.

Ms. Lieng's shop is located on Vo Van Tan Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

Entering the restaurant, the fragrant aroma of beef wrapped in leaves, grilled beef with caul fat, grilled spring rolls... spread everywhere because the grilling area is located right outside the restaurant. The hot, freshly grilled meat will be brought to customers immediately.

Grilled beef wrapped in betel leaves and grilled spring rolls are some of the dishes that customers love.

Menu of dishes at Ms. Lieng's restaurant.

To experience the most dishes, we decided to order a portion of beef wrapped in betel leaves, a portion of grilled beef with caul fat, a portion of grilled spring rolls, a portion of steamed pork rolls and a portion of grilled snakehead fish. The portions here may not be too large but the portions look very clean and neat.

Grilled beef in betel leaves, grilled beef in caul fat and grilled spring rolls when served to customers will be drizzled with scallion oil and a little peanut on top.

Beef wrapped in betel leaves with large, round beef rolls, grilled to perfection, the inside is marinated with rich flavors. Grilled beef with caul fat has a layer of melted fatty fat on the outside. Steamed pork roll is a combination of minced meat with many different ingredients, then surrounded by caul fat and steamed. Grilled snakehead fish has firm meat with the skin on the outside is charred, the fish meat on the inside is soft and juicy.

Grilled snakehead fish is firm and delicious.

Take a piece of rice paper, add vegetables and pickles or vermicelli as you like, add a piece of meat and roll it up, dip it in fish sauce, you will feel the harmony of the ingredients and nod in approval. The raw vegetables at Cong Lieng restaurant are all fresh and washed, the fish sauce is mixed according to the restaurant's own recipe, very delicious, so it also enhances the dish.

Grilled pork vermicelli and steamed pork roll.

The dishes are simple and affordable, but the quality of the fresh food makes the high price worth it. Therefore, when the restaurant was named in the MICHELIN Selected list, many diners agreed.

The wall preserves and cherishes recognition and memories with customers.

The owner is Ms. Tran Thi Kim Lieng, 72 years old, and her restaurant has been open for about 30 years. Ms. Lieng was born in Cambodia and then moved back to Saigon with her family. Her husband's family used to sell pho and in the past, Ms. Lieng's mother-in-law taught her the trade but she did not follow. Later, Ms. Lieng was taught how to make beef rolls in betel leaves by her mother and gradually, she created her own recipe and sold this dish.

The wall in the shop is where Ms. Lieng hangs awards or memories with customers.

Ms. Lieng’s restaurant currently has two sides, one side is the kitchen area and a few tables for customers to sit, the other side is a space reserved for customers. However, before, Ms. Lieng’s restaurant only had one house that both prepared food and served customers. The wall of that old house is also where she respectfully hangs photos of customers who have come here to eat. Among them are many famous people who have come to Ms. Lieng’s restaurant to enjoy delicious dishes.

Ms. Lieng hung customer photos in frames.

Also on this wall, the MICHELIN Selected certificate is hung solemnly. In addition, in 2015, Ms. Lieng's restaurant was selected by Mark Wiens, a Youtuber with more than 10 million followers, as one of the top 25 must-try dishes in Saigon. Ms. Lieng also kept a paper article about this and carefully posted it on the wall.

Raw vegetables and pickles are classified separately.

In addition to delicious cooking methods, Ms. Lieng also puts food safety first. That's why all the ingredients at Ms. Lieng's restaurant are carefully prepared, meticulously prepared and clean. Ms. Minh Trang, a customer at Ms. Lieng's restaurant, confided: "I find the food here to be very delicious and rich in flavor. The important thing is that when I eat, I feel that the restaurant uses fresh and guaranteed ingredients. Therefore, even though the price is higher than many other places, I still choose Ms. Lieng's restaurant to eat."

Now, because of her old age, Ms. Lieng is no longer present at the shop as often as before, but instead trusts her niece to take over.

The restaurant is managed by Ms. Thuy, Ms. Lieng’s niece, and is still trusted and supported by customers. Up to now, Ms. Lieng’s restaurant only sells on-site and take-out and is not available on delivery apps. That is how Ms. Lieng maintains the quality of the food as well as serves customers in the most thoughtful way.

After 3 decades of working with her own small restaurant, Ms. Lieng is still proud because it is the love and effort she built with her own hands. That is why Ms. Lieng really appreciates the MICHELIN award for her restaurant.

Ms. Lien's shop is always crowded.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/quan-an-duoc-michelin-goi-ten-2-nam-lien-tiep-dieu-gi-lam-nen-diem-dac-biet-o-nhung-mon-binh-dan-quen-thuoc-ma-gia-khong-he-re-20240701204143599.htm