What happened to the popular zero-dong vegetarian buffet restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City?

Recently, many vegetarian buffet restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City have become well-known for selling at a price of 0 VND and receiving "heart showers" on social networks. After a period of operation, how are those affectionate restaurants now?

Diners support

Not long ago, the Nhu Tam vegetarian buffet restaurant on Highway 50 (Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) was known by many people because the owner sold food for 0 VND. In front of the door, the owner placed a statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, many people stopped to burn incense and pray before eating. The restaurant is spacious, the owner hung pictures of Buddha, good sayings, meaningful about Buddhism. Although there are many people coming to eat, the restaurant is very peaceful, the meditation music plays to help diners relax and have a more peaceful mind.

Nhu Tam vegetarian buffet restaurant is still open to welcome diners.

PHOTO: DUONG LAN

During this year's Buddha's birthday, Thanh Nien reporters returned and learned that the restaurant is still open as usual. The space of the restaurant has not changed, it is clean, airy, and the tables and chairs are neatly arranged. However, instead of selling tickets for free, the owner charges 20,000 VND per ticket to help cover some of the rental costs. For lonely elderly people with no income or young children, the owner happily does not charge money and invites them to eat for free.

Vegetarian buffet costs 20,000 VND

PHOTO: DUONG LAN

Ms. Thuy Nguyen (49 years old), manager of the vegetarian buffet restaurant Nhu Tam, said that when serving customers for 0 VND, the restaurant owner had to pay a large amount of money to pay for the premises. Therefore, after 3 years of operation, the restaurant owner decided to charge each ticket 20,000 VND. After a short period of closure for repairs, the restaurant reopened from 8am to 8pm every day.

"Although the restaurant is not as crowded as when it opened with a price of 0 VND, it still welcomes about 50-70 customers every day. We still maintain a vegetarian restaurant to serve everyone. I still hope that customers know about the restaurant to eat vegetarian food to cultivate good karma and have a more peaceful mind. I think the current price is reasonable, everyone can eat comfortably," said Ms. Thuy.

Dishes are displayed for diners to choose from.

PHOTO: DUONG LNA

Customers still visit the restaurant to support enthusiastically

PHOTO: DUONG LAN

Ms. Dang Thi Hang (57 years old, in Binh Chanh District) stopped by the vegetarian buffet restaurant for lunch after going to the pagoda. "I am a regular customer of the restaurant. The restaurant has been closed for a while for renovations and I look forward to the day it reopens. Even though it is no longer free like before, I still come to eat regularly and think that the price is reasonable for a comfortable vegetarian meal," Ms. Hang said.

Temporarily suspended

Last year, a newly opened vegetarian buffet restaurant on Hoang Sa Street (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) was widely shared on social networks for a long time because it allowed customers to freely eat for 0 VND. At that time, the restaurant was open from 11am to 2pm every day of the week, serving nearly 20 different vegetarian dishes every day.

At first, when it first opened, not many people knew about it. After the owner wrote about her "single life" on social media, many diners came to eat. Most of them were ordinary workers, students, and even office workers who came out of curiosity to enjoy the food.

Ms. Binh and her relatives were busy preparing food.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

The restaurant is the long-time dream of the owner Thanh Binh, hoping to bring free meals to poor workers and students. She opened a buffet restaurant with dozens of different dishes for everyone to choose from.

"I have always done charity work. Seeing that the economy was difficult last year, many people were tight-fisted in their eating habits, so I wanted to contribute a little bit to bring meals to ordinary workers, helping them save more money for Tet. Since opening, I have made as much as I can, from my own pocket money," Ms. Binh confided, adding that her "pocket money" comes from her main job of opening a tea room and beauty spa.

The vegetarian buffet restaurant has many different dishes when it opens.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

Ms. Binh's vegetarian buffet restaurant was once known by many people on social networks.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

After a long time of operation and serving countless customers, the owner said that due to health reasons, she has temporarily stopped operating her vegetarian buffet restaurant. However, throughout the journey of opening the restaurant, she has brought happiness and warm meals to the poor workers, spreading kindness in Ho Chi Minh City. Whether it still exists or not, Ho Chi Minh City has had such kind vegetarian buffet restaurants...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-quan-buffet-chay-0-dong-binh-dan-tung-gay-sot-o-tphcm-gio-ra-sao-185250506140727547.htm