Half a century old sweet soup shop in Ho Chi Minh City is crowded with customers, selling nearly 1,000 bowls per day.

Nestled on the side of an old apartment building, a half-century-old chè mặt shop in Ho Chi Minh City attracts sweet tooths from evening to late at night. Every day, the shop sells nearly 1,000 bowls of various colors and flavors.

Half a century old sweet soup shop sells well. Video : Ha Nguyen

Half a century old tea shop

At 4 p.m., despite the light rain, the sweet soup stall nestled on the side of an old apartment building on Su Van Hanh Street (District 10, HCMC) was still packed with customers. A group of students in uniform occupied the entire row of small tables on one side of the alley.

Meanwhile, a group of foreign tourists were sitting at the tables in front of the shop. The place where the pots of sweet soup were placed, steaming white and giving off a fragrant aroma, also had many people waiting to buy sweet soup to take home.

As soon as it opened, the sweet soup shop was full of customers. Photo: Ha Nguyen

The shop’s staff are busy scooping and carrying trays full of bowls of sweet soup to serve customers. This is a famous sweet soup shop, attracting sweet tooths in Ho Chi Minh City for decades.

Shop owner Ngo Thi Thanh Tuyen said that the shop has been around since her grandmother's time. Her grandmother has been selling hot chè since before 1975. At first, she sold a few familiar chè dishes such as: mung bean chè, banana chè...

After taking over, Tuyen’s mother added some new desserts to the menu. However, the dessert shop still did not have a rich menu like it does now.

When there are customers, the staff scoops the sweet soup into small bowls. Photo: Ha Nguyen

“When I took over, the dessert shop had passed on to the third generation. Up to now, the family dessert shop has existed for half a century. According to customers' tastes, I developed some new desserts.

Currently, the restaurant has 16 dishes with 16 different flavors such as: white bean sweet soup, sweet rice balls, taro sweet soup, banana sweet soup, black sesame sweet soup, corn sweet soup, ba ba sweet soup, yi sweet soup... Therefore, customers still call the restaurant tray sweet soup, 16-dish sweet soup", Ms. Tuyen shared.

Bowls of sweet soup are placed on a tray. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Despite being half a century old, the space of the chè shop is not very spacious. The shop only has small plastic tables and chairs for customers to sit outside.

When guests arrive, the desserts are scooped into small bowls and placed on a communal tray. If guests buy to-go, the desserts are scooped into discreet, hygienic plastic cups with lids.

If customers buy to take away, the tea is scooped into plastic cups. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Each bowl of chè at the shop costs between 8,000 and 12,000 VND. A tray of 16 bowls costs 142,000 VND. Depending on your needs, you can choose to eat one or more types of chè at the same time.

The desserts at the shop are not served with ice. However, the desserts are sweet, not too sweet. The fat content of the desserts is moderate, not making the eater feel full.

Sell nearly 1,000 bowls of sweet soup every day

Ms. Tuyen's sweet soup shop often attracts customers to come and experience in groups such as: families, groups of friends... When coming to the shop, the group of customers will order a tray of sweet soup with 16 bowls to enjoy together.

Despite the rain at the end of the day, Ms. Tuyet Hong (60 years old, District 10) still took her two grandchildren to Ms. Tuyen's sweet soup shop to experience it. Here, Ms. Hong's aunt and niece ordered a tray of 16 bowls of sweet soup and shared it to enjoy.

Ms. Hong (sitting in the middle) took her two grandchildren to the sweet soup shop to experience. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Not far from Ms. Hong’s table, another family of 7 also ordered a tray of sweet soup. After the staff brought the tray of sweet soup, the family members chose their own bowls of sweet soup according to their taste.

A woman in this family shared that she has known Ms. Tuyen’s dessert shop for a long time. She likes the taste and the way the shop serves the dessert without ice.

“The desserts here suit my taste. My family members also like the hot desserts at the shop. So whenever we have time, we often come here to eat desserts together,” this person shared.

A family of 7 went to a sweet soup shop to enjoy. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Meanwhile, Phuong Thao (22 years old) decided to take her best friend to the Che Tram shop to experience it after seeing it recommended by many groups on social networks.

At the shop, afraid that they wouldn't be able to finish the tray of 16 bowls of sweet soup, they only ordered 2 small bowls to enjoy. They both confirmed that the sweet soup was very delicious and would come back to the shop many more times.

Phuong Thao said the desserts at the shop are delicious. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Ms. Tuyen said that the dessert shop opens from 3pm to about 11pm. To prepare 16 desserts, she and her family members have to prepare and cook the desserts from 6am. On average, the shop sells about 1,000 bowls of various desserts every day.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/quan-che-mam-nua-the-ky-o-tp-hcm-nuom-nuop-khach-ban-gan-1-000-bat-moi-ngay-2415748.html