Ho Chi Minh City: "1-hour noodle shop" is about to close, many people regret it

When I was a high school student, I often rode my bike to Nguyen Van Giai Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) to enjoy a bowl of hot crab noodle soup with pig's feet. The restaurant at that time sold about 6-7 crabs a day, the broth was sweet and clear, the pig's feet were well-cooked, soft and clean.

TP HCM: — The shop has no sign, just a stall right in front of house number 12C Nguyen Phi Khanh (District 1)

Every time I sat down to eat, I would exclaim and chat animatedly with the ladies and gentlemen until I became familiar with their faces, including Ms. Mui, Ms. Lanh, Mrs. Ba... At that time, the ladies often called me "backpacker girl" - because when I was a child, I always brought a backpack to the restaurant, the name has stuck with me until now.

After more than ten years, one day I happened to be passing by Nguyen Phi Khanh Street (District 1) and suddenly saw a familiar figure on the street corner - the same vendors from the past.

Without hesitation, I stopped in and had a bowl of “knee” noodle soup – a funny name that only regular customers would understand. Strangely, the flavor was still the same: clear, rich broth, fatty but not greasy pig’s feet. The only difference was that there were no longer any firm crabs from the past.

That noodle shop – now people often call it by the funny name: "1 hour noodle soup" or "60 minute noodle soup" – actually has no sign, it is just a stall right in front of house number 12C Nguyen Phi Khanh (District 1). It opens at exactly 3 pm but by around 2 pm the place is already full of people. At exactly 3 pm, they start serving bowls and only about 20 minutes later they announce "out of stock", anyone who comes later has to make an appointment to come back tomorrow.

Customers sit close together on tiny plastic chairs, sometimes having to wait for dozens of minutes even if they arrive early. There are many people coming to eat, and there are also many people waiting to buy take-out.

Inside, the selling tools are still as simple as ever: a shoulder pole with a steaming pot of noodle soup, a bucket of pig's feet that is constantly being scooped up. Customers walk by, order "lean meat, tendon, knee, hoof" - the four familiar parts of pig's feet, the seller nods, and scoops them up immediately.

Each bowl of noodle soup here usually has 2 pieces of pig's feet, served with the restaurant's special chili pepper fish sauce - a dipping sauce that you can tell is "exclusive" just by touching it. The noodles are soft, slightly chewy, the broth is sweet and thick, adding green onions, chili peppers and lemon slices is perfect.

Sitting there, eating with a spoon, gnawing on pig’s feet with my hands – a way of eating that is instinctive and joyful. The people who cook, serve, or take seats are all older men and women who have known me since I was a little kid. However, everyone is still agile, cheerful, and smiling. There is an old man standing outside, reassuring waiting customers, waiting for his motorbike, and asking about their stories. There is a woman holding a tray of iced tea, her mouth smiling, calling out “Iced tea here, iced tea here” – a strangely familiar cry.

From this noodle shop, many children in the family have grown up properly, one even sent her child to study abroad in Japan.

Once I jokingly asked why they didn't sell more hours, because customers always regretted it because they were late and it was all gone. The girls just laughed: "I'm old, selling like that is tiring enough, it's fun enough! Besides, cleaning pig's feet is very hard!"

Perhaps it is this limitation – selling for exactly 1 hour, no more – that makes people excited and expectant.

When I heard the news that the restaurant was closing, my heart sank. Not because I was missing a good place to eat – there are noodle soups everywhere – but because I was missing a part of my memory, a piece of my youth wrapped in a bowl of hot broth, the laughter of the vendors, and the afternoons spent sitting on the sidewalks of Ho Chi Minh City.

Goodbye Thanh Xuan noodle shop!

Thanks for being a part of beautiful memories in my life.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tp-hcm-quan-banh-canh-1-gio-sap-dong-cua-nhieu-nguoi-tiec-hui-hui-196250527204848503.htm