At 4:30 pm, Nhat Mai (23 years old) and her friend came to the bò bía stall at 22 Yen Phu, Hanoi. When they arrived, dozens of people lined up to wait. After about an hour, Mai finally bought a dish to enjoy with her friend.
My house is in An Khanh commune, about 20km away. Cakes here are more delicious and cheaper than other places, so even though it's far, I still have to go buy them at all costs," Nhat Mai shared.
Recently, this bò bía stall suddenly received attention on social networks, attracting a large number of young people to come and experience it. Many people are curious about the image of the shop owner with a serious face, focused sales style and somewhat different.
It is known that the shop owner is Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (48 years old), who has been attached to the profession of selling "bo bia" for 14 years. While his hands are quickly rolling each cake, his eyes are still constantly looking around to follow.
Explaining the "pear-fried" eyes, Mr. Thanh said that in the past, when selling on the sidewalk, many customers stopped their cars right on the road, so he had to both sell goods and pay attention to the traffic situation around to avoid collisions or congestion. Over time, continuous observation has become a hard-to-break professional habit for him.
Although the restaurant attracts attention with the image of a special owner, what makes many diners return and are willing to wait is the flavor of the dish. Hong Thanh (21 years old) expressed: "I knew about Uncle Thanh's restaurant through TikTok. I have never eaten beef jelly anywhere that is both delicious and full like here. When eating, you will feel a moderate sweetness, not harsh, and the crust is also quite fragrant.
Sharing about the secret to making the "bo bia" dish that many people love, Mr. Thanh said that the most important thing lies in the selection of ingredients and meticulousness in the processing process.
A complete bò bía consists of cake crust, grated fresh coconut, malt candy and black sesame. According to Mr. Thanh, the cake crust is made by his own hands about 1,000 pieces per day from wheat flour, combined with some other types of flour.
When placed on a hot pan, the dough will be thinly spread and then cooked until just cooked for about 1-2 minutes to create softness, chewiness and aroma. He also does not add salt like many other places to preserve the natural flavor of the cake.
With coconuts, Mr. Thanh only grates them when the old batch is almost finished because if prepared for too long, the coconuts will dry out. On average, the restaurant uses about 30 coconuts per day, mainly choosing medium-sized coconuts to make the coconut rice fatty but still retain its crispness. The restaurant also gives away free coconut water when customers need it.
In addition, malt candy is also chosen as quality goods even though the price is high. According to him, delicious malt will have more crispness and a lighter taste than ordinary types, contributing to creating a unique flavor for the restaurant's dishes.
“Every day I prepare from the morning, first cutting coconuts and then starting to make banh chung. For preliminary processing and making ingredients, it takes me about 4-5 hours, usually until about 2 pm to finish in time to sell to customers,” the shop owner shared.
Currently, the restaurant has two types of bo bia with prices of 5,000 VND and 10,000 VND each. According to Mr. Thanh, many customers often buy large quantities to bring back to make up for waiting, even once one person bought up to 18 pieces.
Since becoming famous on social networks, Mr. Thanh's beef stew restaurant sells about 300 units per day. Moving to a new address, the stall starts selling from 3 pm to about 9 pm daily. However, on busy days, the restaurant may run out of stock sooner than closing hours.
Mr. Thanh is from Vinh Phuc (old), now belonging to Xuan Lang commune, Phu Tho province. He chose to sell bo bia because this is a famous traditional dish in the locality.
Before joining the profession, he had experienced many different jobs. After a period of working abroad and doing business in his hometown, the man decided to go down to Hanoi to start a business.
In the early days, Mr. Thanh mainly sold street vendors on streets such as Thanh Nien, Truc Bach. But it was not until around 2019 that his bò bía stall gradually became known to many people.
Sharing about the Bo Bia shop suddenly becoming famous on social networks, Mr. Thanh said: "I am also quite surprised that I am known by so many people. I am very happy and grateful to everyone who came to support the shop.
