Comments on: Meet The Lunch Lady

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:14:19 +0000

The noodles are tasty, but there’s a special foreigner price of about 10k more, which is only US 50 cents, but it is a bit of a turn-off for me. Costs are rising in Saigon, so I think these days it’s up to 20k for locals and 30k for foreigners. It’s still a good deal though– a lot of places are charging 60k or more for noodle soups.

By: Loi

Loi — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:04:36 +0000

Hi Cathy,

Been in VN since 12/26. Am in Saigon now and went to chi Thanh’s noodle stand yesterday (Friday) for her bun bo hue. Very tasty. Afterward, I talked to her one on one for about 10 minutes. She is very nice and friendly and customer focused.

It took me awhile to find her noodle stand because it’s no longer on Hoang Sa street. I only found her after asking a vendor on Hoang Sa. She is now in a “hem” off Hoang Sa. The address on the business card she gave me (I’m looking at it as I type) is below. Her noodle stand now has a large banner on top which says “Qua’n A(n Lunch Lady” in large words. I’m glad she knows how to take advantage of your advertising for her and Anthony Bourdain’s feature on his No Reservation segment on VN.

Her business seems to do very well. I arrived around 12:30 and her big pot of broth barely had any broth left for my bowl of bun bo hue. There was a large tour bus at her stand when I arrived, and it left full of tourists about 5 minutes afterward. Only then could I find a table to sit (I went by myself as my travel party had gone to Ben Tre for a wedding). As I finished eating, she also ran out of noodle and soup and ended her lunch service, around 1PM.

I’m going to Phu Quoc tomorrow (1/6) to join my travel party there. We will all return to Saigon on 1/9 for a few days. I told her that will return Friday 1/10 with more customers. That’s when she gave me her business card and asked me to call ahead of time so she can prepare for my party. As I stood there talking to her, tourists were snapping photos of her, her noodle stand, etc. There was also a Vietnamese photographer for a local paper taking photos of her with me and then her by herself. She was all smiles. Like I said, very nice lady.

Here’s her business card info (front side). My camera broke so I can’t take a photo of it at the moment. I’ll take a photo of both sides (front has address and phone number, back has daily menu) and will e-mail it to you at a later date.

Qua’n A(n Lucnh Lady (notice that she misspells Lunch on her card)
DC: 1A 1B C/C Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Lo C1
Phuong Da Kao, Quan 1 – DD: 0933 887922

Cheers,

Loi

By: Sarah T

Sarah T — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 02:41:16 +0000

Seething with jealousy – cannot wait to escape the daily grind of the corporate world and exchange my suit for pyjamas. This lady knows where it’s at! Food looks downright delicious as well!

By: Tentang Saigon | TRIP TO TRIP

Tentang Saigon | TRIP TO TRIP — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:27:31 +0000

[...] dari keinginan saya untuk makan siang di ‘lunch lady‘ yang terkenal lewat acara nya Antony Bourdain di Travel Channel. Akhirnya saya menginjakkan [...]

By: LYNNERS

LYNNERS — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:01:36 +0000

Just recently came back from Vietnam about 4 months ago and had the pleasure of trying her very awesome soup. She was so nice enough to take a picture with us. This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Vietnam!

By: Good morning Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City! | Passing White Daisies

Good morning Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City! | Passing White Daisies — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 19:32:39 +0000

[...] stall was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and on a number of food blogs, including this one. We were incredible excited to try one of her soups but a little worried since we were unsure [...]

By: The Lunch Lady, Vietnam « Seven Second Rhapsody

The Lunch Lady, Vietnam « Seven Second Rhapsody — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 06:13:32 +0000

[...] find a good introduction to the lunch lady and her daily meals by Gastronomy. What I can only impart here is a veritable thesaurus of words [...]

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:30:54 +0000

Will be going to Saigon in a few weeks for the first time. Going to try my very best to find her!!!!

By: James

James — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:05:19 +0000

As of August 3rd 2012 she is still there and still charging very reasonable prices for life alteringly good food. Hell, she’s still wearing the same hat. Halfway through my meal a giant ant fell into my broth. My death should be so delicious. Going again tomorrow.

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:05:20 +0000

It’s so great to see there are still people who think about their customers. Granted, she may not want to raise her prices to keep more customers, but on the other hand she looks like she is truly a nice person. Kudos to her!