About a year and a half ago, Phan Duc Thinh (37 years old), originally from Binh Dinh (now Gia Lai ), decided to bring his hometown's specialties to Ho Chi Minh City. His restaurant, named "Mushroom Noodles - Delicious Dishes from Binh Dinh," specializes in serving authentic coastal dishes from his hometown to customers seeking familiar flavors.
Mr. Thinh brought local specialties from his hometown to Ho Chi Minh City.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
A unique yogurt dish with salt dip.
Nestled on Tan Canh Street, Tan Son Hoa Ward (Ho Chi Minh City), the Mushroom Noodle shop is not overly ostentatious. The shop is painted in warm yellow tones, interspersed with refreshing green accents, creating a welcoming and tranquil atmosphere amidst the bustling city streets.
The restaurant opened in early 2025, but the owner had long harboured the intention of bringing his hometown dishes to Ho Chi Minh City. It wasn't until 2024 that he had the opportunity to realize this plan.
The restaurant is named after Mr. Thinh's two children. It specializes in authentic Binh Dinh cuisine, aiming to preserve the flavors of his hometown. Popular dishes include shrimp spring rolls wrapped in rice paper, fish cakes wrapped in basil, tuna noodle soup, octopus in vinegar, and crab and jellyfish hotpot... According to Mr. Thinh, these are all dishes that embody the authentic flavors of Binh Dinh and are his favorites.
The restaurant is open from 7 AM to 10 PM every day.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
Shrimp spring rolls wrapped in rice paper and fish cakes wrapped in Vietnamese coriander are two dishes frequently ordered by customers whenever they visit the restaurant.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
"I'm not a cook, but I'm very lucky to have people by my side. Whenever I create a new dish, besides tasting it myself to adjust the flavor, my mother also tastes it and gives feedback. Some of the dishes at the restaurant now are made according to my mother's recipes, maintaining the traditional cooking method, using fewer industrial spices and prioritizing natural flavors," Mr. Thinh shared.
Currently, the dishes at the restaurant are prepared in two ways. Firstly, they feature specialties that retain the authentic flavors of Binh Dinh, and secondly, they are adapted to suit the tastes of the people of Binh Dinh.
For example, the octopus in vinegar sauce, although sold in many places, has a lighter vinegar sauce at this restaurant, and is served with a special dipping sauce characteristic of the coastal region of Binh Dinh.
Yogurt with salt dip is an unusual dessert, rarely found in Ho Chi Minh City.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
In particular, the shop also has a yogurt dish with salt that Mr. Thinh is very fond of. According to him, this is both a childhood favorite and quite unique to diners in Ho Chi Minh City because few places sell it.
"This salt is roasted, which reduces its saltiness and gives it a subtle, pleasant aroma. When eaten with yogurt, the flavors blend together perfectly, so many customers buy more to take home after finishing their meal," Mr. Thinh shared.
Bringing the essence of home to the city.
The dishes at Mr. Thinh's restaurant are all made with carefully selected ingredients, brought directly from his hometown to preserve the authentic flavors of his homeland. According to the owner, even the smallest items, like iced tea, use the famous Dung tea from Binh Dinh. Even the rice paper served with the spring rolls must be soft, pliable, and not stick together when dipped in water – that's the authentic style from his hometown.
"Fish sauce is the most challenging ingredient for me because I have to go to many different places to find the right kind. Besides that, some dishes are homemade, like the chili fish sauce recipe my mother taught me, and the yogurt is homemade by my wife and brought to the shop, so the flavor is unmistakable," Mr. Thinh shared.
According to Mr. Thinh, the "soul" of Binh Dinh dishes is the dipping sauce. Just one bowl of delicious fish sauce can "balance" an entire meal, so he always spends a lot of time searching for and adjusting the dipping sauce to best reflect the flavors of his hometown.
Crab and jellyfish hot pot, with its light and sweet broth and crunchy jellyfish, has won over the taste buds of many diners.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
In addition, keeping the ingredients fresh is something he pays special attention to, because most of the dishes at the restaurant are seafood, so freshness greatly determines the taste of the food.
Not only does Mr. Thinh bring food and ingredients from his hometown to the city, but he also incorporates memories of his hometown into the restaurant's space. He brought rice paper racks, fishing nets, and other familiar fishing tools from Binh Dinh province to Ho Chi Minh City to use in the decorations.
According to him, most of these items aren't very expensive, but they require a lot of effort to find and transport. He sees it as a way to preserve the image of his hometown in his restaurant.
Mr. Duy Quang (43 years old) is one of the restaurant's regulars. Every lunch break, he often stops by the restaurant because it's convenient and suits his taste. "My hometown is in Nghe An , so I find the food here very much to my liking. I often eat the fish noodle soup here because the flavor is quite similar to the food from my hometown," Mr. Quang shared.
The restaurant is decorated with items made from sedge and bamboo, which Mr. Thinh collected and brought from his hometown to Ho Chi Minh City.
PHOTO: THAI HOA
According to Mr. Thinh, the dishes at the restaurant have largely retained the original cooking methods and flavors of Binh Dinh province, with only slight adjustments to the spiciness to better suit diners in Ho Chi Minh City.
He said that many people might find the dishes a little stronger or saltier than usual, but that's precisely the characteristic of Binh Dinh cuisine that he wants to preserve. "When I opened this Binh Dinh restaurant, I wanted people to feel like they were eating authentic Binh Dinh food," he shared.