HO CHI MINH CITY – Mrs. Kim Phuong’s snail shop serves at “unlike any other” hours but has been attracting customers for 25 years, having appeared in an American culinary series.
Every day at 9 o’clock, Ms. Phuong delivers goods to the alley on Co Bac Street, District 1, selling snails of all kinds, “a dish not many people in Saigon serve in the morning”.
Ms. Phuong started her daily work at 12pm, drove down to the Binh Dien seafood wholesale market, District 8, to select all kinds of snails for sale the next day. “Going home to clean, prepare a circuit until 8 am, then sell the goods. When I was too tired to stay up at night, I had to stop selling,” said Ms. Phuong.
From 9 o’clock, her snail shop began to rattle the pan. The scent of fried snails, grilled snails and the smell of coal smoke spread throughout the alley. The shop “is still the same” with a trolley with about 13-15 baskets of large and small snails, a charcoal stove, two mini gas stoves for snail processing, 13 plastic tables lined up along the alley for guests to sit.
Guests start to fill the tables from 10am, 3-4 people help the hostess to record, process, carry, and clean the table without stopping. Because the shop in a small alley does not have many seats, half of the customers come to the shop to buy and take away. The sold snails are packed in a styrofoam box, with a package of sauces and raw vegetables. Each piece of snail costs 30,000-35,000 VND.($1=24,000 VND)
Talking about the reason for selling only in the morning, Ms. Phuong said that from the first day of opening, her family was in difficulty, so people in the alley accepted and agreed to sell goods in the alley. Because it is a residential area, the sales hours are limited, and it is not allowed to sell at night. In the first days, the customers coming to the shop were mainly people in the alley and office workers nearby. In recent years, new tourists have come more and more.
Ms. Phuong shared that 3 years ago, the number of customers coming to the restaurant was almost double that of now. In 2019, her restaurant was unexpectedly filmed by an American culinary film crew. After the episode aired on Netflix, visitors increased significantly, especially foreign guests.
A couple of foreign friends present at Mrs. Phuong’s shop communicate with the staff using body language and order food through photos. A female guest named Rachel, from Taiwan, first visited Ho Chi Minh City and also experienced eating snails in the city for the first time. Rachel said that when planning a schedule, finding out about local dining spots, she had read many good reviews about this snail restaurant, so she decided to give it a try.
“In Taiwan, there is a street snail restaurant, but it is very rare. I have also tried snails in Taiwan a couple of times, but snails are not as diverse as here. The first time I heard of nail snails, I was quite curious, so I just ordered them. Try it. The dipping sauce here is also interesting, there are two types. Maybe this is normal for locals, but for tourists like me, these are great culinary experiences,” Rachel said.
The opening time of the shop also makes female tourists decide to try. Rachel had never been to a place that had a snail shop for breakfast. “Maybe eating snails in the morning is only available in Vietnam,” she said.
Rachel’s friend Iuri shared that he had never eaten snails and ordered four types through photos. He commented that the taste of the dish is “seasoned quite strongly, the sauce is spicy compared to the taste but overwhelms the fishy smell of the dish”. The dining room is small, the traffic is a bit noisy, but he doesn’t mind because before coming to Vietnam, he learned about local life in advance and watched the introductory video about this snail restaurant.
Two dipping sauces are available.
From 10am, the snail shop starts to get crowded.
The shop’s snail cart has about 13-15 types of pre-prepared snails.
Customers wait in line to buy takeout.
Two Filipino tourists eat snails in Vietnam for the first time.
Steamed scallops with lemongrass.
Grilled scallops with onion fat.
Two dipping sauces are available.
From 10am, the snail shop starts to get crowded.
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According to the owner, after the service, customers no longer have to wait in line for an empty table, but the table is closed continuously, selling snails every day. Ms. Phuong only sells goods from 9 to 13 o’clock, sometimes opens later until 14-15 o’clock. In addition to regular customers living near the alley, many customers come to Mrs. Phuong’s shop partly because of the influence on social networks, partly because they are curious about the strange snail sales hours.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngan, 41 years old, living in District 8, shared about the snail shop through a time surfing Tik Tok. This is the first time Ngan has tried eating snails in the morning. Because of her freelance work, she was able to go out at 9 o’clock to eat.
“Compared to other shops, here also sell popular snails such as woolen snails, feather scallops, nail snails, clams… I ordered boiled salted coconut snails and salted seahorses, 70,000 VND. The snail is a bit small,” Ngan commented.($1=24,000 VND)
In the early days of opening in 1998, the shop only specialized in selling fried snails with coconut. Later, with more customers, Ms. Phuong imported other types of snails and learned more cooking methods such as sauteed butter, fried garlic, grilled satay, grilled cheese. Depending on the situation at the wholesale market, Ms. Phuong imports the appropriate type of snail. “Currently, garlic snails and scallops are increasing in price, so I don’t import them for sale. Basic types such as snails, woolen snails, coconut snails, horse snails, chem carp, scallops, shellfish, clams, are still available every day.” Mrs. Phuong said.
Working non-stop, the owner of the small shop still warmly chats and welcomes guests. The snail shop in the alley is the main source of income for the whole family, helping Mrs. Phuong raise her son, who has completed nearly four years of college. It is not known when she will have enough money to open a new premises, but Ms. Phuong is happy and satisfied with her current life.
Photo: Quynh Tran