Located near Notre Dame Cathedral (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), Tam’s family’s longtime crab soup shop is a favorite snack place for generations of Saigon diners.
Nestled in the alley at 86 Nguyen Du Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) near Notre Dame Cathedral, the crab soup shop of Mr. Tam and his wife has been a famous snack place in Saigon for nearly 28 years. Previously, the shop was opened by Mr. Tam’s mother in front of Hoa Binh Primary School to make a living for the family. However, for about 10 years now, she has passed on her skills and the restaurant to the shop’s husband and wife. 
7-8 years ago, due to the increasing number of diners coming to the restaurant, Mr. Tam and his wife decided to move their business to Nguyen Du street as the present. Since then until now, Notre Dame’s crab soup shop is still packed with a cart, two rows of plastic chairs placed close to the two sides of the alley for customers to eat on the spot. 
Every day, the shop starts selling from 10:30 to 21:00 or until the stock is out. During that time, Mr. Tam’s wife and an employee were always in a state of chaos, from cleaning up, preparing ingredients, changing soup pots to serving customers to buy and use on the spot. “In the morning, my husband still has to deliver goods, drive more cars, so I can only go down the afternoon. So I have to handle a lot of things, very busy!”, The owner shared. 
Over the past two decades, Notre Dame Crab Soup has always been a favorite destination for many diners thanks to its delicious taste and unchanged quality after years of trading. A full cup of hot soup costs 20,000 VND, including ingredients such as soft shell crab, flour, shiitake mushrooms, snow mushrooms, quail eggs, herbal eggs and many spices. His wife Tam revealed that this soup recipe was kept by her mother-in-law since 1993, and now passed on to the couple doing business. 
Every day, the owner and his wife always get up at 5am, go to the market early to choose the freshest ingredients, then deliver the goods from their home in Phu Nhuan district to the point of sale. “Food business is not easy. Waking up early in the morning and at noon have to wait for customers to rest their hands and then keep busy until evening. When I took over the restaurant from my mother-in-law, my wife and I found it quite hard because we were not used to it. Now it is different, “said the owner. 
His wife Tam said that due to the business along the two alleys, not every place has a roof. Every time it rains, diners have to sit crouched inside, but it is hard to avoid being thrown. However, few people complain because most of them are “real customers” and curious young people. In addition, the shop also has many customers who buy it to take away, avoiding the situation of waiting too long. 
Around 5:00 pm, the crab soup shop of Mr. Tam and his wife started to get crowded. Mr. Tam (38 years old), in time to finish his morning job to help his wife trade. As soon as he arrived, the boss quickly welcomed the customers, listened to order and brought soup. “In the old days, I used to help my mother to do business and do some errands, but when I personally run this place, I find it difficult. Now that I get used to it, I am happy with the customers,” said this man. 
Thanks to its location in the central area, affordable price and long-standing reputation, Tam’s family crab soup shop has received a lot of love from the people of Saigon. Mr. Tai, an office specialist of 8X generation, is one of the customers who regularly visit the restaurant. “I find the crab soup here is quite delicious, the price is commensurate with the business location in the city center. Hungry afternoon, eating a cup like that is enough to work until evening,” he said. 
Ms. Le Vy (29 years old, living in Phu Nhuan district) identified herself as one of the “real customers” of Mr. Tam’s restaurant. Ten years ago, when I was in high school, she often came here to eat. Now, sometimes she still visits the restaurant to eat crab soup with her friends. “The point that I love most about this soup is the herbal egg. Many people may not eat it, but I really like the taste of it,” said the flight attendant.
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