The tea shop digging on the pavement of District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, although there are no signs or menus, is still crowded until midnight.
At 23:00, dozens of people, mainly young people, patiently wait at Co Dung peach tea shop at the corner of Nguyen Chi Thanh Street (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City). Guests lined up in two rows standing on the sidewalk, sometimes too crowded on the road.
“Here, if you want to hurry, you have to go early, at around 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm when the shop first opens, the more late the night, the longer the queue will be until midnight. If you go on weekends, you must queue at all times ”, Nhu Quyen (living in District 11), a regular customer of the restaurant, told Zing . Ms. Dung tea shop has only two people making and a table for all tools and materials for preparation. Today, due to her late arrival, Quyen and her husband had to queue for more than 30 minutes to buy 3 glasses of water. The couple had to continuously take turns letting one person line up, the other rested and looked after the car. Just received the cup from the shop owner, Quyen’s husband quickly plugged the straw and passed it to his wife. The client used to take a drink, nearly half a glass of water had run out. “The water here is delicious and cheap. A glass of about ten and a few thousand only. This hot season has nothing to drink. But if I buy it here, I have to wait in line for a long time, ”Quyen said while wiping the sweat on his face. Line up until 2am Her peach tea shop Ha Thi Dung (56 years old) does not have a signboard, but still has two names given by customers. In addition to Co Dung Mashed Peach Tea, which is named after the owner of the shop and the typical water dish of the shop, this place is also known by many people as “Tra Doi”. The shop is open for sale from 19:30 to 2 am the next morning and is always in a crowded state. There are only two people selling, so it is almost impossible to work without a break for 6 hours. All mixing tools and ingredients are neatly arranged on a table, above is hung an electric light for both lighting and customer identification. The more guests come at night, the more crowded the customers are, especially on weekends. Tea Wait also does not have a menu. However, in turn, any customer who is that customer can read the names of the drinks that need to be purchased. While the shopkeeper brews water, buyers also prepare bags, straws, and even calculate cash in hand to save time, making latecomers wait longer. When asked about the restaurant’s best food, the guests waiting could tell about a dozen dishes: pickled peach tea, milk-sweetened blueberries, milk orange, blueberry syrup, pickled strawberries … And concluding a sentence: “But everything here is delicious”. Mr. Nhu (23 years old) said that she comes here almost every weekend with a group of friends. One day Nhu’s group arrived after midnight and had to line up until almost 2:00 in the morning to buy water. “After buying water, we pick up the chairs on the sidewalk to sit eight until almost morning. We like this place because the water is delicious, there are many dishes and the price is for students. The queue is a bit long but on weekends, so sometimes it’s also free. Just take turns waiting, the rest just sit and talk ”. Meanwhile, Mr. Thanh (37 years old) knew about Co Dung’s digging tea shop through online reviews. Curious, he wanted to wait in line for a drink, but after 15 minutes of waiting and still not his turn, he gave up. “I heard it was crowded, but I didn’t expect it to be this crowded. I guess I have time to come back in line, drink it to see what it tastes like, ”Mr. Thanh said. Peach tea “wait but not upset” The owner of the tea shop, Ms. Dung, said her shop has been selling for more than 30 years, at the corner of Nguyen Chi Thanh street intersecting Duong Tu Giang. “Because there is not enough rent for the premises, I only sell the evening. Also thanks to the people around for help, creating conditions so it can be sold until now ”, said Ms. Dung while still slowly making tea and peach beams for customers. The restaurant’s water dishes such as pickled peach tea, milk pickled blueberries, pineapple ginseng … cost 10,000-15,000 VND. Meticulously selecting each apple, counting the amount of syrup and condensed milk to put in a cup, Ms. Dung confided many times that many customers are also impatient, but not so that it can be reckless. “Everyone who came here had to wait in line, so I had to work hard to make delicious water, according to the customer.” Having just visited the restaurant a few times, but Ha Thi (living in District 5) is especially impressed with the service attitude of the owner. Regardless of any request from customers such as less sweet, more sour, proportion of ice…, Ms. Dung happily responded. “Once I bought it on a long way, I was afraid that the drink was no longer delicious, she enthusiastically advised. Although the shop is crowded and has to wait a long time, she is always happy, never upset, ”Thi said. According to many customers, another plus point of this sidewalk tea shop is that it has almost no price increases. The drinks here are less than 20,000 VND, the typical peach tea dish of the restaurant is only about 11,000 VND, 14,000 VND in blueberry. “I drank at this restaurant from 2017-2018. After the epidemic, I thought the price would increase like many other places. But now the price remains the same, unchanged ”, Nhu Quyen (27 years old) said.
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