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| People enjoy "home-cooked meals" at a small eatery in an alley on Doi Cung Street, Hue City |
Finding a little familiarity in a strange place
Busy with work and unable to cook at home, my wife suggested we visit a small eatery on Huynh Tan Phat Street in Hue City. The moment we stepped in, we were captivated by the ambiance - from the wooden tables and chairs, bamboo chopstick holders, to the vintage, slightly chipped bowls and plates. It felt like we were stepping back in time, evoking memories of family meals with grandparents and parents.
On the table that seemed to have been stained by time, the tray of different dishes was served, with the flavor as a meal cooked by our mother. The dishes are not extravagant or luxurious; for just a few dozen thousand VND per tray, the menu includes a plate of stir-fried vegetables, a few pieces of braised fish, a bowl of jackfruit soup, a few slices of boiled pork, and a small dish of Vietnamese pickled eggplant with shrimp paste. Although each dish contains only a small portion, it is irresistibly appealing. Through the old speaker, music from the old days resounds, making meals feel like returning to the past with the closeness and affection.
Many times, due to being too busy to cook, my husband and I have to choose to eat out. On such occasions, we like to go to restaurants with the style of... home-cooked meals. Recently, Hue has seen a rise in these home-style restaurants, which are particularly crowded during lunch, mostly with students, office workers, and laborers who don’t have time to cook at home. The special thing is that the menu of these restaurants varied every day. In addition to the dishes in the form of portions for each tray, customers can also order additional favorite dishes.
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| Home-cooked meals at restaurants |
Nguyen Tran Thien My, a student in Hue, shared: “Some days, my roommate and I decided to ‘turn off the stove’ and head to these home-style eateries. It’s not because we’re lazy, but because we’re far from our families, we sometimes miss the meals our moms cook. I miss the salty braised fish, the fragrant lemongrass floss with shrimp paste, or the caramelized pork belly - dishes that only home-cooked meals can bring.”
In today’s modern world, technology makes it easy to order a wide variety of dishes. There was a time when young people, especially students and office workers, preferred fast food. But now, many have developed a “retro” fondness for rustic dishes that bring a sense of their homeland’s nostalgia.
Ngo Thi Lan Huong, an employee of a company in Hue City, shared that when she first left her hometown to study in the city, she had the habit of eating out, from spicy noodles, KFC fried chicken, to pizza when she had some extra money. However, now, when she is busy with her work and has little time to return home, she always craves the rustic flavors of her hometown. “Actually, there was a long time ago when I wished I could sit in a restaurant and eat Western food. Now I realize that “mom’s meals” is still the best. That’s why, whenever I have the chance, I seek out home-style eateries. There, although it is still a restaurant, there is something close, familiar and has the flavor of a family meal,” confided Huong.
Learning to Cook a homemade meals
Despite missing home-cooked meals, not everyone has the interest, time and money to go to restaurants. To meet the requirement of not going out but still having home-cooked meals, many young people choose to be self-reliant, learning how to cook family meals right in their rented rooms.
Cao Thai Ha, a student at a university in Hue, shared, “When I first moved to Hue, I didn’t know how to cook and didn’t have many friends. Missing home-cooked meals, I initially paid my landlady to cook for me. Later, when she became too busy, I switched to buying ready-to-eat meals. Eventually, I taught myself how to cook and made friends with other tenants. We pooled money to shop and cook family-style meals together.”
According to Thai Ha, traditional Vietnamese meals aren’t too difficult to prepare. Ingredients are readily available at markets, and online recipes make it easy to learn how to make dishes, even if they are not as excellent as your mother's cooking or professional restaurants.
Once, I met a group of students going to Dong Ba market, looking to buy old-fashioned dinnerware. When I asked, I found out that young people bought them to make them look like a family meal. While some might see it as a trend to post on Facebook, for these young people, it represented a heartfelt connection to happiness. In a fast-paced modern world, remembering family meals and embracing rustic, familiar traditions is a charming way amidst the modern life.