The Lac Thien restaurant is quite something of an institution in the Pham Ngu Lao area (NDLR: it is now closed down). Many foreigners and Vietnamese alike have (re)discovered Hue food but most importantly, everyone has enjoyed the family atmosphere and the utmost kindness of its owner Ms Le Thi Thanh Ngoc.
Ms Le Thi Thanh Ngoc is a beautiful fourty-four year-old lady, with a perfect make-up and always well-groomed as she welcome her customers and friends. She is mute since she was born but she can read lips perfectly, whether you speak English or Vietnamese. But hardly anyone ever faced a problem of communication with Ngoc. Her smile and care say it all. A customer once wrote on the restaurant golden book that if Vietnam was the land of the smile, it could well have been invented in this restaurant!
Ms Ho Thi Phuc, a former employee of Lac Thien, translates the words of Ms Ngoc : “I can communicate with my customers through my food and my care. It is a language from the heart, beyond words”. Lac Thien specialty is the Banh Khoai, which literally means ‘cake of extreme pleasure’. This specialty has made the reputation of the original Lac Thien restaurant in Hue. “It all started in Hue in 1954, in Hue, Ngoc says. My grandparents started the first Lac Thien restaurant back then, and it is still alive and kicking at the same location on 6 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Hue.”
Ms Ngoc was born there as well as her six brothers and sisters. Except for the elder, all of them are mute. Some works in the family restaurant and others have taken jobs outside. On demand of her mother, Ngoc started the Lac Thien restaurant in Saigon in 1999. She had lived in Saigon for ten years before so she knew the city very well. Five staff of Lac Thien in Hue came down to set up the restaurant with her. It was then located on Dinh Cong Trang street. Then they moved to Pham Ngu Lao street and finally on their current address on 207 Bui Vien street, in district 1.
“I love my independence, Ngoc explains, so it was a good opportunity to take it back when the family decided to open a restaurant in Saigon. They wanted export the brand name outside Hue. It was nothing too difficult because the receipe of our banh khoai and nuoc leo (the sauce which accompanies the banh khoai) is very good and it can make the difference”. The receipe is indeed a family secret and the success of Lac Thien in Saigon can demonstrate its quality!
Customers arrive and Ms Ngoc has to interrupt the interview. She welcomes the customers, foreigners, and immediately creates a warm contact with her smile. She recommends a few dishes showing the photos on the menu and comes back to the table. “They are Australian, she says. They want to try Hue food and I suggested the bun bo Hue soup, the banh khoai, banh beo and so on… speaking of which, I think I am hungry now”, she laughs.
Her 23 year-old son also joins the conversation and takes over the translation as Phuc gets a phone call. “The chef and the staff all come from the family restaurant in Hue. We are like a family, Ngoc continues. And I am so happy that some of them like Phuc feels good here and even get married! Phuc worked with us for several years, back in Hue. Now she is married and she will look for another job here. Most of the staff never got out of Hue before. It is more than opening and running a restaurant in Saigon, it is a radical change of life for them”.
