Pho, broken rice... into fast food chains

cơm tấm - Ảnh 1. — Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu as store manager serving Vietnamese broken rice at Matsuya store (Roppongi, Japan) - Photo: VNA

While Vietnamese diners are already familiar with Japanese dishes on the menu at many restaurants in Vietnam, recently, for the first time, Japanese people were able to "order" broken rice at a pure Japanese restaurant in Japan.

Broken rice on the menu of Japanese F&B chain

At the end of August 2025, the Japanese restaurant chain Matsuya officially introduced to consumers across Japan the dish "pork rice with broken rice", when this dish was added to the menu of more than 1,000 restaurants in the chain.

The story of Vietnamese broken rice in Japan also began thanks to trade activities between the two countries. As one of the three largest beef rice (gyudon) chains in Japan, the leader of the Matsuya chain, during a market survey in Vietnam, tried and was impressed with broken rice, and from there came the idea of developing a "specialty" Vietnamese rice dish to introduce to the Japanese people.

This process of "Japanese people making broken rice" is fully supported by the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan. Mr. Ta Duc Minh, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Japan, said that the Trade Office has connected Matsuya with Vietnamese businesses to select and put into the dish the most authentic Vietnamese ingredients and spices.

"We have suggested that Matsuya consider using typical products such as Vietnamese ham, ST25 rice, as well as traditional fish sauce imported directly from Vietnam," said Mr. Minh.

Responding to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Minh said that in recent years, Vietnamese cuisine has been increasingly positively received by Japanese people, with many Vietnamese restaurants opening up and introducing a rich menu of dishes such as pho, Hue beef noodle soup, banh mi, bun cha, fried spring rolls...

Among them, Pho Day initiated by Tuoi Tre in Japan in October 2023 is said to have contributed to further highlighting the image of a bowl of pho as a symbolic dish of Vietnamese cuisine.

"The Japanese-style broken rice dish appearing on the Matsuya chain menu further shows that Vietnamese cuisine is not only a discovery but has gradually gained a foothold in the daily lives of Japanese people. In particular, Vietnamese fish sauce is available in some supermarkets and food stores in Japan, although its popularity is still limited," said Mr. Minh.

According to Mr. Minh, Vietnamese cuisine has the advantage of being balanced, light and suitable for the "delicious, healthy" trend that Japanese people favor.

"To go further, Vietnamese businesses need to focus on three points: ensuring food safety standards, investing in packaging and cultural stories, as well as closely cooperating with local distribution systems such as AEON, Beisia, Donkihote...", Mr. Minh suggested.

cơm tấm - Ảnh 2. — Tens of thousands of diners came to visit and enjoy pho at the Pho festival in Tokyo on the morning of October 8 - Photo: Q. DINH

Pho and broken rice are suitable for chain model

Sharing with Tuoi Tre, Mr. Arakawa Ken, General Director of Matsuya Foods Vietnam, said that Matsuya decided to do business in Vietnam when assessing that this market has a young population and the economy has momentum for future growth.

Opening its first store in Vietnam in late 2024, the Matsuya beef rice chain now has 4 stores in Ho Chi Minh City. Matsuya plans to open 10 stores in Vietnam by 2026.

Commenting on Vietnamese consumers' tastes, Mr. Arakawa said that compared to other countries, Vietnamese customers are somewhat more demanding. "When a new store opens, the mentality of 'wanting to try the taste' seems to be weaker than in other countries," said a representative of Matsuya.

However, once they have tried the product and found it to their liking, Vietnamese customers tend to become regulars and visit more often.

"Basically, we recreate the same flavors as in Japan right in Vietnam. Like the case of broken rice this time, we also want to actively introduce flavors familiar to Vietnamese people in the future," said Mr. Arakawa, adding that Matsuya also uses typical Vietnamese spices such as fish sauce or shrimp paste as "hidden spices".

Matsuya is committed to sourcing its ingredients right in Vietnam. Matsuya's chain of stores in Ho Chi Minh City uses white wine for its beef stew sauce purchased in Da Lat, rice sourced from the Mekong Delta, and most of its vegetables and fruits are also sourced in Vietnam.

From Matsuya's success with more than 1,000 beef rice shops across Japan, and its presence in markets such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, Mr. Arakawa said that the number of restaurant chains in Vietnam is still very small, especially chains specializing in traditional dishes such as broken rice, pho... are even rarer.

Assessing that these dishes already have delicious flavors and a streamlined format suitable for the fast food chain model, Mr. Arakawa added that with additional investment capital, product development capabilities and operational capacity, the picture of domestic F&B chains in Vietnam will quickly change.

Many favorable factors to promote exports

Mr. Ta Duc Minh said that with more than 126 million people, Japan is a market with large import and consumption demand. "With the increasing awareness of Vietnamese goods among Japanese people, Vietnam has many favorable factors to continue promoting exports to this country," Mr. Minh affirmed.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan, in the first six months of 2025, the total import-export turnover between Vietnam and Japan reached nearly 24.4 billion USD, an increase of 9.93% over the same period in 2024. Of which, exports of goods from Vietnam to Japan reached 12.81 billion USD, an increase of 11.79% over the same period in 2024.

NGHI VU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/pho-com-tam-vao-chuoi-fast-food-20250909224754923.htm