What's special about the only broken rice restaurant named by Michelin for 3 consecutive years?

Ba Ghien has just become the only broken rice restaurant in Vietnam to be honored by Michelin Guide three times in a row.

What makes Ba Ghien broken rice dish so attractive that it conquers Michelin Guide judges, to be honored in the Bib Gourmand category (delicious restaurant, affordable price)?

Michelin halo

There is one thing that people often mention when talking about Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City cuisine , roughly "not having eaten broken rice is like not having been to Saigon". Indeed! You don't need to be too surprised to see that in Ho Chi Minh City, someone can eat broken rice for breakfast, lunch, afternoon, and dinner, whether at a sidewalk restaurant, a popular restaurant that costs a few tens of thousands of VND per portion or at large, luxurious restaurants that sell a plate of broken rice for hundreds of thousands of VND.

Ba Ghien broken rice is the only broken rice restaurant in Vietnam to be named by Michelin Guide for 3 consecutive years.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

It is difficult to count how many broken rice restaurants are present in this city, but when mentioning broken rice in Saigon, many people immediately think of Ba Ghien, a restaurant located on Dang Van Ngu Street (Phu Nhuan District). The restaurant is known for its "huge" ribs in the rice dish, as some diners jokingly say.

Already very famous, the name of this restaurant has become even more famous in the past 3 years when it was "caught the eye" of Michelin Guide. It can be said that currently, the name Ba Ghien is the most noticed in the broken rice village in Saigon.

The restaurant owner himself had to admit that the Michelin halo "covered" the Ba Ghien broken rice dish, making the already crowded restaurant even more prosperous. Not only locals, guests from all over Vietnam but also many diners from all over the world come here to try the broken rice dish.

"Thanks to Michelin, the restaurant has increased its customer base by 20-30%, many of whom are overseas Vietnamese and foreign tourists to Vietnam. Especially the 300,000 VND broken rice dish, after a famous foreigner ordered the dish and shared a clip of the meal on social media, many people also came to buy and try this dish," said Mr. Truong Vinh Thuy (42 years old), representative of Ba Ghien broken rice restaurant.

Flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang to attend the Michelin Guide 2025 announcement ceremony, Mr. Vinh Thuy said that being honored for the third consecutive time, he felt extremely happy and joyful. Michelin's recognition is the motivation for him and his family to continue to serve their diners better.

"Pure" Saigon flavor

The person behind Ba Ghien broken rice is Mrs. Nguyen Ngoc Diep (66 years old), Vinh Thuy's mother. Not everyone knows that she and her husband used to be factory workers and their family was not very well off. To have money to raise 2 children, she decided to do a "side job" selling broken rice in the afternoon.

So the unnamed sidewalk restaurant opened in 1995. But the owner never expected the restaurant to be as famous as it is today. "As the days went by, more and more customers came to eat, so I quit my job as a worker and decided to sell broken rice. Thanks to the customers' support, business has become more and more favorable, and I have been selling it for nearly 30 years now," the owner recalled.

Many people mistakenly think that Ba Ghien in the name of the broken rice restaurant refers to the deliciousness of the dish that makes customers "addicted", but the restaurant owner "reveals" that this is not the case. The restaurant's name is actually the common name of Vinh Thuy's grandfather. However, no matter how customers understand it, it is still an interesting thing for the restaurant owner and her son.

Mrs. Diep has been selling broken rice since 1995.

PHOTO: TL

The full Ba Ghien rice dish has 7 different ingredients. The owner said that with this mixed dish, 2 people need to eat it all. All the dishes that come with the rice dish here are attractive, such as fried eggs, large Western-style sausages, meatballs with vermicelli, pork skin, and sausages... cooked in the "pure" Southern style that the owner is very proud of. The indispensable side dishes are pickles, scallion oil, and fish sauce, creating a delicious overall rice dish.

But what has kept many generations of diners coming back is the charcoal-grilled ribs with the "Ba Ghien" label that made the restaurant famous. One is the special soft and fragrant ribs, so big that they can fill a plate of rice. Two, many people often tell each other about the fascinating taste of this rib: "Ba Ghien grilled ribs, eat and you will be addicted".

Mr. Vinh Thuy said: "Back then, my family sold normal ribs, not big. However, when I ate a big piece of ribs, which was delicious and moist, I asked my mother to sell me a bigger piece of ribs because it was delicious and created a special feature for the restaurant. My mother also indulged me." So the Ba Ghien ribs kept getting bigger and bigger.

Diners are fascinated by the diverse rice dishes at the restaurant.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

According to the owner, the secret is not necessarily in the way the ribs are marinated at the restaurant because the marinade is not too special. However, the special thing here is the quality of the ribs, the marinating time is adjusted appropriately so that the meat absorbs the spices as well as the "standard" charcoal heat to grill delicious ribs.

Origin of Saigon broken rice

Many people tell each other that the origin of broken rice comes from poor laborers, because this was the daily dish of the poor rice porters in Saigon during the French colonial period.

During this period, the Binh Dong rice mill on the banks of Tau Hu Canal near Cho Lon, now in District 6 (HCMC), was always bustling with boats and docks. This was the place to receive rice transported from all over the Western provinces. After each day of hard work and heavy lifting, the rice porters swept up the broken rice grains scattered around the milling machine and on the factory floor to cook and eat.

At first, broken rice was only served with fish sauce, scallion oil, or gradually had egg rolls and shredded pork skin added because it was only sold to the poor. Later, many wealthy families also became addicted to this popular rice dish with scallion oil, so they added grilled ribs and many other attractive ingredients.

Mother's fortune

Raina Huang, an American food blogger with nearly 4 million followers on social media, also stopped by Ba Ghien broken rice restaurant to enjoy it during her visit to Ho Chi Minh City. Instead of ordering a regular portion of rice, she bought a plate of rice for 300,000 VND.

The girl could not hide her excitement when she saw the Ba Ghien broken rice dish. "The ribs are very beautiful, incredibly big and really fragrant and delicious. 10 points. Normally, I don't like fish sauce, but here it's really quite delicious. The presentation is so attractive," the American girl added.

Currently, each portion of rib rice at the restaurant costs 85,000 VND/plate. The mixed portion costs 150,000 VND. Some customers, especially foreign customers, prefer the 300,000 VND rice plate (2 mixed plates).

The restaurant is always crowded with customers.

PHOTO: CAO AN BIEN

Mr. Chi Thien, the owner of a famous broken rice restaurant in District 8 (HCMC), said that he likes to eat broken rice at other restaurants, including Ba Ghien. For the owner, enjoying broken rice here is not only to experience and satisfy his love for cuisine, but also to learn many things about seasoning and seasoning, which helps his business and serving customers.

At this time, the restaurant is still crowded with customers during rush hour, filling up all the tables. For Vinh Thuy, he considers the restaurant his mother's legacy, a childhood memory of when he was only 14 years old and helped his mother sell. Mrs. Diep still goes to the restaurant every day, happily watching her son inherit the business she built during her youth.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quan-com-tam-duy-nhat-3-nam-lien-duoc-michelin-goi-ten-co-gi-dac-biet-185250606175311733.htm