Drop a beat when you eat in Ho Chi Minh City

Once known as the Pearl of the Far East, Ho Chi Minh City — Sai­gon — is a bust­ling met­ro­pol­is. With its crazy traffic and dizzy­ing energy, the eco­nom­ic heart of Viet­nam is a place like no other. 

If I had to describe in three words the city that raised me, one would be ‘food’. With humble street stalls, fine din­ing, and everything in between, there is some­thing for all tastes and budgets. From com­fort­ing loc­al favour­ites Phở, Bún Bò Huế, and Bánh mì in the alleys, to refined Japan­ese, French, and more in fancy res­taur­ants, Sai­gon’s food scene is what my heart aches for the most when I leave home.

The inside track

Nguyễn Thị Thu Thảo is a team mem­ber at the Asso­ci­ation of South­east Asi­an Social Enter­prises for Train­ing in Hos­pit­al­ity & Cater­ing (ASSET‑H&C), a net­work of voca­tion­al train­ing centres that pro­mote the inclu­sion of vul­ner­able people in South­east Asia.

My oth­er two words would be ‘effer­ves­cent’ and ‘noisy’. Most people liv­ing in vibrant Sai­gon will tell you that ‘quiet’ is a luxury. 

A sanc­tu­ary to escape the tur­moil of mod­ern life, Mai Sen Bis­tro offers great Viet­namese and European food at a reas­on­able price. Food is pre­pared and served by train­ees of An Rê Mai Sen Hos­pit­al­ity Train­ing Cen­ter, a non-profit voca­tion­al school sup­port­ing young adults with edu­ca­tion and pro­fes­sion­al integ­ra­tion in the hos­pit­al­ity sec­tor. An Rê Mai Sen is an ASSET‑H&C member.

For me, one of the restaurant’s greatest assets is its invit­ing court­yard where cus­tom­ers can sit under the trees, just a few metres away from the hustle and bustle of Binh Thanh Dis­trict. I like to be there in the late after­noon to enjoy the last rays of the day while observing the front-of-house team pre­pare for the din­ner rush.

Over recur­ring vis­its, I have learned about their inspir­ing story. An Rê Mai Sen’s idea ger­min­ated in the mind of Mr Nguy­en Van Hoi, aka Fran­cis. In 1976, Fran­cis was forced into exile. Upon obtain­ing asylum in Ger­many, he under­took a voca­tion­al train­ing pro­gram that helped him build a new life and career there. 

Upon return­ing to his home­land, Fran­cis sought the sup­port of the Salesians of Don Bosco to real­ise his pro­ject. In 2014, they estab­lished a train­ing centre inspired by the voca­tion­al train­ing sys­tem that Fran­cis exper­i­enced in Ger­many. For this reas­on, there is a Ger­man influ­ence on the menu. Their schnitzel (pork escal­opes), spätzle (Ger­man-style pasta), and käsespätzle (cheese spätzle) are among the best in town. 

Per­son­ally, I love their duck spring rolls. 

I also like the place for its attent­ive ser­vice and relaxed atmo­sphere. On the one hand, cus­tom­ers are aware that the res­taur­ant is a learn­ing envir­on­ment for young people, so they tend to be patient and sym­path­et­ic towards the train­ees. On the oth­er hand, even if mis­takes hap­pen, the train­ees are clearly mak­ing the effort to give cus­tom­ers a great exper­i­ence. And this really cre­ates a nice and friendly vibe.

From time-to-time, second-year and first-year stu­dents team up to serve guests. Inter­est­ingly, it is very easy to guess which train­ee has just joined the pro­gram as the level of con­fid­ence dif­fers greatly between the less and more exper­i­enced train­ees. Stu­dents who have been around for a while are not only more com­fort­able with guests, but they are also empowered by the respons­ib­il­ity of ment­or­ing new­comers. I think it is the best demon­stra­tion of the training’s pos­it­ive influ­ence on under­priv­ileged youth.

By recog­nising train­ees’ per­form­ances and provid­ing con­struct­ive feed­back, guests can be a part of this jour­ney of empower­ment too. This makes the exper­i­ence at Mai Sen Bis­tro par­tic­u­larly excit­ing and meaningful.

Where is this?

An Rê Mai Sen Hos­pit­al­ity Train­ing Cen­ter
56 Nguy­en Van Lac, Ward 19, Binh Thanh Dis­trict
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet­nam
Tel: +84 283 840 5043 | E‑mail: [email protected]

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