(VOVworld) – On the first Friday of each month, a spicy beef soup eatery in Hanoi sells 1,500 bowls of soup to poor workers for less than 23 cents per bowl. The shop’s owner says this is a way of showing his sympathy for disadvantaged people.

Customers have to pay only 1,000 VND or 23 cents for a bowl of spicy beef soup while in fact such a bowl costs 35,000 VND. (Photo: cand.com.vn)

“It is less than 23 cents for a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup? How can we afford such a bowl of soup when everything else is so expensive? Can it be healthy? I feel suspicious about this.”

That’s the opinion of several workers about a bowl of noodle soup costing less than 23 cents. That’s barely enough to buy a small amount of noodles, not to mention the meat needed to make the dish.

But it’s true! The charity program “Friday for sharing” was started by Chau Ngoc Diep, a researcher at the Vietnam Science and Technology Academy.

Chau Ngoc Diep, the shop’s owner, is always friendly to his customers. (Photo: cand.com.vn)

Inspired by the hard lives of street vendors and construction workers he meets every day, Diep and his family members opened an eatery in O Cho Dua Street in Hanoi.

On the first Friday of every month Diep sells 150 bowls of noodles at less than 23 cents each to low-income workers.

“I think I spend two days’ profit each month doing charity work. The money is equivalent to a worker’s salary. The program is held once a month and I think I’ll keep doing it for a long but indefinite time,” according to Diep.

Diep invites the workers he meets every day to drop in to his shop on Friday, saying that “I hand out leaflets to low-income workers persuading them to try my eatery. On the first day, it took until 6 p.m. to sell all 1,500 bowls. On the second day, the shop closed at noon.”

Dang Thi Hoa of Quang Xuong district in Thanh Hoa province seems in a hurry. She says she wants to quickly sell all her products so she can go get a 23-cent bowl of spicy beef noodle soup.

Hoa said her “friends have been telling me about this eatery. Today I’ll try it. There are many customers, mainly street vendors. You know you can buy hardly anything for 23 cents. I’d like to thank the shop’s owner for supporting people like me.”

A worker enjoys the soup at the eatery named “O Chanh”. (Photo: cand.com.vn)

Dinh Van Tho, a construction worker from Dong Da district in Hanoi, said: “I already tried it one Friday noon. The soup is delicious and plentiful. This is the first time I’ve ever eaten a lunch for such a low price.”

It costs 23 cents a bowl instead of being free of charge because Diep says he wants to share the hardship of the workers.

Tran Thi Hanh, a resident of O Cho Dua ward in Dong Da district, elaborated: “it’s very crowded on the first Friday of each month with low-income people taking advantage of the program. I hope there will be more programs like this in our community to help disadvantaged people.”