Vegetarian dishes offered by Nhat Tam restaurant.

Every day at 6 a.m. volunteers gather at Nhat Tam restaurant. Each is put in charge of one job - washing the vegetables, cutting up the vegetables, or cooking the vegetables.

At 10 o'clock the restaurant begins to serve people hot, delicious food. The menu includes a variety of vegetable and tofu dishes and vegetarian fried spring rolls. All the dishes are vegetarian and very filling.

“I’m 80 years old this year and learned about the restaurant through Facebook. It’s admirable that Ngoc, though young, does such good work. I come here because of her kind heart,” a customer said.

“The food here is so good and tasty that everyone likes it. Vegetarian food is good for your health. I’m happy to come here,” another customer commented.

Most of the customers are poor. Some are motorbike taxi drivers. Others are security guards or scrap collectors who earn very little money. A free lunch makes them happy.

Tran Van Binh of Ha Nam province says he had never imagined the food would be so delicious.

“I see that everybody who works here is happy and I want to thank them for serving me such tasty meals. They refused my money, saying my coming here to eat was all the payment they wanted. The pandemic has put everyone in financial difficulty, but the food here is always fresh and hygienic. Eating vegetarian food helps me stay calm,” said Binh. 

The restaurant is open Monday through Friday. About 10 volunteers, mostly Ngoc’s relatives or neighbors, work here everyday.

Nguyen Khac Trung, the owner of a vegetarian food factory, said that when he learned that Nhat Tam gives poor people free meals, he and his wife decided to donate free vegetarian food, and directly be involved in serving there.

“First, the restaurant provides free meals. Second, it’s creating more vegetarians. I’ll continue to support the restaurant and persuade my friends, who are also vegetarian food producers, to join the effort. I hope to expand the model. We’re young so we can help lots of people,” said Trung.

Ms. Tran Cam Tuyet talks with an old customer about the food.

Opening a free vegetarian restaurant was Tran Cam Tuyet's dream for more than 10 years. Now it’s become a reality with the help of her daughter Hoang Kim Ngoc. Tuyet wants her cozy restaurant to become a common house where everyone can gather at lunchtime.

She told VOV, “Everyone says they feel happy when they come here. I want this place to be more like a dining room in their home than a canteen or restaurant. I hope to keep the restaurant going forever with or without sponsors. We’re getting more people to eat healthy vegetarian food.”