Hearty 6-dish Hue meal for less than $2 surprises diners

The meal was captured by Doan Xuan Son from Da Nang, who visited Hue and stopped for lunch at Tiem Com A Lu at 157 Tran Phu Street.

“A VND50,000 meal with six dishes in Hue at this time is a great deal,” Son wrote when posting the photo showing a generous meal with rice, vegetable soup, braised pork with lemongrass, braised fish, stir-fried king oyster mushrooms, fried egg, and a fig side dish.

“The restaurant notes it is for one person, but if two people eat it and each normally has two bowls of rice, it is still enough.”

Rice was enough for four small bowls, and the amount of food was suitable for two people with average appetites.

“At first I saw on the menu that a meal for one person costs VND50,000, and a meal for two to three people is priced higher,” Son recalled.

“I chose the one-person meal and when it was brought out, I thought maybe they would charge more for this amount of food,” he added. “But it was still the listed price of VND50,000.”

Surprised, he shared the photo capturing the meal online to introduce an affordable place during a time of soaring prices.

With experience eating in many places, Son said Hue has many restaurants with very reasonable prices.

He also noted that a few days earlier he had eaten a similar meal in another province and it cost VND120,000 ($4.55).

Son’s post quickly drew comments, with most people expressing skepticism.

However, Hue residents flocked to confirm this is completely normal, as the city has long been known for its tasty, inexpensive, good quality eateries.

The owner of Tiem Com A Lu also confirmed the meal in the photo is from her restaurant and costs VND50,000.

Most customers to the place are students and laborers, with occasional tourists.

“At this price we make only a small profit, but since opening we have kept it this way,” she said.

“During the flood season we reduce the number of dish choices, but the price stays the same."