Impressions of Huong Son Restaurant

(Baonghean) - Huong Son Restaurant, located at 69 Children's Park, Thu Thuy Ward, Cua Lo Town, owned by Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong and Mr. Duong Cong Son, is one of six restaurants recognized by the Cua Lo Town People's Committee as a "Civilized Restaurant" in 2013. At Huong Son Restaurant, visitors can enjoy dishes made from fresh seafood with a diverse menu to choose from.

To prepare for the 2014 tourist season, Huong Son Restaurant in Thu Thuy Ward has upgraded, expanded, renovated its roof, and installed air conditioning in the dining area… Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong excitedly shared: When deciding to switch to the restaurant business, she and her husband determined that to compete fairly, there was no other way than to build a brand, and the restaurant's brand could only be based on its service attitude, fresh and delicious food, and reasonable prices. Thanks to this, many tourists who have enjoyed the dishes at Huong Son Restaurant have recommended it to their friends whenever they visit Cua Lo beach.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, owner of Huong Son restaurant, introduces seafood specialties.

As the number of customers increased, the couple decided to expand, hiring trained staff, even though the wages were one and a half times higher than those of untrained workers (on average, trained workers earn 5 million VND/month, untrained workers earn 3 million VND/month, and the head chef earns 10 million VND/month). During peak season, Huong Son restaurant provides employment for more than 30 workers, mainly students from the Nghe An College of Commerce and Tourism. Mr. Son, the restaurant owner, believes: "The most important thing for a business owner is building a brand and creating trust with tourists. No advertising or promotion is as effective as the satisfaction of the tourists themselves."

In fact, visitors to Cua Lo are not only from Nghe An, but also from many other places such as Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Lang Son, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang… and even foreign tourists. And since they are all guests, the service attitude must be the same: always cheerful and welcoming.” The secret to Huong Son restaurant attracting so many tourists is its diverse menu. Besides dishes like steamed shrimp, sticky rice with squid, steamed crab, grilled shrimp, and clam porridge, the restaurant can also prepare seven different dishes from the sea snake, such as crispy fried skin, stuffed skin, crispy fried bones, stir-fried mixed offal… each with its own unique flavor. Especially, the restaurant has two dishes that, after just one taste, visitors will remember forever: baby squid and sea snake...

The restaurant's seafood dishes

Recognizing that proper preservation and processing of fresh seafood is the most important factor determining business success, after opening their restaurant, Ms. Huong and her husband invested in building tanks to store fresh seafood instead of using refrigerators. According to her husband: "We're fishermen; there's a fish market every morning, and the boats come in daily, so why bother with refrigeration? It reduces the freshness and flavor of the product, and if left for too long, it loses nutrients and doesn't guarantee food safety." Once they've selected fresh, high-quality seafood, the cooking process is equally crucial.

To ensure food safety and hygiene, all kitchen utensils are neatly arranged. The area for preparing raw food is completely separate from the area for preparing cooked food. Kitchen staff all wear full uniforms, aprons, masks, and gloves. Mr. Son believes that building a brand is difficult, but maintaining the brand of a civilized restaurant is even more challenging. Therefore, ensuring food safety for tourists is a constant concern for us. Because only by ensuring fresh ingredients and hygienic preparation will tourists choose to come to us.

To prepare for the 2014 tourist season, Huong Son restaurant has invested 500 million VND in upgrading and renovating several facilities, aiming for a revenue of 2 billion VND during this tourist season. Mr. Duong Cong Son's aspiration is to be able to serve tourists year-round, not just during the current one season.

Thanh Thủy - Thu Hương