Four decades of mornings

The story of a small bánh cuốn stall and its elderly vendor — in the heart of chợ Bàn Cờ.

The 1980s

The stall begins

The vendor set up her bánh cuốn stall inside chợ Bàn Cờ, steaming rolls over a charcoal-fired pot.

Every morning

Hand-steamed, batch by batch

Nothing is made ahead: each order is steamed to order. Thin, translucent, piping-hot rolls.

To this day

The morning market still crowds in

Forty years on, the stall still sells mornings only — Saigon locals stop by whenever they're at chợ Bàn Cờ.

The rolls must be hand-steamed, the fish sauce must be sweet-sour — that's how chợ Bàn Cờ eats bánh cuốn.— the vendor's own words

Photos: pending the stall's photo pass (10/2026).