In alley 62/3 Ton That Thiep, District 1, a shop hangs a yellow sign with red letters: 'Hu Tieu Muc Ong Gia — chinh goc' — the original. A narrow front, a half-open green shutter, bamboo tables and stools inside: the familiar look of a good Saigon alley eatery.
The house menu is as plain as the old man: squid, shrimp, clam and rib hu tieu all 55k; six combos — squid-clam, squid-shrimp, squid-rib, shrimp-clam, shrimp-rib, clam-rib — 70k; mixed 90k; dried squid 35k. Add-ons run from salad to meatballs, quail eggs and extra noodles — drinks from a 25k Tiger to 2k iced tea.
In the evening, yellow lanterns hang by the door and the sign glows in the alley — the shop stays what it is: the neighborhood's place, morning to night. Nothing staged, nothing rushed: exactly what an old man's shop should be.