Ba Ghien Broken Rice is located on Dang Van Ngu Street, Phu Nhuan District, is the only broken rice shop in Vietnam to be listed by Michelin as a Bib Gourmand (delicious, affordable restaurant) for two consecutive years 2023-2024.
The culinary guide introduces this as a family rice parlor opened in 1995. The restaurant is famous with locals for its charcoal-grilled rib rice, large pieces of sliced pork ribs, marinated according to heirloom recipes and unique flavors. The second-generation owner Truong Vinh Thuy said that the recipe for the family's broken rice has been kept the same since the first days of opening until now.
The restaurant uses pork cutlets (the meat close to the ribs) for the broken rice. The meat is imported every day, customers call to grill there. The barbecue in front of the restaurant (pictured) is always working at full capacity. The difference of the restaurant lies in the grilled cutlets. The average pork cutlet is 400-600 g, covering most of the plate of broken rice.
"You must choose large, thick cutlets so that when grilling the meat shrinks without drying out", The owner said that the meat is hand-sliced and marinated for 4-6 hours to absorb the spices before grilling.
With the main ingredient being grilled cutlets, the broken rice shop divides the menu into 6 dishes for guests to choose from. Other side dishes include omelets, wrappers, egg rolls, sausages and grilled chicken thighs. The lowest priced portion is rib rice at 75,000 VND, a mixed plate at 145,000 VND. Rice with pork ribs and pork ribs are the two most expensive dishes at the restaurant, often chosen by Vietnamese customers. Foreigners often order the mixed dish to enjoy all the flavors in the dish.
Two Australian tourists Norm and Diana came to Vietnam for the first time to travel, searched online for delicious broken rice restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and chose Ba Gien because it is named in the Michelin Guide. Norm said he knew about broken rice because he lived near the Vietnamese quarter in Australia, where there are many broken rice and pho shops.
Arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, the two tried to eat local broken rice and ordered a mixed plate with pork ribs, egg rolls, omelette, wrappers, sausages. They commented that the meal here was large, the two of them shared and ate almost all the rice.
The restaurant has two spaces next to each other for guests to sit down to eat (photo), with a capacity of about 100 guests at the same time. Peak hours are usually from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., often without empty tables.
According to VnE