‘Building trade brand imbued with local cultural significance’ is the motto to which Mr Nguyen Tan Vu, the Director of Amomi JSC, the owner of Xeo Fry and Grill restaurant chain, is paying a special heed. At these restaurants, every dish offered to their customers has an impressive story behind it, and highlights cultural characteristics.

Vu (left) talking to Thomas Gugler, the President of the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) at a Xeo Fry and Grill restaurant on the occasion of the Da Nang International Food Festival 2019, which took place in June

As a frequent traveller, Vu has a great passion for cuisine. He usually spends a lot of time learning about cuisine and how to do business with traditional dishes. He realised the fact that the cuisine of Central Viet Nam, and the whole country at large, is very rich, unique and deeply imbued with regional cultural values.

However, rustic traditional Vietnamese dishes have yet to be promoted in proper manner. In the past, ‘Banh xeo’ (Vietnamese sizzling pancakes with shrimp and pork filling), for example, has been sold in small or sidewalk eateries.

Therefore, Vu decided to make this speciality one of the top choices on menu offered by finely decorated restaurants with neatly arranged tables and chairs so that customers can experience the dish in a spacious and comfortable space.

The Vietnamese pancake is made of rice flour, water, and turmeric powder, then stuffed with pork, shrimp, diced green onion, mung bean, and bean sprouts.The word ‘xeo’ depicts the sizzling sound when pouring the rice batter into the hot skillet.

Though some people might prefer to use chopsticks to directly eat this dish, the best way to enjoy it is eating with your hands. First, take a piece of ‘banh xeo’ and put it on the rice paper. Add fresh vegetables that are always served with the dish (there’re a lot of vegetables to choose, but lettuce, Vietnamese perilla, basil and bean sprouts are the most common) and roll them tightly. With each bite, don’t forget to dip the roll into the sauce.

Vu said, when choosing to build Xeo Fry and Grill brand, what he wants most is to bring comfortable dining experience for his customers in enjoying local cuisine. 

Xeo Fry and Grill offers various irresistibly delicious types of ‘banh xeo’. Each region across this S-shaped country has its own unique ingredients and flavours to make ‘banh xeo’ become one of its specialities. In Southern Viet Nam, ‘banh xeo’ is in the size of a large dish and its outer layer is also yellow, whilst in Central Viet Nam, the dish is white in colour and much smaller. 

Another factor to which Xeo Fry and Grill has special heed is how to ensure its staff members’ enthusiastic attitude and friendly behaviour towards its customers.

In addition to offering a wide range of traditional delicacies imbued with the local culture, the space at the Xeo Fry and Grill restaurants is impressively designed. Their decorations catch customers’ attention with old-fashioned wooden tables and chairs, folk painting meticulously arranged in an artistic way on the wall, and handmade food serving trays made of bamboo.

“Instead of following the modern style, why don't we introduce customers to craft products made by dexterous, skillful and creative Vietnamese people? This is also an implicit way to advertise the distinctive Vietnamese culture”, said Vu. 

In the coming time, Vu  intends to decorate dishes with impressive miniatures typical of their origins.