Located in 54 Nguyen Phong Sac Street, Cam Le District, Da Nang, the vegetarian eatery is offering free meals to poor labourers. It is also a gathering place for volunteers who gladly give their time and efforts to help the poor as a way to give back to the community.

The charity vegetarian eatery is always crowded with poor labourers. Photo: HUYNH LE

The vegetarian eatery which is run by Mr. Dang Quoc Thinh has been open for nearly 2 month, and it is always crowded . Covering an area of 50 square metres, the eatery offers more than 10 hot vegetarian dishes that are prepared and served by volunteers. The eatery is open Monday through Friday. On weekends, it offers free meals to poor patients who are under treatment at local hospitals or receives vegetables and food from generous donors. Every day, 5 to 7 volunteers are willing to dedicate their time to help the eatery prepare and serve free meals for those in need, and get involved in cleanup operations afterwards in order to keep this venue clean and safe.

“Despite being a charity eatery, I set a high standard for my eatery’s food quality in order to ensure that the food is delicious and safe to eat. Anyone who likes vegetarian food are welcome. Hopefully, I will continue to receive contributions and support from philanthropist in order to enable long-term operation in my charity eatery to make it become a popular venue for poor labourers ", Thinh said.

Going to Da Nang to sell lottery tickets for more than 10 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mot, a resident ofTra Bong District, Quang Ngai Province said that she had received free meals from many places across the city but it is the first time she has knew this vegetarian restaurant.

She shared: “I myself have diabetes and high blood pressure, so I often visit this vegetarian eatery to enjoy delicious dishes after knowing this venue near my lottery ticket area. I usually go to this eatery to help its staff arrange tables and chairs, as well as wash dishes by hand after selling out lottery tickets in order to express my thankfulness to benevolent hearts."

The vegetarian eatery daily offers 200 to 300 free meals to poor labourers. Innitally, this venue mainly served boiled, fried, mixed, and soup dishes, then added tasty vegetable side dishes to its menu in an attempt to bring poor labourers even more choices to enjoy healthy and delicious meals.

According to Mr. Thinh, his eatery has received glutinous rice, vegetables, spices, tissues, garbage bags, and more from kind-hearted people to support its operation, thereby motivating him and volunteers to make greater efforts to maintain the operation of this charity eatery, as well as improve its service quality.

Reporting by HUYNH LE – Translating by H.L