Experience buying donuts "get a number"

It is not difficult to find the alley 242 Lac Long Quan street (Tay Ho district, Hanoi ), the unsigned donut shop of Ms. Mai Hoa's family is always crowded with customers lining up to get donuts, whether it is winter or summer.

Although located in an alley, the shop is quite crowded. The owner will give out a ticket with a number for customers to line up, avoiding the situation of "the first comer has to wait with the next comer". When the owner calls out the number, it is the turn to get the cake.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa (owner of the salty fried cake shop - 50 years old), the shop has been in business for more than 30 years, since my mother's time and has only 2 types: sweet fried cakes and salty fried cakes. Although the shop has no signboard or advertising, it has always been crowded with customers for decades. The important thing that keeps customers coming back is the hot salty fried cakes, crispy on the outside, fragrant and delicious on the inside, served with papaya salad and the shop's special sweet, sour, spicy and salty chili sauce.

The golden, rich donuts attract many diners.

"To make a savory donut, you have to go through many meticulous steps, of which the three main steps are: making the filling, wrapping the donut in a layer of dough, then frying it several times in cooking oil until it is cooked evenly and ensures the crust is crispy and drains the oil. The filling is filled with vermicelli, lean meat that is not minced but left in thin pieces, wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms... Especially, the donuts here are not served with sweet and sour fish sauce like many places, but the shop pours a "divine" dipping sauce on each bowl of donuts," Ms. Mai Hoa added.

The cake making and processing corner allows customers to observe many stages. To serve dozens of customers in line, the restaurant has 5-6 people working non-stop. Some people quickly shape the cakes, some quickly fry them, some cut them, pack them...

Diners enjoy hot, crispy cakes, blowing on them as they eat.

Coming here for an afternoon snack, Ms. Quynh Trang (Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi) said: "This has been my favorite fried cake shop for nearly ten years now. The difference here compared to other shops is that the sauce is poured right on the cake and especially the cakes here are very big and the filling is very full, just eating two is enough to fill the afternoon."

Mr. Nguyen Hoang (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) shared: "The flavor of the cakes here is very delicious and rich. Although sometimes during rush hour, I have to take a number and wait in line for 15 to 30 minutes, but I find this a very unique and interesting feature of the shop."

Customers here are of all ages from the elderly to children, but mostly young people. They consider this as an afternoon snack. The shop is open from 10am to 7pm. The cakes are delicious and the prices are reasonable. Only 10,000 VND for a salty donut and 8,000 VND for a sweet donut.

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