Enjoying tea on electric poles, the “underworld” tea shop is still crowded with customers after 80 years

1 Introducing the electric pole tea shop

Address: 476 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ward 14, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City

Operating hours: 17:00 – 22:30

In Saigon, in Cho Lon area (District 5) there are many Chinese communities living. They have established their careers here for a long time, bringing with them their famous culinary values ​​to contribute to the diversity of Saigon cuisine. Coming here, you will enjoy many attractive dishes with rich and unique flavors. Among them, Chinese sweet soup is one of the delicious dishes that you should not miss.

Located at 450 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 14, District 5 is a Chinese electric tea shop that has existed for more than 80 years, through 4 generations of owners. Beautiful little shop, located in the middle of a crowded street. People here are still used to calling that tea shop “electric pole” tea or “underworld” tea. The shop is open from 5 pm to 11 pm. At night, it becomes more crowded, especially attracting tourists when traveling to Saigon.

2 Explanation of the unique names of tea shops

According to Vietnamtravelio’s research, this Chinese tea shop has many names, the official name given by the owner is Chau Giang. Other names such as electric pole tea or light house tea are because the shop is located right under electric poles and transformer stations. Therefore, regular customers kept mentioning this feature, gradually forming that rustic name. As for “underworld” tea or ghost tea, only older people know much about it. Because in the past, shops had to sell secretly, only late at night would they light the oil lamps and bring out the goods for sale. That’s why people call it that to suit the situation.

3 A burden of tea and a time of wandering

Speaking of electric pole tea, the shop has been around for nearly 80 years with many ups and downs. The current owner of the tea shop is Ms. Ly Thanh Ha, 40 years old, the fourth generation to continue the family’s tradition of selling tea. According to her story, this tea shop originated from her great-grandfather Phung Hanh Phan. He was from Guangdong (China), because his whole family died in the war, so he was the only one who survived and fled to Vietnam.

While fighting the enemy, his great-grandfather adopted a little girl named Ly Ai Quynh, who was also the great-grandmother of Mrs. Ly Thanh Ha. The great-grandfather and his mother first lived in the North and then moved to the South to make a living. Back then, life was extremely miserable. Before opening the tea shop, the great-grandfather and his mother had to survive begging for food and sleeping on the streets. After that, he gathered money to open a tea shop and his life got better.

According to Mrs. Ha, at first Mrs. Phan only cooked a pot of green bean sweet soup according to the recipe taught by her late mother. The old lady sat at the corner of Tong Doc Phuong (now Chau Van Liem – Nguyen Trai intersection) with a few small chairs for guests to eat. Unexpectedly, her roadside green bean sweet soup is loved by many people, with more and more customers coming to eat.

After a period of selling on the street, Mrs. Phan saved enough money to buy a small cart, from which her tea shop gradually became more known. At that time, the tea cart did not have an official name, so customers often called it “Mrs. Hoa’s tea.”

Not long after, the French colonialists carried out a harsh campaign to crack down on street vendors. Therefore, Ms. Phan had to hide her tea cart in the small yard in front of the nearby transformer station, hoping not to be discovered. Every evening, she continues to sell tea under the weak light of a small oil lamp. In addition, she also added a few chairs for guests to sit and enjoy. Over the past several decades, the taste of tea has remained the same, unchanged.

For Chinese people living in Cho Lon area, electric tea poles are extremely familiar. People say this is one of the most authentic sweet soup shops, it has not changed for decades. According to Mrs. Ha, the owner of the shop, since she was a child, she often helped her mother sell sweet soup, and she taught her how to choose ingredients as well as the process of making sweet soup. Those things left a deep impression on her heart.

From traditional sweet soup dishes, Ms. Ha also creates many new recipes, helping to enrich the restaurant’s menu, while also creating special flavors. The family secrets passed down from her mother are still carefully preserved and she is determined not to pass them on to anyone outside her family, despite many attractive invitations. That’s also the reason why even though it’s famous, the electric pole tea shop is still as popular as it is, without branches, without transfer, and without expanding its premises.

4The attraction of the underworld tea shop

4.1 Flavor of sweet soup dishes

The sweet soup at the shop is extremely diverse with many types such as Cao Quy Linh, Hoai Son, Ginkgo seeds, Bo bo, lotus root, longan, tofu, quail eggs… These dishes can make first-time visitors feel impressed. feel confused. However, the shop’s most special sweet soup is probably the water chestnut and chicken seed sweet soup. With simple ingredients including water chestnut powder and raw chicken seeds mixed together, this dessert is not only cool and nutritious but also cooling, very suitable for hot days.

The special thing about electric tea dishes is the accuracy in estimating the amount of powder and how to stir the tea. If you don’t stir well, the eggs will cook but the yolk will not be able to blend with the water chestnut powder, causing the flavor to not be as expected. Therefore, this dessert must be eaten while it is still hot to fully enjoy the flavor.

In addition, diners can also try chicken seed tea – a dish stewed in tea water with boiled eggs. When stewing, the tea water penetrates the eggs, causing the eggs to no longer have a fishy smell but instead have the greasy taste of the egg white and the gentle aroma of tea. This is the ideal dessert for hot summer afternoons, helping to quench thirst very effectively.

On social networking sites, there are many people reviewing electric pole tea shops. Therefore, there are quite a number of customers who come to enjoy the restaurant because they are curious about the restaurant. But after that, thanks to the quality tea flavor and affordable price, the shop easily scored points. On Google Maps, Chau Giang tea shop is currently receiving nearly 900 reviews with 4.2/5 stars. This is an extremely high score compared to a popular snack shop like this.

4.2 The friendliness and closeness of the shop owner

Many customers who come to electric pole tea say they not only love the tea because of the traditional flavor but also because of the friendliness and humor of the hostess. The sweet soup shop creates a cozy space where guests can come inside, choose each sweet soup they like, let the hostess scoop it into a bowl and then comfortably enjoy each spoonful of cool sweet soup. Each cup of sweet soup ranges from 12,000 to 18,000 VND, with special dishes priced at 25,000 VND per cup.

Above is information about electric pole tea shops for you to refer to and visit when you have the opportunity to travel to Saigon. Refer to the Vietnamtravelio travel guide to discover more delicious dishes and quality restaurants all over the country.