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Vy, the granddaughter and third-generation heir, said, "Over 60 years ago, my grandfather was the one who conceived, designed, and built this villa. He was an architect, so he personally sought out skilled craftsmen from all over to create this villa. Although it looks simple from the outside, it has a familiar, rustic, and distinctly Vietnamese feel."
Vy added that her grandfather was a meticulous person, so most of the materials for building the walls, laying the floors, and roofing were personally selected by him. Even now, the cool stone walls and the old ceramic tiles have never lost their original beauty due to moss and decay. The thick brick walls with strategically placed ventilation holes ensure that the rooms remain cool in the summer and warm during the rainy season.
To this day, everything about the old villa, from its overall structure to its decorative details, has been carefully preserved thanks to the meticulous efforts of three generations. The villa is also better known for a small eatery opened by the second generation, a family restaurant called May Bon Phuong.
The restaurant's name was given by an uncle who was a pilot, symbolizing clouds in all four directions because flying a plane meant being surrounded only by clouds. At that time, it was also this uncle who came up with the idea for unique dishes like pork tongue pate. Initially, word spread among acquaintances, and more and more people came to know about it – family, friends, ordinary customers, wealthy patrons, even famous artists, singers, and actors of the time visited a few times.
Talking about the specialty dish, Pork Tongue in Pate Sauce, it's a long story. Initially, my uncle introduced the pate around the early 1990s, but it had a unique flavor that wasn't very popular with customers. Later, "my mother – Vy's mother" was the one who used pork tongue in combination with pate. One day, while at Ben Thanh Market, at a familiar pork stall, she saw pork tongue that my mother said was very delicious, and she thought, why not try buying some of it to make something to eat with my uncle's pate? "If it works, great; if not, at least I'll try it."
"Failure, not to my liking, tasted unlike anything else"—that's what my mother said about that first attempt. The pate wasn't to my liking, but my home-cooking instincts told me I needed to try more. After trying many different types of pate, I finally found the perfect Vietnamese-style pork tongue pate.
The secret is: The pate must be rich and quite different from the pate served with bread. For the pork tongue, choose a familiar supplier to ensure you always get fresh, high-quality meat daily. Processing the pork tongue also involves many steps (cleaning, blanching, cleaning again, and then boiling...).
Currently, the dish is sold for 110,000 VND/portion (approximately 5 USD) and is served with bread.
