Phonkheng noodle soup popular by words of mouth

Business people are competing to advertise their products to beat market, but Phonkheng noodle soup is yet to be publicised by media to enhance its reputation.  

It only relies on words of mouth from people who come to taste the noodle soup.   

Phonkheng noodle soup owner, Ms Thipvilayphone Phounsavat, said Lao National Television asked her mother for an interview regarding the business of her noodle shop last year, but was refused by her mother who did not want a lot of advertisement. 

The shop is not decorated luxuriously, but is full of customers, and majority of them are government officials including those holding high positions. 

Ms Thipvilayphone said four years ago, a Vietnamese delegation that paid an official visit to Laos also took an opportunity to eat the noodle soup at her shop. 

Mr Mongkhon, a resident from Phonphanao village said the noodle soup at Phonkheng shop was clean and its soup was also good. 

The shop owner said she used a lot of cow and buffalo bones to make the soup, which was considered one of the main factors and unique method of her shop.  

Different shops have different recipes for making soup. Some shops poured down a lot of seasoning powder to make the soup delicious, but on the contrary, it affected on the consumers’ health. 

Phonkheng noodle soup opened in 1984 by Ms Somboun, an official from Vientiane Water Supply Enterprise.  

At first, she only sold food that ate with sticky rice, and then sold both the food and noodle soup.   
  

Eating noodle soup became popular in Vientiane in recent years, causing more people to run the noodle soup business. But some noodle soup shops collapsed because their taste and services did not satisfy customers.  

Majority of people usually eat noodle soup for breakfast and lunch because it is not a heavy food and does not cause you to sleep when working.   

The Phonkheng noodle soup comprises of meat, liver, long boiled meat and meatball. In addition, the shop owner serves fresh vegetable for customers.  

Between 300 and 400 customers come to the shop every day, which opens from 11am to 1pm.  

The small bowl of Phonkheng noodle soup costs 10,000 kip; medium-size bowl is 15,000 kip and the big one costs 20,000 kip.  

Ms Thipvilayphone said every day she uses 30 grammes of meat and 36 grammes of noodle for making noodle soup to serve customers.