An Choi has been run by Kay Mai, 38, aka Mai Ho Kim Khanh, along with her Hong Kong husband and chef Lewis Dai since 2023 after they both quit their jobs at an F&B group.

She was born in Ho Chi Minh City to a father from the north and a mother from the central region. She spent years in the Mekong Delta as a child, and these left her with food memories that blended flavors from all over the country and a love for Vietnamese cuisine.

While in her 20s, when she was studying abroad, she would search for a Vietnamese eatery whenever homesickness struck.

She realized soon that most Vietnamese foods served abroad barely retained their original flavors and were heavily modified to suit local tastes.

In 2018, Khanh returned to Vietnam for work and met Dai, a Hong Kong chef specializing in Western cuisine who later became her husband. He knew little about Vietnamese food at the time since it was still a rarity in Hong Kong.

Khanh says: “My passion for Vietnamese food was reignited. I started taking him to eat everywhere, from north to south. The more we explored, the more we realized Vietnamese cuisine was richer than what foreigners usually know.”

After marrying in 2020, the couple moved to Hong Kong to work for an F&B group, helping open seven restaurants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

That helped them accumulate experience in running restaurants and also sparked the idea of building their own brand.

In 2023, after quitting their jobs, they opened An Choi (Eating & Playing) in Sheung Wan District. They wanted to offer regional Vietnamese dishes rather than just the famous ones.

An Choi is designed to evoke the street food stalls of Vietnam, with its stainless steel tables, plastic chairs, and polka-dot glasses.

But, having lived in HCMC, Khanh prioritized southern dishes when designing the menu, rotating through noodle soups characteristic of different regions on a daily basis.

Khanh says the most distinctive feature of Vietnamese cuisine is its fermented sauces and ingredients, which could win over people everywhere.

Many of the sauces are sent from Vietnam by her mother. They import herbs three times a week, and most ingredients are prepared in-house each day.

The only concession she makes to Hong Kong palates is to adjust the broth for pho, but keeps other dishes close to their traditional recipes.

Beef pho and banh mi are served in the same style as in Vietnam at An Choi restaurant in Hong Kong. Photo courtesy of Instagram/ankat_eats

An Choi faced difficult early days as the couple served beef and chicken pho only on weekends and various Vietnamese noodle dishes during the rest of the week.

Khanh says: “I once set out to retrain Hong Kong taste buds. But business was quiet in the first few months, because customers stayed away whenever pho wasn’t on the menu.”

Many found other noodle dishes unfamiliar, and few were willing to try them. But rather than change the menu, Khanh kept explaining the preparation of each dish and its story to new customers.

Over time, many customers became regulars. Some traveled to Vietnam and returned to thank her, saying An Choi had inspired them to visit the country and taste its food.

Bun mam (Mekong Delta noodle soup made with fermented fish), once the restaurant’s least popular dish, was later featured by Vogue Hong Kong for its flavors.

Michelin praised its cha ca (turmeric-marinated grilled fish with dill) and commitment to preserving Vietnamese cuisine.

An Choi was added to Michelin’s New Additions list just seven months after opening, won a Bib Gourmand award after a year in business, and was honored again in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Customer numbers have doubled from the early days.

Khanh says: “I believe baking our own bread, making fresh broth every day, and staying true to Vietnamese flavors earned An Choi these honors. We’re the only Vietnamese restaurant in Hong Kong that bakes its own bread.”

Asked to choose three dishes that capture the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine, Khanh picked spicy beef noodle soup – bun bo Hue, while her husband chose bun mam for its rich flavors. Their second choice was Da Lat grilled rice paper and both also agreed that banh mi, the dish they have devoted the most effort to, keeps customers coming back.

Da Lat grilled rice paper is served whole, and diners cut it into pieces with scissors at the table.

They may have Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, but what makes the couple proudest is not that sign hanging in the restaurant, but the number of locals who travel to Vietnam to try the dishes they first discovered at An Choi.