The Story of Vietnam Palace Restaurant

Back when An Nguyen opened Ottawa’s first Vietnamese restaurant in 1989, no one knew what to expect. “Chinese food?” passers-by asked. “No, these are Vietnamese dishes using hardly any oil. With clean flavours,” Nguyen quietly explained. The dining room’s more refined than your usual eat-and-run, too. “I want people to relax and enjoy our Vietnamese cuisine.”

Moderately-priced lunches are different from other Chinatown offerings: sautés, grills and stir-fries are served with soup and (oh-so crisp) spring roll. Some plates come with vinaigrette-dressed lettuce, Western-style. After all, Nguyen’s learned plenty from his previous 10-year stint at Ottawa hotels and bistros cooking Canadian and Italian dishes.

One soup, made from rich chicken broth, is chock-full of brightly cooked vegetables with bok choy and rousong—dried shredded pork. An unusual offer of lamb in a comforting ragout with Spanish onions and peppers red and green, is perky with lemongrass, slightly spicy. Easy to enjoy this cuisine.