Drake at a Vietnamese restaurant isn’t something you’d normally expect to hear, but The Lunch Lady does it different. Opening it’s doors this past Winter they’ve done an incredible job inside with both the food and interior design. It feels like an old Vietnamese restaurant but done with a modern touch. ‘The lunch Lady’ comes from a nickname which was given to Mrs. Nguyen, a food stall owner from Ho Chi Minh City , by the late Anothony Bourdain while visiting on one of his episodes of No Reservations. Long story short local restaurateur Michael Tran visited the famed food stall a couple years back and somehow managed to bring Mrs Nguyen across the world back to Vancouver to form a partnership that is Lunch Lady. So, the quote “World Famous” which adorns some of their signage and branding is with good reason. The usual line up is worth the wait, and the food exceeds the hype. Skipping breakfast, we stopped in hungry for lunch and ordered the following items:
BÁNH TÔM CHIÊN – CRISPY PRAWN FRITTER:
prawn coated in a light crisp batter served with lettuce, herbs and chili lime sauce.
18 BÒ TÁI CHANH – BEEF CARPACCIO (GF):
Rare filet of beef, pickled onions, fresh herbs, lime vinaigrette, peanuts.
Daily Special:
BÚN RIÊU (GF)crab meatball, fish cake, prawns, puffed tofu, tomato, pork hock, vermicelli, tomato crab broth.
BÒ NÉ:
Marinated filet of beef, 2 fried free range eggs, sautéed onions, house-made pâté, laughing cow cheese, french fries on a sizzling skillet, bánh mì.