Vikas Sharma

So, this endeavour of trying to eat our way through Vancouver has had a bit of a turn; we have recently established The Vancouver Dinner Club with one of my colleagues and good friend of his (who’s now become a friend of ours, too).

We’re generally aiming to try a new, or well-loved, spot on the monthly. We’ve had Afghani (Zarak), which was fine. Then we tried Thai (Kin Kao), which, I think we liked a bit more.

And then, Lunch Lady popped up on the radar, which was new for my partner and me, but our VDC co-members were well aware of this awesome spot.

This place – or rather the name – has a bit of history behind it. It’s always a reminder as to how old I am when it’s mentioned that a business, which is almost 30 years old, was established in the mid-90’s.

It all started with Nguyen Thi Than in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in 1995, whose famous pho spot (Lunch Lady), which has hit and miss reviews, was endorsed by Anthony Bourdain – check out this video (The Lunch Lady segment starts at 10:50).

While I had a really great experience at Chi Vegan last year, Lunch Lady is the sort of Vietnamese spot that reminds me of Toronto (minus the fancy cocktails).

A good friend of mine back in Toronto, Viet, had a wonderful Vietnamese joint called Bắc Kỳ, and I loved the simplicity of their menu and that the recipes all came from his mother. The food was always fresh and tasty, and I had the privilege of being able to stand in the back and watch them make fresh food for their customers (including me).

And that’s a bit of what I’ve found missing in Vancouver, but I think I’ve found it in Lunch Lady.

The décor at Lunch Lady reminded me a bit of Viet’s place.

Aside from a slight mishap (someone called in and cancelled my wife’s reservation – we’re not quite sure who – but all was remedied quickly), we had a lovely experience, and while I’m not a fan of their 90-minute time limit for in-house dining – they are very timely with their delivery of the food.

Here was the order:

• CHẢ GIÒ – CRISPY SPRING ROLLS (both Veggie and Pork)
• TÔM CHIÊN GIÒN – CRISPY CHILI SALTED PRAWNS
• CHAY CHIÊN – FRIED TOFU
• RAU XÀO – STIR FRIED VEGETABLES
• TÔM NƯỚNG MUỐI ỚT – GRILLED SPOT PRAWNS
• THỊT NƯỚNG – PORK SKEWERS
• MÌ XÀO TỎI – GARLIC FRIED NOODLES
• STEAK LÚC LẮC 8oz.
• NGHÊU – CLAMS

While my VDC co-members are more inclined to indulge in the carnivore part of the menu, there were a lot of good veggie options (with some seafood options for me, too).

The first item that arrived at the table was the Fried Tofu (photo below), which had a garlic and lemongrass glaze. When the server brought it out, she had barely placed it on the table, and was about to describe the sauce, when I asked for chilies in oil. She offered both chilies in oil and chopped up chili peppers! These guys do it right.

I found the tofu to be tasty and not too heavy (like how an age dashe tofu can be).

The Stir Fried Vegetables were exactly how I like it, with tofu, gai lan, and mushroom in a garlic sauce. Simple and tasty.

The Spring Rolls were fine – nothing mind-blowing here; it’s fried spring rolls, how can you go wrong?

I found the Crispy Chili Salted Prawns to be a bit heavy on the batter, so it was hard to get the flavour of the prawns.

Now, I should have known better, but I ordered the Spot Prawns. I thought I learned my lesson last year when we had bought some in Gibsons and brought them home to barbeque … I found the experience a bit much for someone who had been vegetarian for over 30 years and who is now experimenting with pescatarianism, albeit very gently (oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and shrimp).

The Spot Prawns looked as if they just came out of the water, were skewered, grilled, and served. Most people would probably love this, but I was barely able to dig into one of the three spot prawns presented. My colleague killed the other two.

The Garlic Fried Noodles, which were a spot-on accompaniment to the other dishes, were sautéed in xo butter, topped with Parmigiano and a sous vide egg.

The Clams were really well done, cooked in a coconut cream sauce.

I can’t tell you much about the steak, nor the pork belly skewers, but I heard no complaints.

The drink menu was decent, with a number of Vietnamese twists on classic cocktails. I’m usually against wine with Asian food, but my dinner colleagues all gravitated to wine with their dinner, and again, no complaints. Where my disappointment came was that Saigon Lager wasn’t on the menu, but rather several local brews. The local brews on tap were all good, but please have some Asian beer available!

Last thing to note is that the owner, Michael, took time to introduce himself and chat for a little bit as we were leaving. He said that he was soon on his way to pick up his “Lunch Lady;” his wife, from Vietnam.

He was very charming and appeared to be very proud of the space that they’ve created.

Return: Absolutely – I’d like to go for lunch so I can have the fresh salad rolls!

Rating: 7.5/10