Vietnamese eatery The Lunch Lady, at 1046 Commercial Drive, opened in 2020. It is associated with Nguyen Thi Thanh, owner of an eatery in Ho Chi Minh City, who was nicknamed "Lunch Lady" by the late chef Anthony Bourdain.
From running an unnamed sidewalk stall, Thanh adopted the "Lunch Lady" moniker as her restaurant's name and took the brand international.
The Lunch Lady in Canada is a collaboration between her and chefs Benedict Lim and Michael Tran.
Since its opening the restaurant has been embraced by local and international diners, and has received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award for three consecutive years (2022-2024).
Photo courtesy of The Lunch Lady
The Michelin guide describes Thanh's restaurant in Vancouver as always bustling yet offering a cozy atmosphere.
Dishes at Lunch Lady are a fusion of Vietnamese cuisine and global culinary influences. Michelin suggests diners should try the fried black lobster with fish sauce dip, Italian-style beef carpaccio topped with herbs, pickled shallots and lime dressing, stir-fried garlic noodles, and Wagyu beef pho.
Vancouver food blogger Nosh and Nibble noted that the banh canh (thick noodle soup) with shrimp, crab cake, pork hock, and crab broth offers a comforting warmth.
However, the tapioca noodles were "not to their taste" as they were quite soft. A bowl of banh canh (pictured) is priced at $20.
Photo courtesy of noshandnibble
Dishes at the restaurant range from $20 to $50.
The broken rice with grilled pork chop has authentic Vietnamese flavors and costs $20. It is part of the classic menu, with ingredients and preparation methods unchanged from the original version, featuring grilled pork chop, a sunny-side-up egg, broken rice, pickled vegetables, fried pork fat, and scallion oil.
Photo courtesy of noshandnibble
An adapted dish popular with diners is the truffle chicken salad, inspired by the original goi ga. It is served with rice crackers, banana blossom, and cabbage. Its flavor highlight is the truffle. The dish harmonizes sour, spicy and umami flavors, at the cost of $22.
Photo courtesy noshandnibble
Another familiar item on the menu is bo ne (sizzling beef), priced at $24.
The dish retains the original style of preparation, ingredients and flavors, and only has slight variations in presentation.
A serving of bo ne at the restaurant includes a sunny-side-up egg, sautéed onions, French fries, and beef, and comes on a hot plate. It is accompanied by cheese and a baguette.
In addition to the dining area, the restaurant also has a bar section.
The eatery can seat 60 guests indoors and 20 more in the outdoor patio.
The outdoor space of the Vancouver branch uses stainless steel tables and plastic chairs just like Vietnamese street food stalls.
Following the success of The Lunch Lady in Vancouver, Thanh and her partners had planned to open another in Toronto in June. But it has been postponed due to the sudden passing of Thanh last week.
She died of cardiac arrest at 58 shortly after arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport on May 19.
Photo courtesy of The Lunch Lady
