Culture R E V I E W S
A TALE OF TWO RESTAURANTS A pair of new east-side Vietnamese spots open their doors. by
Neal McLennan Christin Gilbert
photographs by
One of the great joys of writing about food is the opportunity to champion the underdog, and as I walked through the door of Hanoi Old Quarter I couldn’t wait to sit down, eat and then shine some love on this small Victoria Drive spot. Frankly, the fact that it was even in the underdog category was a major headscratcher. It’s the new spot from Rose Nguyen and Hong Duong, and their two locations of Mr. Red Cafe have won the VanMag Restaurant Award for Best Vietnamese for the past few years. On top of that, they’re widely regarded as two of the sweetest people in the restaurant game—so how can they have opened a new spot in May and have it barely make a ripple on the popular food scene? A few kilometres away, on Kingsway, is pretty much the opposite situation. Do Chay also serves Vietnamese food (of the vegetarian variety), and it’s also a new concept from an established owner—the Chay family of Yaletown’s popular, but not exactly lauded, House Special. But Do Chay has been slammed since opening, with regular lineups and page after page of online love (including from this magazine, I suppose I should note). What gives? When I walked into Do Chay, I had the opposite
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A melange of northern hits from Hanoi Old Quarter.
THE DEETS
How can they have opened a new spot in May and have it barely make a ripple on the popular food scene?
Hanoi Old Quarter 5207 Victoria Dr. 604-327-6789 mrredcafe.ca
Price: Enteés from $13 Best Dishes: Egg coffee, duck stew with green banana
HOQ’s lo-fi digs.
2019-10-17 1:51 PM
