Restaurants- Ottawa, ON....Take 3

another gem of a place in Ottawa's Chinatown.....

I found myself walking around Chinatown one night and had already eaten at So Good twice that week, so I wanted to find a new place. I walked for hours it seemed and found several Chinese places with tofu dishes, but nothing that jumped out at me. I stumbled (almost literally since I had been drinking) upon a Vietnamese place just down the street from So Good.

Vietnam Palace is located at 819 Somerset West and is a very nicely decorated restaurant. The staff there was very interested when I said I was vegan; they have what they called "Specialty Vegetarian Food". It was not much, but it was cool to see they were trying to offer something different. Their menu is 90% meat, but the 10% that is veggie was very good. Their menu is also in French and English, which meant that the section was called "Vegetarian/Mets Vegetariens". I had their Vegetarian Salad Rolls, which were what we usually call Rice Paper Rolls; tofu, noodles, carrots, in a rice paper roll with peantu sauce. Their Spring Rolls were also good (I got an order for later that night). They had some good looking soups (not that I ate them); Tomato and Beancurd Soup, Pineapple Sour Soup, and Vegetable Soup to name a few. They had a fried tofu appetizer, Lotus Salad, and Young Papaya Salad amongst other Appetizers and Salads. I was really impressed with their entrees though (yes, I got two of them). Their specialties were Vegetarian Chicken stir fried with Lemongrass and Chili, the same dish with Vegetarian Beef, Vegetarian Grilled Pork Wrap with Salad Vegetables in Rice Paper, and the same dish with Grilled Vegetables too. I got the Fried Beancurd with Tomato Sauce (and I added Veggie Chicken to it) and it was amazing! I also got the Fried Beancurd with Black Bean Sauce (and added Veggie Beef to it) and was also equally amazing. They had tons of other noodle dishes, fried rices, and assorted other vegetable dishes. I still think that So Good is a healthier and better choice, but if you are in Ottawa and wanted some good Vietnamese food; go here! 613-238-6758