Vietnam Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Esquimalt

Ah, for the love of all things soup and noodle in a bowl. I spent some time in Vietnam, mostly around the Hanoi area and the food you'd find on the street was the most satisfying.

This is the case here at Vietnam Garden Restaurant at 524 Admirals Rd, Esquimalt. Chef Ken Yu still serves up some tasty delights.

I started with the chicken spring roll that seemed like it was made in-house and was tasty. There was a subtle mixing of the flavours of the ingredients which paired well with the nuoc cham (sweet and sour) dipping sauce.

Next I had the spicy lemongrass beef noodle soup. Again, some gently layered flavours that were a sound base for me to personalize from, adding a dash of hoisin, soy, and a decent amount more hot sauce. It hit the spot perfectly. The beef was a beautiful pink and the fresh veggies gave a nice crunch. It's one of the nuances that people often don't realize about this type of food; you're supposed to use the ingredients on the table to make it suite you tastes.

Finally, and surprisingly because I didn't order it, I was brought some of their homemade coconut rice pudding. And though everything else was great, the pudding was possibly my most favourite part of the meal because of the subtlety and depth of something that I just expected to be sweet, was so surprising. I love being surprised.

I shall be back for several more visits. You...

I dined here a few years ago and couldn't remember why I didn't go back, so I tried it again recently. I really wanted to like this place, but I don't think I can recommend it. My spouse and I found it disappointing overall.

Positives: -The owner/family seem friendly. There is artwork by the owner's son up all over the walls. Cute home-y vibe. -Huge family-style portions*

Negatives: -*The "huge portions" are ~75% vegetables... -Big chunks of celery in everything -The "lemongrass chicken" is actually just chicken stirfry. They didn't even grill it. This is not the standard lemongrass chicken you'll receive at any other Vietnamese restaurant... -This is a big one: take photos of the actual food for your website! The coconut prawns we got were nothing like the ones in the menu image. Yes, it says "photo for reference only", but this is absurd. In the menu image, the coconut prawns are crispy and covered in some sort of panko or batter. The ones we got were not battered at all--actually quite soggy.

tl;dr -- nice folks, but the food just...

Omg. What a hidden jewel this place turned out to be! The food, the cook/owner, the vibe, the paintings on the wall for decor & the stories that go with them. The best find so far in my neighbourhood. Just a delicious delight. One night I had the shrimp & vegetable special & it was so generous in the shrimp portion that I wondered if I had asked for double or triple shrimp, I was so surprised & overwhelmed by the portion of this dish! 🦐🥕🫑🍄 Last night I ordered vegetables with cashews & they offer noodles or rice to accompany it but I asked for extra veg & mushrooms. These mushrooms were amazing & the sauce in the dish was super tasty! I'm going to be a regular for sure! I order a beer while I wait for my to-do & it's so nice. The cook owner is a Uber kind human & knows how to cook! Highly recommend this restaurant & cannot wait to return! See you...