Chez Lam Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

Another case of suburban skew? I cannot fathom how else this place got the ratings it did, unless the reviewers have not had much else by way of comparison. The reality is that this is a sub-par establishment and there many better options, even in the Kanata-Stittsville area.

Food: Noodles for our vermicelli order were not made fresh and very obviously warmed over leftovers. The meal was not supplied the with usual fresh garnishes. Worst of all, the chicken was just cheap processed frozen chicken warmed up in the microwave, rather than seasoned meat cooked on a grill. I've eaten Vietnamese all over Ottawa and this might've been the worst I've had. My companion's BBQ pork was similar reheated industrial 'meat'.

Service: Slow, even when the restaurant had no other clients. I had to wander to the back room and call out to get somebody's attention after waiting around for 5 minutes. The waiter even managed to get my order wrong. Then went back to get the written note to show me, but when he did, he saw that he was mistaken. Nothing was done to make up for it.

Ambience: Dead. Worth checking out if only as a time capsule to the 80s envisioning of fine dining done on the cheap. The music was soul sucking muzzak, and created a hushed atmosphere that made everyone in the party whisper, even though it was only the early evening and we were heading out to watch hockey afterwards.

In short, save your time and money and the opportunity cost and take your...

First of all I didn't want to write this and I tried to support them up until now because I liked their food but they are unprofessional. I have been a REGULAR customer (daily) for the past 1 year and a half, ordering the same dish, and for the past 3 months or so every time that I picked up my food they charged me a different price. Sometimes it was the price registered on the menu and sometimes 2,3 or 4 dollars more... Depending on the day and the cashier I guess.. I didn't say anything up until recently where I had a conversation with the owner and he told me 'it is what it is' with no explanation..Again, if there was a reason for that I would at least try to understand and if not, I would just stop going there but I wouldn't write a review. It is not so much about the one, two, three or four dollars extra but you have to be sincere with your customers. Especially a regular customer that pay you on average 500-600$ per month. Great way to treat your regular customers guys. But it's ok.. You just lost one regular customer for 1 or 2 or 3 dollars extra 👍 Ultimately, I don't recommend this place(I used to) and if you do always check the prices and what they are charging...

Oh my goodness, what has happened to this place, it used to be so good! We have dined in the dining room of Chez Lam on many occasions and have been very happy, always good, flavorful food. Tonight we ordered take out, and it was if we got food from a whole different place, it was that different. We got the Chicken pad thai, there was not much chicken it, nor any vegetable or cilantro,just tomato sauce noodles with a sprinkling of peanut. This was the better of the two entrees we got. I had the Grilled Chicken Rice Vermicelli with Spring roll, which I have had in the dining room and I could not believe the difference. The chicken seemed reheated, you could tell it was not fresh grilled. It was very flat, like it was squashed, and very dry. NO flavor whatsoever to this dish, no mint or cilantro.It was the blandest rice vermicelli I have ever eaten. Both entrees tasted as if they were all made with leftovers.I hope the kitchen was just having a bad night, and that they are still a good place...