Vietnam meets Vancouver at B House restaurant on Commercial Drive
The fusion menu features dishes inspired by Ho Chi Minh City street food, BC brunch classics, and more
B House restaurant chef Hung Nguyen developed a love of food through his dad’s cooking in his birthplace of Ho Chi Minh City.
HAINANESE CHICKEN IS a deceptively simple dish from Hainan, a tropical island off the southern coast of China—and one that Vancouver chef Hung Nguyen remembers vividly and fondly from his childhood in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Nothing more than a meal of steamed or poached chicken, rice cooked in the same stock with some chicken fat, and soup made from the same liquid, it typically involves plunging the perfectly tender chicken in an ice bath to prevent the juices from escaping then cutting it into thin strips. It’s often served with chili dipping sauce and is one of the most popular dishes in Southeast Asia, found everywhere from hawker stalls to family tables during Lunar New Year celebrations.
“My favourite dish my dad would make was Hainanese chicken,” Nguyen tells Stir. “So simple, yet so flavourful and hard to execute without patience.
“I was inspired by my dad to become a chef,” he says. “He fed us really well with his food.”
Hung came to Vancouver at age 23 and set about turning the love of cooking instilled in him by his father into a career. After a decade in the industry, he has recently made another dream come true, having opened his own restaurant. B House draws from his heritage as much from his experience working in local chains, a Vietnam meets Vancouver eatery on Commercial Drive.
Nguyen runs the fusion restaurant with his wife, Vy, whom he met Ho Chi Minh City and with whom he has three young kids. They spent months in a soft-opening phase to iron out kinks before announcing their grand opening in late fall, undeterred by the potential risks of entering the industry amid the pandemic.
“One day I just told myself: go challenge yourself to see if your cooking skills are good enough to be a chef,” Nguyen says. “It has always been a dream of mine to open my own restaurant. I chose ‘B’ for the name as I would like to make the guests feel like ‘be at home. Be at your house’ and enjoy their food and company when they are at the restaurant.
“I had planned for more than a year to open, so I just had to make it happen,” he says. “People are not dining out and exploring new restaurants like before, however we have been getting lots of love from our neighbours and we are thankful to be here.”
B House tuna tartare with daikon and tobiko.
Nguyen studied at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Vancouver before gaining experience at several longstanding Vancouver chains, including the Boathouse, JOEY, and Milestones. From 2015 to 2020, he was head chef at Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar, travelling to places like Whistler and Seattle on research trips with the restaurant’s group’s leadership team, gaining a greater appreciation of the region’s dining scene.
Working in those fast-paced kitchens taught him valuable skills. “Having systems in place is important as well as consistency of the food,” he says. “Keep it up or lose business.”
The menu at B House offers the kind of something-for-everyone range that helps make chains so popular (think vegan, organic garlic-soy-glazed tofu bowl, Cognac organic-chicken liver parfait with cranberry chutney, artichoke-stuffed salmon, and seared top sirloin with rosemary duck fat-roasted potatoes) while also reflecting his roots. Several dishes remind him of the tastes of home, with ingredients like lemongrass, papaya, daikon, chili, and marinated egg.
“Street food is very popular in Vietnam,” Nguyen says. “You can tell the love that goes into each dish. All the ingredients are easy to find but how to bring them to the next level of flavour is what’s important and most difficult.”
B House banh mi has lemongrass chicken and chicken-liver pate.
An example of a plate that best illustrates the merging of his cultural background with local influences is B House’s Little Saigon Club. Back home, Nguyen says, it would be made with meatballs; he uses beer-braised pork belly. Banh mi is another. In Vietnam, it would feature shredded pork; here, Nguyen stuffs a baguette with lemongrass chicken and chicken pate (plus daikon slaw, cucumber, jalapeno, and chili lime aioli); it comes with fries.
Chicken wings get their own section, with varieties like garlic soy, sweet chili, hot sauce. Then there’s “simple”—as simple but flavourful as the Hainanese chicken Nguyen grew up with, tossed in salt, pepper, garlic, chili flakes, and fresh jalapeno. Classic North American brunch items are available all day, including cinnamon French toast and several types of eggs Benny.
It serves takeout and dine-in, the latter with cocktails on offer like Saigon Caesar and Pink Peppercorn Cosmopolitan. With COVID-19 safety measures in place, the maximum number of people permitted for dine-in is 18. The restaurant has several promotions for the month of January: 10 percent off the entire menu on Mondays; all-day happy hour Tuesdays and Sundays; and wing Wednesdays, with a 10 percent discount.
Nguyen is hopeful that the tables will start to turn for the restaurant industry.
“It was tough last year, but I can see the light at the end of tunnel,” he says. “It should be much better soon—crossing my fingers.”
B House is at 2270 Commercial Drive. See here for more information.
Chef Hung Nguyen.
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