Vietnam House opened its doors yesterday and is set to become a landmark in HCMC’s culinary scene as Chef Luke Nguyen oversees the newly-restored restaurant.

Luke Nguyen, Excutive Chef of Vietnam House

With his first restaurant in Vietnam, the award-winning Vietnamese-Australian chef has a perfect platform to serve classic Vietnamese dishes as well as a modern take on traditional local cuisine.

The restored colonial building at the corner of Dong Khoi and Mac Thi Buoi streets in the heart of the city once housed the famed Café L’Imperial in the early 1900s, and was a popular destination for the city’s gourmets. The new Vietnam House Restaurant is poised to bring back the nostalgia and charm of this storied street corner and introduce a new generation to the sublime qualities of Vietnamese food at its finest.

The menu of the Vietnam House Restaurant spans the country from north to south while drawing on the knowledge and experience Chef Luke gained from his travels throughout Vietnam.

“This has been a dream of mine for a long time, to bring together the strands of my heritage, my journey of discovery in Vietnam and my career in the food industry makes this place something very special,” he said.

Open for lunch and dinner, the signature flavors of Vietnam House revolve around high-quality and fresh produce that is elegantly prepared and presented.

Chef Luke and his culinary team source from local markets daily to ensure only the freshest ingredients are used in the kitchen. There is also an expansive wine list of over 500 bottles including award-winning labels from vineyards around the globe.

“With the rebirth of the Vietnam House Restaurant, Windsor Property Management Corporation (WMC Group) and Luke Nguyen have carefully crafted a uniquely Vietnamese dining experience worthy of promoting HCMC as a budding destination for global gourmands and tourists to Vietnam,” said Kai Speth, WMC Group vice president for operations and business performance.

Some of the dishes on offer include starters of lobster or Iberico pork spring rolls, or soft shell crab and green mango salad, main dishes such as char-grilled five-spice pigeon, slow-braised Australian beef brisket and Wagyu beef noodle soup and sumptuous desserts like pandan crème brulee and Vietnamese home-made bean curd.

An "Executive Set Lunch" menu is available for two courses at VND280,000 and three courses for VND380,000.

Luke Nguyen’s cuisine passion

With an endless series of accomplishments under his belt, Australia-born Vietnamese chef Luke Nguyen has made quite the name for himself over his culinary career.

At only 23, Luke realized his dreams by opening his first restaurant, the critically acclaimed Red Lantern in 2002. Luke is also the man behind the much-loved Fat Noodle, an Asian noodle bar concept at The Star in Pyrmont Sydney as well as in Brisbane. 

While cooking is his passion, so is his love for imparting culinary wisdom. Luke is the author of seven best-selling and award-winning cookbooks, including Secrets of the Red Lantern, The Songs of Sapa, Indochine, Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong, Food of Vietnam, Luke’s Food of France and Street Food Asia.

Recently, Luke was inducted into the Food Hall of Fame for his popular cooking and travel programs televised in over 150 countries, including Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam, Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong, Luke Nguyen’s France and Luke Nguyen’s UK. He is also the host of Masterchef Vietnam series 1 and 2, and has even made special appearances in Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape and Masterchef Australia. 

In addition, Luke is the Ambassador for award-winning travel group APT, hosting culinary discovery trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Myanmar and Japan. As the official Food Ambassador for ETIHAD Airways, he crafts the airline’s First Class, Business Class and Economy Class menus.

Luke’s entrepreneurial streak led him to launch GRAIN Cooking Studio in Saigon in March 2015, which offers hands-on cooking classes where guests can experience a culinary and cultural journey through Vietnam. Vietnam House represents Luke’s first restaurant opening in Vietnam.

WMC Group is a hospitality and property services management company headquartered in HCMC. The company’s diverse management portfolio includes hotels, serviced apartments, offices, restaurants and commercial shopping centers.

SGT