Photo Karen Graham.
Susan Tung opens a second Vietnamese restaurant on Lansdowne Street West.
When Susan Tung opened the second outlet of her successful Vietnamese restaurant, Hanoi House on Lansdowne Street in Peterborough last December, the Cavan resident was not expecting another lockdown would close the doors again, but in fact it happened not once but twice.
It didn’t matter- when the location became available, it was too good to pass up. The bright space with high ceilings and even higher visibility and a kitchen ready to go, the space offers a different experience from the one in her original downtown Peterborough location. Sitting just west of the main artery into town, the Lansdowne restaurant offers ample seating, easy access and free parking, and attracts customers arriving by car, including families.
Both restaurants are operating at half capacity at the moment, but most of the business for Hanoi House is take-out. Several delivery service businesses bring food to customers in town, but Susan also has a private driver who for a modest fee, delivers to more remote locations including Mount Pleasant, Cavan and even Bailieboro.
Having two restaurants is not twice the work. There are synergies in sharing resources, including staff, who are flexible and can move between restaurants to respond to peaks in activity. The biggest challenge during the pandemic has been receiving consistent deliveries of some of the unique ingredients such as rice noodles which come from Vietnam.
The menu at Hanoi House speaks to the growing interest in ethnic food, and also attracts the health-conscious due to its vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes. The style of food is fresh and flavourful. One of the most popular dishes is Pho, a Vietnamese soup made with beef bone broth, beef and noodles. Also on the menu are a wide variety of spring rolls, broth-based soups, noodle dishes and a few items that could be called “fusion” dishes such as Pork Belly Fries with sriracha mayo. There are also a few hard-to-find Vietnamese grocery items such as rice noodles and rice paper and a few frozen dim sum dishes available for purchase.
To plan your next (or first) Vietnam- styled meal, book your reservation or select your take-out dishes from the website at www.hanoihouselansdowne.com. KG
