The pork, chicken and seafood are made out of soy or wheat products. Stocks are from vegetables
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Owner Kim Nguyen offers wonton soup and do-it-yourself tofu deluxe roll. Photograph by : Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun
Paradise is more than just a pretty name at this humble vegetarian restaurant. It’s a state of mind where the two owners live, peacefully and perhaps even blissfully.
Sisters Kim and Yen Nguyen opened Paradise Vietnamese Cuisine four years ago in the hopes of turning people on to vegetarian food.
They are devout followers of a spiritual form of meditation (you’ll note the photos of their supreme master in the dining room) and, as Kim says in her imperfect English, “We just have idea, want to have people to be vegetarians. Some of people never try.”
find God and a happy life.
“Our master [a female] teaches to go beyond meditation. She will show whoever follow her teaching to find God and enjoy Heaven while you are living,” Kim says.
Back at the more earthly pursuit of eating, you’ll see dishes like Grilled Pork Rolls; Barbecued Ham or Chicken; Beef Rice Noodle Soup; Steamed Fish Roll; and other dishes with ingredients that once had legs or swam.
It seems somewhere along the line, Asian vegetarianism took the fork that led to making vegetables and grains act like meat and seafood. The pork, the chicken, the seafood are made out of soy or wheat products and so vegetarians can — without fear or loathing — safely eat pork, chicken, shrimp and ham here. Stocks, too, are made from vegetables.
“We begin thinking, how can we cook stock with no bone? We have to prove [vegetables] can be more tasty,” Kim says. So flavour comes from carrots, radishes, broccoli, cabbage and other vegetables.
The food at Paradise is healthy, hearty Vietnamese home cooking. There are some 50 items, nearly all dishes are less than $10 for generous portions and more in the range of $8.
The mysterious Special Salad is a huge coleslaw-like salad with tofu; the wonton soup is made from scratch; Panfried Stuffed Eggplant is one of their best sellers, as is Spicy Lemongrass Chicken and the Do It Yourself Dinner (rice paper wrap with tofu, steamed veggies, lettuce, “meat,” or “fish,” and herbs). The last is the most expensive at $12.95.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday. You’ll find food for your spirit as well as your body.
– – – PARADISE VIETNAMESE CUISINE
8681 — 10th Ave., Burnaby (Crest Plaza), 604-527-8138
© The Vancouver Sun 2007