Restaurant Review: Viet Lang @ The Arts House

Restaurant Review: Viet Lang @ The Arts House

1 Old Parliament Lane
Singapore 179429
+65 6337 3379

Located at the Arts House, Vietnamese restaurant Viet Lang is situated in a very nice setting on Parliament Lane, near the Supreme Court, Parliament House and Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. The area is very nice and ideal for an evening stroll to nearby Fort Canning Park.

Viet Lang restaurant itself is part of the Art House, with access from either inside the Art House (also nice for a look around at the newest exhibitions) or from the outside seating area. I've been to Viet Lang on 3 different occasions, and the place was always near empty, but you should still call to check whether they are closed for a private function. We decided to sit outside, realizing too late that there are construction works going on nearby (even on a Saturday night), so if a little of noise bothers you, you should choose to sit inside until the works are completed.

For drinks we ordered Vietnamese Tea (recommended by a very attentive Vietnamese waitress) and Lemongrass Tea. When the teas arrived, we were surprised to find out that the Lemongrass tea was plain Iced Lemon tea instead, however, when we asked our waitress she insisted that it was Lemongrass tea, despite the obvious fact that there was no lemongrass in it.

For starters we ordered Vietnamese beef rolls. These rolls you have to finish do-it-yourself style, packing them onto a thin rice-paper leave together with lettuce, different leaves, fruit, peanuts and cucumber, which requires quite a bit of skill and makes for good fun and entertainment. When else are you allowed to play with your food?! The rolls tasted quite good and the sauce they came with hit the spot.

Our main course was Curry Duck with steamed rice, which was rather nice, and Beef Pho, which was  lacking, seasoned perhaps a bit mildly and thus not developing the full flavor Beef Pho usually should have. For desert, we had Vietnamese Baked Cassava Cake, which was served warm and presented a nice finish to our dinner. Overall, I was slightly disappointed by the food, as for a triple digit bill I would expect a bit more flavour, therefore only three instead of four stars.

3/5 Alien Stars