Our story: Chinese & Vietnamese, West Edmonton
Grain of Rice is a Hoa family kitchen in Webber Greens, West Edmonton. We cook Chinese food the Chinese way and Vietnamese food the Vietnamese way. This is how we got here.
No app fees when you order direct. No tipping, ever.
Chinese or Vietnamese? Both.
It is the question we hear most. The honest answer is both, and the reason is our family.
We are Hoa. That is the Vietnamese name for people of Chinese descent who made their home in Vietnam. At home we speak Cantonese and Mandarin. Chinese communities have lived in Vietnam for centuries, keeping their languages, temples and food while becoming part of Vietnamese life.
Not fusion. Both, done right.
The Chinese side
The Vietnamese side
District 5, Chợ Lớn.
From Saigon to Webber Greens.
Our family lived in District 5 in Saigon, the heart of Chợ Lớn. The name means “big market.” Chinese settlers founded it in the late 1700s, and it grew into a busy port and the centre of the rice trade. In 1932 it was joined with Saigon. Today it is often called one of the largest Chinatowns in the world.
In Chợ Lớn, Chinese food and Vietnamese food lived side by side, each cooked its own way. Families like ours grew up loving both.
- SaigonDistrict 5, Chợ Lớn. A Hoa family: Chinese, in Vietnam. They fought for South Vietnam and lost the war.
- 1985Khai Phung and Helena Chiang arrive in Canada and go to work in the restaurant industry.
- 1990sKhai cooks at the Mongolian Food Experience in the Kelly Ramsey Building, downtown Edmonton, learning from Siu To.
- 2003Khai and Helena open Treasury Restaurant in north Edmonton.
- 2012On Christmas Day, a fire that started next door destroys Treasury.
- 2016The family rebuilds as Grain of Rice in Webber Greens.
The hard part.
This part of our history is not easy to talk about, and it took our family time to appreciate it.
Our family was Chinese, living in Vietnam, and they fought for South Vietnam. When the war ended in 1975, the South lost. In the years after, life became very hard for Chinese families in the south, and many left everything behind. Canada opened its doors to tens of thousands of people from Vietnam.
[Owner to add: the family’s story in your own words. How the family left Vietnam and came to Canada.]
Learning from Siu To.
Khai Phung and Helena Chiang came to Canada in 1985 and worked in restaurants. In the 1990s Khai cooked at the Mongolian Food Experience in the Kelly Ramsey Building downtown. There he learned from Siu To, known around Edmonton today as the Green Onion Cake Man.
The kitchen cooked Canadian-style Chinese dishes like ginger beef alongside traditional Chinese dishes. Khai learned to do both properly. The ginger beef we serve today is the one he first made there, and our green onion cakes are Khai’s own recipe.
A fire, then a fresh start.
In 2003, Khai and Helena opened Treasury Restaurant in north Edmonton. On Christmas Day 2012, a fire that started in a neighbouring business destroyed it.
[Owner to add: the fire, in your own words.]
Their son Tony was working in technology at the time. He saw his parents’ kitchen go quiet and decided to help them rebuild. In his words: “Building a restaurant is by far the most demanding venture I have ever taken on.”
In 2016 the family opened Grain of Rice in Webber Greens, West Edmonton, with a short menu, AAA Alberta beef and the same ginger beef.
Come taste it.
We are at 1312 Webber Greens Dr NW, about 5 to 10 minutes from West Edmonton Mall, depending on traffic. Our most ordered dishes are the vermicelli bowl, pho and Real Ginger Beef.
Good to know.
Are you Chinese or Vietnamese?
Both. Our family is Hoa, Chinese people who made their home in Vietnam. We cook Chinese food the Chinese way and Vietnamese food the Vietnamese way. Not fusion. Both, done right.
What does Hoa mean?
Hoa is the Vietnamese name for people of Chinese descent who made their home in Vietnam. Many Hoa families, like ours, lived in Chợ Lớn, the Chinese quarter of Saigon.
What languages does your family speak?
Cantonese and Mandarin.
Is Grain of Rice the old Treasury Restaurant?
Same family. Khai and Helena opened Treasury Restaurant in north Edmonton in 2003. It was lost to a fire on Christmas Day 2012, and the family rebuilt as Grain of Rice in Webber Greens in 2016.
Where did your chef learn to cook?
In the 1990s, Khai Phung cooked at the Mongolian Food Experience in the Kelly Ramsey Building, downtown Edmonton, learning the trade from Siu To. His ginger beef began there.
Where are you?
1312 Webber Greens Dr NW, Edmonton, in West Edmonton. About 5 to 10 minutes from West Edmonton Mall, depending on traffic, with free parking.
More answers on our FAQ page.