Review: Lan’s Asian Grill

Lan's Asian Grill - 11826 103 St.

Lan’s Asian Grill at 11828 103 St. is a hidden gem along 118th Avenue that more people need to discover!! I only came across it during my days at NAIT because of … well, it’s proximity to NAIT! I should have blogged about it before but for some reason didn’t. So here’s my glowing, glowing, completely well-deserved review.

Lan’s is a small, clean, bright and modern restaurant in a pretty random (and you could probably say sketchy) location. (Which is why I classify it as “hidden”). But the sketch factor of the area is forgotten as soon as you step into the place and even more so once you start eating the delicious food!

Lan's Asian Grill Slogan: "You are Hungry!"

The set up for ordering is a little weird. You have to order at the front and then go sit down, so it’s kind of got a fast-food feel to it. (Awhile ago they did do regular waiter-gets-your-order-during-dinner but I think that might have changed as time went on). So -1 for that. But then +1 for the delicious food! The menu is great. There’s nice variety and great prices! (and if you follow my blog at all, you know that price is very important to me!) And it’s also run by wonderful people! Tom is the face of Lan’s. It’s a family restaurant – his sister cooks, he mans the counters, takes the orders, chit chats with the customers and their parents hang out too! Everything looks slick in Lan’s. Their brother is a photographer so there’s great photos up all over the place of their delicious food.

Tom Yum Spicy Soup with Beef and Shrimp

I always get the ‘Tom Yum Spicy Soup with Steak and Shrimp’ (no onions). The food in general is a mixture of Thai and Vietnamese. This would be exactly that. There’s not a lot of Asian restaurants where I’ll eat their soup down to the very last drop – except for my mama’s soup (PLUG: King Noodle House! 10615 97 Street) -but the soup at Lan’s is one where I do. Dee-licious!

Yumm!! All gone :)

See? Down to the very last drop. I definitely recommend the Tom Yum soup!!!

I most recently went to Lan’s with my friend Rachel (@rachylees).

She got the small size Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli, which she’ll tell you is delicious. (I’ve never tried the vermicelli at Lan’s but I’m sure if it’s anything like that lovely tom yum soup, then it’s delicious too!)

Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli

We also shared spring rolls (unpictured) which is also good. The sauce they use for their spring rolls is different than what’s used at most Asian restaurants and it works! Tastes great, but I’m not sure how to describe it.

Over the summer they installed a frozen yogurt section to the restaurant!

Frogurt area at Lan's!

Really cheap. Really delicious. Definitely a lovely way to top off the meal! Tom says it was a hit over the summer and they’re planning on doing more seasonal flavours as the year goes on (Pumpkin spice for the fall? Egg nog for Christmastime?)

Overall I completely recommend Lan’s to anyone and everyone. It’s a great place and offers great food and again, the prices are so, so reasonable. As I said, it’s a hidden gem that more people should be discovering (although I think more people are discovering it because it feels like business is booming whenever I’m there!)

Sidenote: Tom was my drivers education instructor before he opened up Lan’s! LOL. Small world.

So have you been to Lan’s Asian Grill? What did you think!?

Linda :)

Lan's Asian Grill on Urbanspoon

1 Comment

  • Dinh says:

    I had tried Lan’s soon after he took over from the previous owner whom was also a Viet-Chinese restaurateur. I must say his mother’s curry/tom-yum/padthai was good. It reminds me of the Vietnamese flavoured Thai food fares in VN. You should have tried his Pho and write about since you grew up with more knowledge of Pho. You know I am goating you into doing something may surprise you in a negative way. Again, this is an Asian Grill not a Pho joint. I was so surprised to see your blog. Great looking blog, btw.

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