Best of the West: Is this Western Sydney’s best Vietnamese?

An old faithful of Cabramatta, and it's famous signature crispy-skinned chicken, has won the hearts of Sydneysiders for decades.

It’s stood in the heart of Sydney’s Vietnamese community for 27 years but something about Tan Viet Noodle House keeps Westies from all cultures coming back for more.

The Cabramatta restaurant, has been serving Vietnamese and Chinese fusion dishes to hungry Sydneysiders since the 1980s, when 10 siblings from the Lam family moved to Australia from Vietnam to begin a new life.

Second-generation Lam family member and Tan Viet operations manager Jessie Lam said the noodle house, set up in 1993, translated to “new beginnings”.

Jessie Lam enjoying lunch with Bernice Tran and Khang Tran at Tan Viet Noodle House, Cabramatta. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“The name Tan Viet was similar to a shop my grandparents owned back in Vietnam in the 1960s, and my father and his siblings wanted to pay homage to that. It literally means new Vietnam, or new beginnings,” Ms Lam said.

“At first the noodle house had Vietnamese customers, my family brought them that taste of home and the food they had grown up with, but it’s evolved into so much more.”

Tan Viet has since expanded to two more noodle houses in Earlwood and Darling Square in the Sydney CBD, offering a range of soups, stews and noodle dishes.

Tan Viet Noodle House has stood in Cabramatta for 27 years but people still keep coming back for more of the Lam family's famous crispy skin chicken. Picture: Jonathan Ng

But it’s uncontested signature dish, crispy skin chicken from a closely guarded secret recipe, is of Chinese origins.

“I don‘t think any of my family realised when they set up the restaurant the chicken is what we’d become known for, but it surpasses everything else,” Ms Lam said.

“It is a reinvented version of the Chinese recipe, but I think the fact it’s got a particular twist is what makes it so popular.”

Tan Viet now boasts three restaurants across Sydney, including one in the CBD but its roots in Cabramatta are strong. Picture: Jonathan Ng

She said she was “very proud” of the legacy family had created through Tan Viet, which is now run by a mix of both old and new family members plus hired staff.

“We get customers from all over Sydney, not just the west now, the support of the community is wonderful,” Ms Lam said.

“I’m really proud of my family’s achievements and what they worked so hard to create, and the mix of people who brought it all together to make Tan Viet what it is today.”

Originally published as Best of the West: Is this Western Sydney’s best Vietnamese?