Vietnamese Hot Pot Ottawa — Lẩu at Vietnam Palace Restaurant
Some meals are about nourishment. Others are about experience. Vietnamese hot pot — Lẩu — is unequivocally about experience. It’s a communal feast built around a simmering pot of fragrant broth at the centre of the table, where friends and family cook their own ingredients, share plates, and build a meal together over hours. At Vietnam Palace Restaurant in Ottawa’s Chinatown, our Lẩu is one of the most celebratory things on our menu.
What Is Vietnamese Hot Pot (Lẩu)?
Lẩu (pronounced “lah-oo”) is Vietnam’s answer to Chinese hotpot, Korean jeongol, and Japanese shabu-shabu — but with its own distinctly Vietnamese flavour profile. A pot of aromatic broth (tamarind-sour, beef bone, or spicy varieties) sits on a burner in the middle of the table. Around it, platters of raw ingredients wait to be added: thinly sliced meats, fresh seafood, vegetables, tofu, noodles, and herbs.
Everyone at the table cooks their own ingredients in the communal pot, dipping them in personal sauces as they go. The broth evolves as the meal progresses, absorbing flavours from everything that’s cooked in it — by the end, it’s often the richest, most complex thing on the table.
Vietnamese Hot Pot Broth Varieties
- Lẩu Chua Cay: Sour and spicy — a tamarind-lemongrass broth with chili heat, the most classic Vietnamese hot pot base
- Lẩu Bò: Beef bone broth — rich and deeply savoury, similar in spirit to phở broth but more robust for cooking
- Lẩu Hải Sản: Seafood hot pot — a lighter, aromatic base designed for seafood proteins
- Lẩu Thái: Thai-influenced sour-spicy broth — lime leaf, galangal, and lemongrass forward
What Goes Into a Vietnamese Hot Pot?
The beauty of Lẩu is its abundance. A full hot pot spread at Vietnam Palace might include:
- Thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken
- Fresh prawns, squid, or fish fillets
- Tofu (firm and silken varieties)
- Mushrooms (enoki, shiitake, oyster)
- Water spinach (rau muống), napa cabbage, and morning glory
- Vietnamese rice noodles or glass noodles for the end of the meal
- Fresh herbs, chili, lime
- Dipping sauces: fermented tofu sauce, hoisin-peanut, soy-chili
Clay Pot Dishes: Communal Cooking for Smaller Groups
If full hot pot feels like too much, our clay pot dishes (Cơm Nồi Đất or Kho dishes) offer a similar warmth and communal spirit in a smaller format. Vietnamese clay pot cooking slow-braises proteins in caramelized fish sauce, sugar, and black pepper — producing intensely flavoured dishes that beg to be shared over rice.
Clay pot caramel ginger fish (cá kho gừng) and clay pot caramel pork (thịt kho) are comfort food at its Vietnamese finest — sweet, salty, rich, and deeply satisfying.
Hot Pot as Celebration
In Vietnamese culture, Lẩu is reserved for celebrations — Tết (Lunar New Year), birthdays, family reunions, and gatherings that call for something special. The communal cooking ritual creates connection and conversation. At Vietnam Palace, we’ve hosted countless celebrations over our 35+ years, and Lẩu nights are always the most memorable.
Planning a special occasion? Reserve your table in advance and let us know — we can help make your hot pot experience everything it should be. For group dining, also check out our story to understand the family tradition behind Vietnam Palace.
Visit Vietnam Palace — Ottawa’s Home for Vietnamese Hot Pot
Find us at 819 Somerset St W in Ottawa’s Chinatown. Family-run since 1989, with 671 Google reviews and a 4.3-star rating. Our Lẩu is the kind of experience that creates regulars.
Hours: Monday 11am–10pm | Tuesday CLOSED | Wednesday–Friday 11am–10pm | Saturday 10am–10pm | Sunday 11am–10pm
Phone: (613) 238-6758
Also explore: Exotic Vietnamese Food Ottawa | Vietnamese Food Ottawa | Contact Us