Dan Seto (Chinese Canadian Roots TV)

The Ovaltine Cafe is Vancouver's oldest restaurant. It opened in 1942. In 2018, the British Telegraph named it one of the best 50 cafes in the world. The original owners were Bill and Violet Wong. Their son, Randall Wong, worked in the restaurant as a youngster. He went on to become the first Chinese Canadian judge in Canadian history. The Chinese Canadian Historical Society honored Judge Wong at one of their annual dinners. A video of that night is being completed. I got a chance totalk to the current owner, Grace Chen. She has run the Ovaltine Cafe for more than 12 years. The area is undergoing gentrification. I will be doing more stories about the downtown eastside in the future. Grace invites viewers to come down to the Ovaltine Cafe to check out the restaurant. If you like, enjoy some of their delicious food. Or just enjoy a cup of their famous coffee. Enjoy!

Apparently there had been a suspected arson fire at the Ovaltine Cafe. The fire was started at the back of the restaurant. The front doors have been boarded up. The restaurant is temporarily closed Sunday, May 28, 2023. The Ovaltine reopened in late 2023. I got a chance to visit the Iconic Ovaltine Cafe on May 15 and MaY 16, 2025. I tried their famous eggs benedict. I also got a chance to try their limited Chinese dishes. The beef chow mein was delicious. It's dry fried the old fashioned way, like they used to make it at my dad's restaurant. I also tried the pan fried dumplings with pork. It's a new item on the Ovaltine menu and it was delicious. The dumplings were juicy with lots of authentic flavour.