Steven Truong Follows in His Family’s Footsteps With a New Chinese Restaurant
MONCTON – There aren’t just a lot of Chinese restaurants in the Moncton area. There are a lot of them owned and operated by members of Steven Truong’s family. But he says they’re all doing great and there’s room for another one.
Truong and Jenny Hoang plan to continue their family tradition by opening Kimbao Chinese Buffet at McLaughlin Plaza.
“My family business is Chinese restaurants here,” Truong said. “We just know how to do the job. We were working on the family business so long, so we just take that and follow the family.”
Truong’s family got started in the Chinese food business during their early days in Canada. They first began to work at his aunt’s restaurant in Dieppe. Soon, they were opening their own shops.
Truong’s brother owns the Vinh’s Wok Chinese Buffets in Moncton and Shediac, and his father owns Kim Long Restaurant on Mountain Road. His aunt owned Chan’s House in Dieppe until she sold it.
Seeing the success of his family’s restaurants, Truong decided to open his own. He saw an opportunity when a new plaza developed at the corner of McLaughlin and Morton streets.
“It’s new and it will be busy here too. They will build up here, I can tell they will build up nicely. So I just want to invest here in this location,” he said.
Truong and Hoang came to New Brunswick with their family more than 20 years ago. Truong lived in Vancouver for some time, running his own Vietnamese coffee shop. But he sold the business after deciding to return to New Brunswick two years ago.
“Because my family’s here, so I just want to get back close to [them],” he said.
Although Truong and Hoang are Vietnamese, they won’t focus on cuisine from their home country.
“In Moncton and in New Brunswick, most people like Chinese food,” he said. “Most are not really used to [Vietnamese food], so if you start that business in Moncton, you take a long time to build up the customer base. We will have in the menu some pho and noodles and some Vietnamese food, but not too much.”
Kimbao will have a buffet, as well as options for dining in, take-out or delivery. The menu will resemble that of Vinh’s Wok – mostly combo dishes that are quick to order and eat.
Truong aims to open Kimbao’s in March.