Bánh Mì Très Bon: Vietnamese pho and sandwiches in Richmond
Bánh Mì Très Bon is a Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. They offer classic Vietnamese food like pho noodles and subs. For those who are wondering why “Très Bon” is in the name, it’s because Vietnamese cuisine in general have a great amount of french influence. This isn’t always that obvious at your local pho99 joint.
Interior
We stumble upon Banh Mi based off their impressive 4.3 star rating on Google. We arrive at around 11:30am, right before the big lunch rush.
It’s a small restaurant (they are expanding into the space next door), so if you get stuck in the lunch or dinner rush, it can be awhile before you get a table, especially if you’re a table of more than 2 people.
Their interior reminds me of a little afternoon high tea place. It’s a cute cafe with lots of pictures and frames. They have a very “Alice in wonderland” kind of vibe with a lobby of plush chairs.
Their menus are wooden with debossed writing, which is really cute. They also have a giant menu on the wall next to their counter, where you can buy adorable macarons.
Drinks
Vietnamese dripped coffee – hot or cold ($5)
We order 1 cold Vietnamese dripped coffee. These babies are strong and if I drink one by myself I will be jittered for the rest of the day.
If you’ve never had a Vietnamese dripped coffee before and you love coffee, you should definitely try it. You wait as the coffee slowly drips into the cup. The little bit of white you see in the bottom of the glass is condensed milk. Once you have enough coffee dripped into your cup, you use a spoon to mix it with the condensed milk and melt it. The colour will change to a light brown and then you can pour it into your cup of ice for cold coffee.
Food
Bánh Mì Jambon-House Special ($8)
We order their house special sub – kinda weird not to order a bahn mi when it’s literally in their name.
In general, the sub is good but nothing that makes them stand out from any other banh mi place in Vancouver. Price is higher compared to a sub you can get at your local pho place for $5.
Bánh mì cua lot – soft-shell crab bánh mì ($16)
They have another banh mi on special (not on their regular menu) which has soft shell crab filling. The price is double their regular sandwiches but boy is it good. It’s similar to a po boy, if you like those but a bit more unique.
My boyfriend’s verdict: just get it.
Banh Bot Loc – Shrimp & Pork Tapioca Dumplings ($9)
These dumplings are certainly very pretty. They are see-through and have a shrimp and pork filling inside. You pour fish oil on top.
We originally think it will be a similar taste to ha gao (Chinese shrimp dumplings), but it isn’t as good as we had hoped. The tapioca outside is a bit chewy.
Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli Bowl ($12)
The chicken vermicelli bowl is usually my go-to at pho places because I don’t actually like pho. -gets booed by all my readers-
I really like the visuals and the plating of their food. My bowl comes in a cute little wooden tray with a little pouring cup of fish oil. The vermicelli bowl has a lot of vermicelli. The chicken is seasoned correctly and grilled. The spring rolls are crunchy. Generally, a good bowl of food but nothing too unique about it.
Traditional Vietnamese beef stew – Bò Kho ($12)
Bánh Mì Très Bon’s Vietnamese beef stew is amazing. It is exactly what you want to eat on a rainy day. It’s hearty, warm and full of flavour.
The stew includes really tender beef and soft carrots, and also comes with your choice of bread, noodles or rice (we choose bread). It is definitely worth the $12.
Beef tenderloin & meatball noodle soup ($12)
My boyfriend claims this to be the best pho he’s ever had. The beef tenderloin and meatball soup includes bone marrow! This makes it special indeed.
There is no MSG added to the broth and the beef Bánh Mì Très Bon uses is free-range and hormone-free.
Dessert
Macarons ($3.50 each)
We are super full but we order 2 character macarons to go because they are so damn kawaii. There are only 2 flavours – vanilla or chocolate. We choose 1 hello kitty macaron and 1 totoro macaron. Both are vanilla flavoured.
Final thoughts
We love love love Bánh Mì Très Bon. We think they offer a wide selection of unique Vietnamese dishes that taste as good as they look. Everything we ordered was on par to the local and authentic pho chains across Vancouver and they had several stand-out/unique dishes that make us want to return.
I am excited for them to expand to a bigger space and I’m hoping the quality of their foods and service will remain the same. Very cute spot to check out and definitely a local favourite/must-return.
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