Amazing place for vietnamese food. Very authentic! The owners are amazing. Super friendly! They have many dishes that no other vietnamese restaurants make! It's a must try and go again!
I love coming to this restaurant because they prepare authentic Vietnamese cuisine and the price point is extremely affordable!!!
I love my egg noodles #8 and all the servers are super nice and attentive!
Mì Quảng is so really good!!!!! The best ever I have ;)
Amazing food and great service. #8 is my favourite.
Yes. We,re Eating Again.
+4
We arrived on Saturday on Victoria Drive at 34th, not too long after opening (we're calling it brunch) and were seated right away. By the time we left, there were still a few tables available but they were getting busy. We started with Banh bot loc la chuoi a steamed tapioca dumpling with shrimp and pork, served with fish sauce (btw, I apologize for all the missing punctuation). This is the same dumpling that we had at Do Chay about a week ago (except for the pork and shrimp thing). These were easily on par with the others with a delightful texture and a salty meaty filling offsetting the subtlety of the tapioca. Next, we had Bahn beo nhan uot. These were rice cakes, evidently steamed on their plates and then topped with pork and a shrimp puree and served with fish sauce. This is the most unique thing that we have sampled in a long time! It was texturally pleasant with the rice cake being soft but firm enough to provide a platform for the topping. Wonderful! Try this! Next up was Cao Lau, a yellow rice noodle (yellow thanks to Tumeric) with sauteed pork and garlic sauce. The pork was garlicky and tender and between the noodles and peanuts, we were again impressed. Like Pho (but not from southern Vietnam like pho) this dish came with some adders including shredded banana blossoms (which Marie often uses in Filipino cooking unbeknownst to me). Finally came Com Bo Kho, a chunky beef stew that I had always attributed to French colonialism and which I assume involved central Vietnam just like the south (shame on me for this gap in my history knowledge). Our server assured me that it was authentic to the central Vietnamese aspect of the menu. I can only say that it was excellent like everything else that we enjoyed here! Not vegetarian-friendly at all unless you are plain rice friendly (just being honest). The folks here are lovely and the service is attentive. You need to put HAC on your bucket list (unless you are vegetarian, as mentioned).
It was our First time here and you could tell it was a hot spot. They are very efficient as they cleaned up fast but also had you seated just as fast. I normally look for great bun bho hue and this was the place. It was one of the common dishes ordered next to their pho. Their bun bho hue had enough spiceyness, noodles and meat. Would definitely come here again! I would only take one point away for our table being awkwardly placed but then again food was great and we were seated promptly- how can you complain!
good service
good authentic unique vietnamese food
parking is can be a hassle
small cozy place
average price
if i had to choose 1 dish: cao lau
would i go back? yes
What a fantastic place for Vietnamese food! If you are expecting stellar service, you will be disappointed. It is a place to go for it's great food - eat and go; very much like a lot of hole-in-the-wall places! Don't put too much stock on service - it is the food that you are there for. The quality of the food and the speed in which you get your order is great. It is a busy place on Saturday lunch time. Be prepared to wait. Most customers eat and do not linger around. Your patience will be rewarded with good quality Vietnamese food. Highly recommend trying this place out. #4 steamed dumplings are so tasty. Great way to whet your appetite before you get your bowl of noodles and food. Try this place out and you will not be disappointed with the food.
My foodie friends and I went for a food crawl last Saturday in the Kensington area. We went 6 different restaurants to try some of their signature dishes. Starting from today, I will blog about one restaurant per day for the next 5 days. So here we go!. The first stop is Hoi An Cafe, the only one Viet restaurant that serve authentic Central Vietnamese food in Vancouver. We ordered some of the signature dishes to share, which includes their infamous Mì Quảng, an authentic Vietnamese turmeric noodle dish, Cafe Sữa (Vietnamese Ice Coffee), and much more!
My favourite dish were the tapioca dumplings (#4). They were nice and chewy but had a really powerful small kick to it from the birds eye chillies! It paired so well with the fish sauce hey had for dipping. delicious. The broth in the pho was super flavourful and I thought the bowl had just the right amount of noodles and meat in them. Service was super friendly despite me coming in 30 minutes before closing. Would definitely recommend this small, friendly, clean neighbourhood joint!
You know what I just realized? Now that I live in Kits, I rarely venture out of the Westside. (This is more or less due to the fact that Jeremy has a preference for staying in Kits, downtown, and Gastown.) Am I becoming a (gasp) Westside snob? JK JK. Burnaby will always have my heart
Overall good restaurant. Tasty dishes and quick service. Good prices too ($8.95 for a large pho, $11 for a lemongrass chicken on rice w/ egg). Portions are pretty standard for your Vietnamese restaurant, but the pho's broth is rich and tasty and not too salty.
The lemongrass chicken is also very tasty! It is one of the more succulent lemon grass chickens I've had. One downside of this restaurant is the parking as they don't have a dedicated lot so you have to park in the street or the side street. Also there are no bahn mi and spring rolls. But the food makes up for it.
Really good authentic vietnamese cuisine. Brought my friend who just got back from Vietnam and was craving the food, he approved!
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Banh Bot Loc Tan ; wasn't sure how I would feel about a tapioca wrapping, but it was a flavourful starter.
- Cao Lau Dac Biet ; FLAVORFUL AF. The noodles had a great texture to them, and I loved the combination of peanut crunch, shrimp and banana blossom.
- Cafe Sua ; I'm personally not a huge fan of condensed milk but everyone I've spoken to absolutely loves the vietnamese coffee here! So if you're a fan, I'd say definitely order it.
This Vietnamese restaurant is highly rated, so we came here and tried their Vietnamese food. There is street parking near the restaurant. No private parking lot.
The restaurant was quite full when we got there but we were lucky to get a table right away. The service was okay. Once we had ordered the food, it came quickly. The restaurant was very efficient. We ordered beef combination, rare beef and tendon and etc. with thin rice noodle in soup. The beef was tendered. But the tendon was quite chewy and hard and it was not fully cooked yet. All of us ordered thin rice noodle in soup with small and large sizes. The small ones were quite small though. The broth/soup was good but it had a very strong flavour of star anise. Some people might not like it though.
Overall, the service, quality of food and pricing are acceptable and on average.
Hoi An Cafe is located on Victoria Drive and 34th Avenue. It has small spaces, and it is surrounded by many good restaurants.
Banh Bot Loc Tran 茶果餃 is great with their fish sauce. A must try dish. It is a boiled pork and shrimp tapioca dumplings served with fish sauce.
Cao Lau dac biet 干撈麵 is also another must try dish. Special Cao Lau with half pork and shrimp and a side of fresh mixed green herb and banana blossom
Food: 4/5
Services: 4/5
Special Features: Banh Bot Loc Tran and Cao Lau
Been here on multiple occasions and I always leave satisfied with my bowl of pho. The portions are good and the servers are nice. The pho is flavourful and not overly salty. I like getting #1 because it has a little bit of everything. Has rare beef, beef ball, tendon, and tripe. The tendon I had last time was a bit chewier than I liked and not as tender but it was still good. We also got #4 which are steamed tapioca dumplings. The skin is soft and chewy and the add crispy deep fried bits to complement it. This time, I found the skin to be a bit thicker than usual, but it still tasted great.
Casual eats. Great price and portions. Friendly service.
Order: Cao Lau
Place hits the spot for rainy day comfort food. Much needed since vancity rains so much. Had the Cao Lau, a northern Vietnamese specialty. Yellow noodles, pork, garlic sauce, sprouts, greens and banana blossom. I never had banana blossom before but I didn't really find it contributing much to the overall taste of the dish. It did however, add a textually pleasing factor to the dish. Sauce was flavorful, adding a little bit of moisture to this non soup base dish. Loved the black sesame crackers on the side that did not get soggy and gross when sitting in the sauces for longer periods of time. Noodles were bomb. I love thick noodles and they were cooked just right.
Definitely coming back to try more items.
With just ONE vegetarian main, it's hard to go veggie at Hoi An Cafe. Fortunately, the one dish you can order is pretty decent. It's a simple, bright place. The layout means it's hard to put a really big group of 10+ together at the same table without a lot of advance warning, so if you really have that big a group AND you insist they all sit together, request it specifically ahead of time.
Well, what can I say about this place.. other than its my favorite! Vietnamese cuisine seems to have a special place in my heart. If my palate could talk, it wouldnt. It would just be jumping for joy. I love the unique dishes here that arent found at many of the other Vietnamese restaurants. Always come hungry, and leave way too full. Thats the way its done!
Had the Pho Tai. Not bad. I also had an avocado shake. I don't try the noodles known from Hoi An, Vietnam. Overall nice place and good food.
I have heard a lot of good reviews about Hoi An so we finally decided to come on a Saturday night. Hoi An Café is an authentic Vietnamese restaurant located on Victoria Street, across from Tengs grocery market. It is a small causal cafe, very clean and tidy with great services. The dishes did not disappointed us, amazingly good!
We used to go to this restaurant almost every weeks until they changed the ownership and since then the food just doesn't taste the same. The food used to be delicious and it used to be one of my favourite Vietnamese restaurants but not anymore. Food tastes alright after change of ownership but they just don't taste the same. Be careful when you take out and make sure tell them to give you back your change because the owner didn't give my husband the change back for take out. Their specialty there is mi quang and their bun bo hue. We also tried banh beo before change of ownership and they tasted good.
Fresh ingredients! Bf ordered the pho dac biet and the soup was a little on the salty end but very tasty. I ordered the bun bo hue and it was pretty good too. Not too oily and not too salty. We shared the nammer ham and shrimp salad roll and a lime soda. 4 things came up to 29$ which is cheap! I'm ordering the ho tieu next time as I saw most people were eating this!
June 22/16:
Tried the 'stinky noodles ' my gf recommended me and they were good! Tastes like hu tieu but diff noodle and slightly different sauce. The steam dumpling is really really good here too!! Check out the pix
There was alot of buzz about this place so my girlfriend and I went to check it out for lunch. The service is amazing. Very corporate standards with check ups. Food is tasty and some with a twist. We ask for what's popular and what they would recommend. Nicely done.
Update: no. 4, 10, 12 comforting. Bumping up my rating to 4. Service is amazing, 5/5.
Btw if you need a oil change on your beamer, benz, or porsche, with high end motor oils, next door has a garage. Might as well eat here and wait for them to change the oil.
Very good here. They have dishes you can't find anywhere else, including this rice pudding wrap dish they serve steamed in lotus leaves - try it. Traditional pho, tasty soup, on the higher end of the price range.
Authentic Vietnamese with great price.
Had the banh bot loc la chuoi, which is chewy dumpling-like delicacy wrapped in a leaf, and banh bot loc tran, which is a similar dumpling but fried with garlic, onion and spices.
The mi quang was of a huge portion, filled with savoury pork slices.
All in all, great, clean restaurant with friendly staff, and offering high quality, authentic Vietnamese food.
so i was hungry as usual and this time i ordered two main as i would know that one main dish won't satisfy me, so i ordered the lemon grass chicken, and a house special pho ( pho with all the possible meat variation) i ate first the lemon grass chicken and it was tender and juicy and the flavor packs all the necessary taste for a memorable lemon grass chicken. then moving on to the pho, the flavor of the broth is fantastic i'll say. and the flank is awesome :)) would trully recommend those two main dishes and last i ordered no.33 if i'm not mistaken it's similar to indonesian's es campur whih hae 3 different kinds of beans and some other sago type ingredients and the sweetness is good to me, it's sweet but just the right amount of sweet and whenever you bite beans the sweetness of the beans covers the taste of the ice with sweet liquid myabe it's condensed milk, but it's a good desert recommends it as well :)
When it comes to eating Vietnamese food, Hoi An has the best pho and rice dishes! My favourite dish from there is the lemon grass chicken with an egg and rice! The meat is marinated with so much flavour! So yummy! You should definitely check this place out!
Greatfoodmediocrecompany
+4.5
This place is a regular for me! I get the same thing every time I go there. A small number 20 with the beef on the side and it never lets me down. I go there so often the servers remembers my order! Here’s the break down, it’s called Bun Bo Tai, which I believe is a play off of the traditional Vietnamese soup, Bun Bo Hue. This soup is a spicy soup with a beef broth, round spaghetti style rice noodles, small pork hand-dropped meatballs, garnished with cilantro and onions. Here is the kicker, the difference between Bun Bo Hue and Bun Bo Tai is the meat, traditionally it’s served with beef shank but instead this soup comes with thinly sliced marinated beef! It’s absolutely mouth-wateringly flavourful. I prefer my meat on the side because I really enjoy rare meat, I can then control the cooking of the meat when I dip it in the broth. Like traditional Vietnamese food a side plate comes with some lime, bean sprouts and thai basil, but since the servers know I don’t use the basil they intentionally leave it off. If I’m extra hungry or if I come here with others I tend to order a bit more and get salad rolls or their Banh Bot Loc (a glutenous ball with dried shrimp and pork wrapped in banana leaves). Their specialty dish is called Mi Quang which is a dry noodle dish that comes from the region of Hoi An, I haven’t given that one a try yet, but only because every time I go, a feeling inside makes me order the Bun Bo Tai! Recommended for any gluten sensitive diners! Most Vietnamese food is rice based and doesn’t contain gluten! 49.238838 -123.065204 Knight, Vancouver, BC, Canada Share this: Twitter Facebook Google
Pho Was As Good As Expected!. I ordered the Large Pho dac biet as usual :)
Pho came shortly after i ordered and was steaming hot (which I like)!
Pho was delicious, broth tasted quite clear, cannot detect the msg.. soup was just great!
I had to ask for red chili peppers but staff was nice about giving it to me. Service was okay! Seatings however was minimal.
What I didn't like is they dont ask if you want tea or water and just hand you something. I think on the menu somewhere it says like $1.00 more to change? I'm not sure.. It's not a big deal since its a freebie anyways right? :P
I thought the price for pho is a bit on the higher side.. but for the quality.. it is totally worth it! I would RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone. Thank you!
A really small mom pop shop that serves Vietnamese cuisine. The service is excellent and the food delicious. Unfortunately they do not serve any rice dishes. However, they do have a unique set of dishes.
I love this place. Their cuisine is unlike most vietnamese places in Vancouver and the reason being is because their food is specific to their particular region in vietnam where the family came from. I love the deep fried shrimp spring rolls and mi quang- which is noodles with a mixture of veggies, nuts, meat and just a bit of broth added to the bottom. I strongly recommended this place! And the waitresses are so friendly!
#1 with #2 sauce is awesome. Pho is average at best
Reminiscent of Vietnam. After coming back from a backpacking trip to Vietnam, the two things I've been searching for in Vancouver is Cao Lau and Banh Xeo.
Hoi An's Cao Lau is almost identical to the hole-in-the-wall restaurants I've tried in vietnam. Perfect amount of soup and noodles, flavourful broth and they even include banana flowers for garnishing. SO DELICIOUS -- must try!
Friendly service, clean restaurant, delicious flavorful food.
Hoi An’s specialty is Mi Quang, a type of Vietnamese dry noodle that’s yellow in colour. One of the most popular dishes is their Mi Quang with Cao Lau Sauce. On the menu, it’s #1 with #2 sauce hence, the name “1 1/2″. It had pork and shrimp garnished with herbs and a sauteed pork and garlic sauce. It’s also served with toasted rice sesame crackers which I didn’t really like… I thought it had a strange taste. Anyways, the noodles were good and it was unlike any other Vietnamese dish I’ve had before. The noodles were cooked al dente and they’re flatter and wider compared to the regular noodles.
Hoi An Cafe is a small Vietnamese restaurant located in the heart of Victoria Drive. I like to call that area the new China Town of Vancouver. The decoration is quite modern compared to other Vietnamese restaurants in the area. After a quick glance at their menu, I ordered their Mi Quang with Cau Lau sauce (1 with 2 sauce). – $8.75 “Diners favourite! Basically Cau Lau with half pork and shrimp complimented with a side of fresh mixed green herb & banana blossom.” - Fresh mixed green herb & banana blossom. Mi Quang with Cau Lau sauce (1 with 2 sauce) – The thick yellow noodle is very unique and I don’t think any other Vietnamese restaurant serves this kind of noodles. Everything in this noodle dish complemented one another really well. The right amount of seasoning in the sauce. The noodles were cooked perfectly. What an excellent dish! The only thing that I thought they could improve on was the BBQ pork slices. The BBQ pork slices didn’t taste that fresh. – 8.3/10 (I took off 0.2 for
Craving Asian food, I sought out my guest for the best. He has never steered me wrong, and today was no different. He took me to one of his favourite go-to’s for Vietnamese cuisine. This was a nice family run establishment. Good food, a warm setting, and friendly faces serving you with a smile. Definitely one of those places sustained by the surrounding neighbourhood. With earlier closing hours and a one day close per week, make sure they are open and serving before you make the trip down. The decor was simple and clean. Things appeared newer. Pink to beige painted walls, ceiling fans, marble table tops, black chairs, and a corner booth upholstered in red pleather. Their restaurant’s name was painted in red on the back wall, just after the cash register. And past this, gave you a look into their modest kitchen. Overall there isn’t much to look at in terms of decorations. An oil canvas painting here, a set of abstract pictures there, a couple of mirrors lining the hall, and a mounted
Although the special combos were VERY tasty, it leaves you feeling a bit unsatisfied at the end due to the semi-small portion
Banh Beo is what I come here for and sometimes its the only thing I order. It comes with onions but I always ask for no green onions and extra dry onions =) I rate this place 10/10 for food, service, price and ambiance!
I was not disappointed with Hoi An Cafe, the food was very fresh and the noodle dishes are unlike the others I have tried. Service was also friendly and prompt, which is why I recommend Hoi An Cafe if you are looking for something other than the usual Pho you find in Vancouver.
Bún bò Huế is a Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli in soup dish. It has a strong lemongrass flavor that is originated from Huế. Bun Bo Hue is a spicy pork broth with lai fen noodles (Rice Spaghetti Noodles). The soup is commonly made with beef bones, pork hock, beef shank, lemon grass and fermented shrimp sauce. Usually the dish is served with cilantro, green onions, onions, pork hock, pork blood, pork balls, and shank.
Hoi An is a Vietnamese restaurant that has been on my list of places to visit for quite some time now, so long that it had fallen under the radar until my friend suggested this place out of the blue. Their menu consists of mainly noodle in soup dishes but the must try item is their dry noodle specials, according to reviews online. So first up, we have the #2 1/2 Cau Lau ($8.95), which is a combination of their menu items #1 Mi Quang with #2 Cau Lau sauce. The yellow rice noodles are atypical from what is found at other restaurants and just as good with a slight bite to them. The pork and garlic sauce is addicting and a squeeze of lime is all that is needed to give the sauce a bit of that extra kick. The Bun Bo Hue ($8.50) is pretty good here as well, with that perfectly sweet and tangy broth that I love. The noodles here are thinner than what I am use to but it doesn't take away from the dish. For bun bo hue, I personally would rank Hoi An second, after Pho Quyen (review here ) becau
In the end, I enjoyed this bowl of pho. It didn’t blast me with a load of sodium, and everything was clean and fresh.
Hoi An Cafe is a great spot for Vietnamese food. I really enjoyed my meal and their Mi Quang dish really has me wanting to return. Upon payment of the bill, the waitress suggested that we try #19 on the menu which is apparently a steamed rice cake dish topped with shrimp and pork. My only real complaint is that their hours of operation do not stretch into the evening long enough for me to make it there post work (7pm closing). Be that as it may, I will have to return to Hoi An Cafe on another weekend to try more of their offerings.
Gastrofork Dee De Los Santos
+4.5
The soup itself was much more heavier and sweeter than most Pho places I’ve been to – which I liked because I always find the soup very bland in flavour.
...my Mi Quang was fantastic...
One of our members who had been here before, reported that the #1 special Mi Quong (egg noodles in Pork/shrimp broth) was both light, and tasty – and he highly recommended ordering “semi-off-the-menu” with a custom order of #1 with the #2 special’s sauce.
So famous in Vancouver and on REVscene that there's even a dedicated thread for this restaurant. So why the popularity? On my initial visit on a Saturday an hour before closing, there was still a steady stream of people coming in. I had set up a RS meet, and in true internet forum fashion, 10 people signed up but only 2 showed up. Myself and Andreas. Y'all missed out, just saying. The second visit was a random sunny Tuesday at 2pm, but it was packed. People actually had to WAIT at the door for a table to clear up. What's this little normal looking Vietnamese restaurant doing to conjure up such business and traffic? Well, let's start with some appetizers and see why. 17. Tom Chien $5.50 deep fried whole shrimp & pork spring rolls Yep, it's an entire shrimp the whole length of the roll, surrounded by a blanket of ground pork mixture rolled up in a spring roll. Countless hours and late nights have undoubtedly gone into the making of these, a
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