Vietnamese food – Page 2

An Amazing Croissant at La La Bakeshop

Published on August 6, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3272 Midland Avenue, Scarborough
Website: https://www.lalabakeshop.ca/

La La Bakeshop is a thoroughly delightful bakery that melds French and Vietnamese flavours, mostly through its assortment of Asian-inspired croissants (though they do have several other cakes and desserts, and everything looked great).

I went with the condensed milk croissant, which certainly isn’t a taste combo that I would have thought of. But oh man. It was insanely delicious.

Mostly, it’s the croissant. There are roughly a billion bakeries in the GTA where you can find a croissant, but most of them aren’t much better than okay. Frequently, the texture isn’t quite right, or they’re not buttery enough, or they’re not fresh enough, or they’re just… not good.

The croissant here was remarkable. Perfect texture — it’s super flaky and crispy, with just the right level of tenderness and heft on its interior. Great buttery flavour. Legitimately one of the best croissants I’ve had in the GTA.

It’s filled with a pretty generous amount of gooey, oozy condensed milk, and you’d think it would be too sweet, but somehow, it isn’t. The croissant and the condensed milk work so well together that I’m shocked I’ve never seen this combination before. It would be a tasty combo with even a lesser croissant, but with a croissant of this quality? It’s a contender for the best pastry in the GTA.

A Solid Sandwich at Banh Mi Boys

Published on June 24, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 392 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://banhmiboys.com/

Remember Banh Mi Boys? They opened back in 2011, and were thoroughly amazing. They were one of my favourite places for a quick bite downtown. But then they expanded and, like with so many places, the quality went downhill. After a couple of particularly iffy sandwiches, I stopped going altogether.

But it’s been a few years, and I figured it was time to give them another shot. And hey, what do you know — they’re pretty good again. I don’t know if they’ll ever hit the highs of their early days, but it was a really solid sandwich.

I had the five spice pork belly banh mi, and yeah, it was tasty. The pork was slightly tough and the flavours don’t quite pop like they used to (and the spice level was sadly anemic, despite asking for it hot), but this was otherwise a satisfying banh mi. The bread was nice and fresh, and the abundant pickled veggies do a good job of cutting through the richness of the pork.

Delicious Sandwiches at Bunmi

Published on June 4, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 822 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: http://bunmi.ca/

Bunmi is a banh mi shop where everything is available as a banh mi or a bao, and it’s absolutely fantastic. Seriously, seriously good.

They have a handful of sandwiches on the menu; I went with the signature banh mi, which comes with “BBQ lemongrass AAA tenderloin, with home-made butter, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro, topped with our secret BUN MI sauce.”

Everything about this just works. The beef is tender and flavourful, the creamy Bun Mi sauce complements it perfectly, and the pickled carrots cut through the richness (and add some nice crunch).

I wish it were spicier (it was barely spicy at all, though I think that’s because I wound up with only hot sauce and no hot peppers), but it was so delicious that it barely even mattered. It’s legitimately one of the tastiest banh mi that I’ve had in the GTA.

And the banh mi itself (i.e. the actual bread) was phenomenal, with a delicately crispy exterior and a fluffy interior. A lot of banh mi can be a bit of a mouth-wrecker if you don’t eat it carefully, but this one you can eat with aplomb with an uninjured mouth — without ever losing out on the crispiness that makes banh mi so delightful.

I will note that the sandwich is costs more than the norm at $11.55, but this is an absolute steal for a sandwich this delicious (and this crammed with meat). I’ve mentioned before that I think the expectation that Asian food needs to be dirt cheap is unfair; if you’re going to complain that a sandwich this good is overpriced at $11.55, you need to GTFO with that nonsense.

Tasty Vegetarian Vietnamese Food at Dai Bi Chay

Published on May 18, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2399 Cawthra Road, Mississauga
Website: https://daibichay.com/

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of Dai Bi Chai going in. An entirely vegetarian Vietnamese place? With a bunch of mock meats on the menu? How good could that be?

Quite good, as it turns out.

I tried the bun bo hue chay, a zingy, spicy bowl of noodle soup that comes with an assortment of mock meats. The soup itself was quite tasty, with a zippy flavour (that’s nicely amped up by the smoky chili oil on the table) and a decent amount of depth that keeps things interesting.

As for the mock meats, I’m pretty sure they’re all tofu-based (they all have the taste and texture of very firm tofu); I don’t think anyone’s going to be fooled, but they’re tasty for what they are.

Great Banh Mi at Saigon Snacks

Published on May 7, 2024 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 139 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://saigonsnacks.ca/

Saigon Snacks is a great little shop that serves a handful of banh mi sandwiches, along with a bunch of sweet coffee and tea concoctions. I fear that it might not be trendy enough to survive on this particular stretch of Ossington, which would be a damn shame, because their sandwiches are top notch.

You can choose from grilled pork, grilled chicken, fish cake, cold cuts, and tofu. The sandwich comes filled with pickled daikon, cucumber, cilantro, mayo, pate, and two types of chilis.

I went with the grilled pork, which was generously applied, tender, and very flavourful. I was a bit concerned when I saw the bread, which is short and squat and looks a bit ciabatta-esque; but no, this is a legit banh mi (and clearly very fresh), with a great delicate layer of exterior crispiness.

And the balance of flavours — creaminess from the mayo, crunch and zinginess from the veggies, and pops of heat from the peppers — is just right.

It’s a classic banh mi prepared with a sure hand and great ingredients. Which brings me back to my “is it trendy enough?” concern. I really hope so, because it’s seriously good.