Thanh Xuan Cafe

This restaurant is tucked away and easily missed. Their menu is limited but food is tasty and authentic. Most come here for their paper rice rolls which you don’t find at typical Vietnamese restaurants. The restaurant is small and I think the owner, cooks, and cashier is just one person; it feels like you are eating at someone’s house more than a restaurant. Not much customer service - tea is even self serve. The lack or service and atmosphere kind of feels like it is part of an experience.

I tried both the meat filled ban cuon and the no filling ones. They were good but I think my favorite go to place still has to be thu hien.

I saw the reviews or rating here were quite good and high, so I gave it a try and came here for lunch today. The restaurant was empty around 12. But once we had sat down, more customers came. The customer service was not good unfortunately. Only one server or the owner took care of all the customers and took the orders. I saw there was only one chef in the kitchen. The customer service was slow because of lack of staff. The menu was one page double sided. There were not many options. I would like to order the steamed handmade paper rolls with pork and shrimp but the server told me that I had to wait for a long time, so I ordered a bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup instead. I was kind of disappointed because I came here for the steamed handmade paper rolls. I saw a table next to us ordered the steamed handmade paper rolls. They did have to wait for the dishes. The bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup arrived. The presentation of the bowl was average. The soup base was very light like chicken soup. The celeries were full of black things surrounded them. I spit out the black part because I didn’t feel comfortable eating it. The fish paste cake was okay. Overall, this bowl of fish paste cake in noodle soup didn’t make me feel “wow! It tastes so good.” I had an excellent eating experience of eating the same dish at Hoang Yen on Victoria Drive. Hoang Yen’s fish paste cake in noodle soup was X times better than this one here. Hoang Yen’s soup base, colours, texture, flavours, presentation and the quality overall were much better than this one. I am not exaggerating. The owner or server of this Vietnamese restaurant should visit Hoang Yen and tried their fish paste cake or squid cake in noodle soup. Hoang Yen’s is really so much better. As you can see, I may not come back here to eat again. First of all, I couldn’t eat the dish (steamed handmade paper rolls with pork and shrimp) that I wanted. Secondly, I could eat better dishes at other Vietnamese restaurants in the same neighbourhood. There are parking installs in the complex, street parking and an underground parking. But Kingsway is a busy street and the parking stalls in the complex are always full and it is small and compact. Be careful when you drive to this complex.

The best banh cuon that I know of but they raise up the price so often and now I'm thinking if it's worth it anymore.

My favorite Vietnamese steamed rice rolls “banh cuon” in Vancouver. Me and my friend tend to come here around 11:30pm when we don’t have to wait for long time. They take dine-in but the restaurant is small (just 2 tables for now). You can call them before 30,45 mins and come to pick up. We always order 1 Large $16 for 2 people (half meat/half plain). Their “banh cuon” is so yummy with fried onion and Vietnamese ham.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been for a visit to Thanh Xuan Cafe. Not much has changed. We dropped in on a Thursday for lunch and it was busy. Most people were grabbing takeout banh cuon. Two ladies working, four tables (14 seats total). Service is on the slow side. Help yourself to the hot water/tea near the back. Menu is basically 4 dishes but the prices already include taxes. - Bun rieu cua ($12.00) - light, simple broth. It won’t blow you away but hits the spot. - Banh cuon nhan tom thit ($17.00 large) - this is the large option. Comes with two bowls of nuoc mam, herbs and sliced chili peppers. Fresh and delicious. Everyone gets it. Cash only.

Hidden GEM! Vietnamese Crepes DELICIOUS! Freshly made and prepared to order. The crepes comes with fish sauce for dipping and greens for you to eat with the crepes $17 large portion you can share with 2-3 people. Stay local and don't need to travel too far. A place to go when I'm in that part of Vancouver.

When it comes to food, I am extremely picky. This place have the best Banh Cuon outside of Vietnam. I have had freshly made Banh Cuon every morning on the streets of Hanoi, so I know how authentic Banh Cuon taste.