Bao Chau Vietnamese Restaurant

Just driving around East Van on a cool, rainy Saturday and thought Phở weather! The place is bright despite the dull day. A Euro Cup game was playing on their big TV while a fair size crowd was slurping their Phở. Fortunately, we were seated and provided tea right away. (Hot, comforting tea!) We ordered the beef Phở (their specialty) and the Vietnamese deep fried spring rolls (another one of their specialty!) Our steaming bowls of phở and right out of the fryer Vietnamese rolls arrived within 7 minutes. They provided a lot of bean sprouts, holy basil, tiny red chilis and lime wedges to add more goodness to our phos. Some of the beef was still beautifully rare so had to dunk them in the hot broth right away. The broth was deliciously rich and complex! The noodles were still a bit «al dente» to add more texture to the soup. There was plenty of meat (beef balls, thinly sliced beef, tripe) to keep me full for awhile. The Vietnamese rolls were so crispy with the rice paper. Their prices are reasonable $ 2/​roll and $ 9 for a large bowl of Phở. We’ll definitely come back next time we’re in that neck.

After a hard workout, I definitely needed to load on the carbs just to get into focus with life. And what better way in doing so by heading to Bao Chau for some phở.
My friend and I both ordered the #1 special because it is the standard on how the restaurant is like. There was a good amount of meat parts to noodle ratio. The broth is good, just a little bit oily, but it was a definite meal that I would come just for a quick dinner.
Be careful of the cups. They slide often.

Came here because of the high ratings, and are neither impressed or unimpressed. Ordered the hot spicy round noodle soup with spring rolls. Spring rolls were ginormous and quite unlike spring rolls served elsewhere — I give it 3.5÷5 for quality. Service was prompt, noodles were on the average side.

Currently on the quest to find the best phở in Vancouver, I had to try Bao Chau since it’s often touted as one of the best. Living in East van it was a bit of a journey to get here but my expectations were high and it being a lazy hang over Sunday it was perfect for a drive and a big bowl of hot phở.
Walking in, the restaurant had a few patrons and the restaurant was styled much like any other phở or asian restaurant. Slightly run down but with charm. Service from the older fellow was simply awesome!
The girlfriend and I both ordered the Phở Dac Biet and an order of the spring rolls since I’ve heard sooo much about it. We were absolutely starved so our excitement was building. The spring rolls arrived quickly. Gotta say, they live up to the hype. The skin they use here is thicker than usual and I get the feeling they fry them more than usual too. They are above average in size and the thicker skin gives them a bit of chewiness. Although the thicker skin was different for me, I did love them and my expectations for the phở was even higher now.
Unfortunately this is where it all went downhill. One spoonful in and my girl and I exchanged looks of confusion and then disappointment. I tried to be easy on them but I gotta be truthful. The soup here is bland AF. Broth is the basis of everything in a noodle soup and if the broth isn’t on point, it doesn’t matter how good the noodles or other ingredients are, the soup isn’t going to be good. Even though we were ¹⁰⁄₁₀ hungry, this phở didn’t hit the spot.
I want to say that maybe I’ll be back here to try the rish dishes — maybe those are better — but chances are I won’t be making the trek out here again.

Bao Chau was busy and bustling, both eat-​in and take-​out, the night we visited. This is a good sign. Our server was wearing sweatpants. I presume because it’s comfy for working in such a busy place. I ordered Combination A, which consists of 2 deep fried spring rolls, a chicken skewer, a salad roll, rice & salad for $ 12.00. The food was good, didn’t quite meet up to my expectations (somehow I was expecting something really special). My husband had the house special phở, which was okay. So, you know, good food, but… nothing extraordinary. Total bill was $ 26.00.

Best spring rolls in the city~! All of the noodle soups are fully on point also. We have plenty of Vietnamese places in mount pleasant, but we regularly make the trip because we love the food and friendly service so much.
Keep it up!

Couple of us came in to reliable ol’ Bau Chau for a food break while studying. they got the phở combo w/​salad roll, I got the vermicelli. Service was usual Vietnamese phở restaurant service — seated ourselves, ordered what we wanted, and kitchen turned it over the food quickly to us. We’ve always enjoyed coming to Bao Chau as our reliable go-​to source for Vietnamese food in the neighbourhood. Today was an off day. Things didn’t taste right, temperature of the soup was lukewarm, and salad roll tasted rather… pasty. Wasn’t too busy either.
Eh, that said, will still be coming back: P

been here many times. Today was the latest, tried some new stuff. Colleen had the Bun with pork chop and spring roll. The pork was chopped so I guess they mean pork chopped not pork chop. Very delicious regardless of the composition of the description! The spring roll is always the best there. Large, crisp, slightly chewy and so good.
She mixes her bun up so the veg and vermicelli are a mess. She also asks for extra dipping sauce which they have no problem with and she loved it .
I had #19 its bun bo the? its flat noodles instead of the usual spaghetti noodles, very spicy broth, pork roll, rare beef. Just delicious. Tea what hot, service was slow but the old guy was very nice, he really seems to enjoy working and they always seem to be there Cash only! 4.5. $ 22 with tip, its got the phở shizzle!

Best phở in Vancouver. Cheap, delicious and the spring rolls can’t be beat. Friendly staff, good service, and perfect pricing. I love this place.

Never disappointed, big portions, one of my go to phở place in that part of town, i can tell the soup is quality not only it taste good but does not leave me with a dry mouth afterwards! Its busy and thats the only down side.

I love the phở: perfect size, the meat was fresh and sliced to the perfect thickness, the broth was some of the best I’ve had. The service was very friendly as well, will try to go back before I leave the city!

When I try a Vietnamese restaurant, I usually get their signature phở or phở with beef brisket, but I was craving chicken yesterday, so I got their grilled chicken with beef broth instead. It vastly exceeded my expectations. The chicken was very tender, and the lemongrass did not lose flavor in the beef broth. The beef broth was pretty standard though.
I also ordered their mini vegetarian spring rolls (10 spring rolls! share with a friend), which were also a pleasant surprise. They were fried to just the right amount of crispiness, and weren’t too oily. These spring rolls were among the best I’ve had in Vancouver.
My friend ordered steamed rice with grilled chicken, BBQ pork chop, and grilled pork hash. For under $ 10, he got a lot of meat and food (it came with a side salad and soup too), so it was definitely worth the value. Again, the chicken was incredible, and it was my favorite of the three meats. My friend liked the pork hash though, which had a subtle sweet flavor to it. My friend thought the pork chop was too dry until we realized that he was supposed to use the dipping sauce (can’t believe we both forgot about it), so remember to use the sauce folks.
This restaurant also serves you tea upon arrival (hot or cold).

this place is aiight to me. I’ve been here twice and found that the rice and vermicelli dishes are superior to their phở. There were a lot of meat in my bowl, the noodles were cooked perfectly, but the broth was lacklustre. There was no complexity to the broth, it was so bland i had to go hard on the satee and hoisin sauce. Plus i wasn’t really feeling the meat, not bad but not the best quality either, but a large bowl for 8.5 $ i guess that’s reasonable. I’ll pass on the phở next time. However you can’t go wrong with their rice dishes. The grilled pork and chicken always taste fresh, crisp and well seasoned. Their spring rolls aren’t all that, i prefer my spring rolls with taro and not so fried. And one thing more fish sauce on the side please, their portions are pretty big for such a teensy amount of fish sauce.
The restaurant is pretty spacious and has a calm and relaxed atmosphere despite being quite busy. There’s like 3 parking spots for visitors in the back.
The old couple serving us provided great service, i assume they’re the owners? Keep up the good job.

After the food fiasco at Le Do, my hubs and I came to Bao Chau to try the spring rolls because we were still somewhat hungry. I won’t write a long review because we still haven’t really «eaten» here, I suppose. But what we did have was good.
The spring rolls live up to their name. They are delicious, authentically made to the dot with rice paper and pork filling. It tastes almost like how my mom used to make it back at home! Crunchy and with a side of fish sauce, it was perfect. My niece loved them.
I will definitely come back to try their other items. ⁵⁄₅ for the spring rolls alone.

Really good Phở! Quite a selection of dishes and a really welcoming environment. I had lunch here one Friday afternoon and was delighted at how good the service and the food was. Very generous portions that fill you up and keep you going until supper.
Try the beef balls and tripe. Excellent!

I love the grilled minced pork here. IMO the best I’ve tasted compared to other places
Their soup is also very tasty.
The prices are comparable to other Vietnamese restaurants.
The staff are very friendly.
One down fall is that they only take cash.

I always have the number 40… rice vermicelli with grilled pork patty, grilled pork and spring roll. Never fails!
Plus their prices are very good when compared to all the other places I have been to.
Family run business that has been in the neighbourhood for 20 years. The owner, John, always has a smile on too:)

IMO Bao Chau is one of the best cheap phở places in Vancouver. Every time that I have come here it’s been extremely good. From the soups to the rice to the noodles, and especially their famous spring rolls.
The only negative I can say is that it can get a bit pricey at times, ex: My girlfriend and I have come here and gotten 1 rice and 1 vermicelli dish, 1 order of spring rolls and a drink each (non alcoholic) which came to around $ 40 in total including tip. Now that doesn’t really seem to be cheap anymore… but if you just get a dish and only drink water or tea then you’ll find it’s a much better deal.
The spring rolls here are among the best in the city hands down, I’d mark them down as a must try.
CASH ONLYYYYYY!!!

For a grimy dirty Vietnamese restaurant, Bao Chau is pretty standard. Sorry, but this is the kind of place I’m scared to go to the washroom for fear of what I may see on my way there!
I ordered the Meatball soup and I shared some spring rolls with my friend. Hmmm… I guess the food was ok tasting. I’m writing this review hours after eating there, and I haven’t had the dry heaves yet!
Ok I guess it’s cheap and the food is ok tasting, but I wouldn’t bring a date here if I wanted to impress her! Gee I just read my review and thought boy you’re negative! Still I can’t help but think that there is just nothing special about a place like this! It is so very very standard for a Vietnamese restaurant in Van City! Can’t someone please open up a clean Vietnamese restaurant?

With all the raving reviews on Unilocal I came in with high expectations but it was just kinda… meh!
As always I ordered my Bun Bo Hue and my coworkers ordered their regular phở. It tasted different than the usual BBH I was used to. Not necessarily in a bad way but I couldn’t pin point exactly why it didn’t blow me away. There was no pork hock (feet), no pork blood and no banana blossoms which was a bit of a downer. I looked around at the other tables and realized a lot of people had ordered the rice dishes and vermicelli bowls — perhaps those are the better tasting dishes? Quite possibly.
The restaurant is pretty spacious so there were no problems finding a table.
I would consider coming back here to try their spring rolls, rice dishes or vermicelli bowls but definitely not for the BBH.