Hoi An Cafe

What drew me to Hoi An Café is that they’re one of the only places in Vancouver you can find Cao Lau — a delicious specialty from Hoi An, Vietnam made with noodles, pork, a slew fresh herbs and bean sprouts, and crispy chips (apparently this is traditionally pork crackling). The first time I tried this dish was in Hoi An at a cooking school and it was amazing — the perfect combination of textures and flavours. Having been about a year since my trip to Vietnam, the dish at Hoi An Café was just as good as I remembered.
I also enjoyed a side of bánh bèo nhân khô, or steamed rice cakes with dry shrimp and shallots with fish sauce — this was also delicious, albeit a little awkward to eat thanks to its slippery texture and my modest chopstick abilities.
The atmosphere is very casual — there was a large TV over the bar playing some kind of Vietnamese talk /​game show the entire time.
I will definitely return to Hoi An Café when the craving for Cao Lau returns. The servers were helpful (they showed us how to properly mix everything together) and kept our tea full.

There are at least 5 other Vietnamese restaurants on the same block if you include Chau Veggie Express which is Vietnamese Fusion.
Hoi An is a solid, if unexceptional, example of this genre. The broth in the Phó noodles is savoury, yet I didn’t suffer from the headaches I get when soup is heavily MSG laden. The $ 9.50 they charge for a large Phó is a bit pricy for the amount served, but it’s about par for the course. The dollar upgrade from the small Phó seems to buy you more noodles but not more beef. (I haven’t quantified that of course so don’t sue me.).
The Cao Láu noodle dish my partner ordered was very colorfully presented which earned them extra points. And it helped that it tasted as good as it looked. The combination of prawns and pork worked very well.
When we arrived, this place was jam packed. But, like I said, if you can’t get into this joint, there are several other Phó places down the street.

My sis and I decided to hit up Hoi An for Phở. I walked pass by this area and it seemed like this resto looks cleaner than other Vietnamese restos on Victoria Dr. It was empty when we first walked in around 4pm.
Service was fast. My sis ordered #17 rare beef and tendon and I got #20 with rare beef in spicy soup. I kinda wanted fried chicken wings and they don’t sell it here. But they do have salad rolls. Our food was good. Meat slices were tender and loved how pork hock was boneless. My soup seemed bit oily and I guess it’s meant to be like this. I’m not sure.
I liked iced coffee too, so yummy. We thought food was not bad overall. Also they also accept visa as payment method.

This is my go-​to vietnamese place. The phở is good value with a decent amount of rare beef in their special phở with everything. I’ve had their mi quang and cao lau, I can’t speak on how authentic they are but they’re delicious. I love the mix of flavours and emphasis on fresh lettuce and herbs. Their tea is tasty, its jasmine tea with pandang.

I really wanted to like this place: it’s clean and tidy, service’s attentive and helpful, and they offer some appies (and apparently some entrees as well) that aren’t too common in ordinary phở places. However, the food is just average; I mean they’re not bad, but they’re not that great either. To me it’s just another Vietnamese eatery on Victoria. Sorry.

Ambiance & Service ⁴⁄₅. Quaint little mom and pop shop and a hidden gem of a hangover go-​to. Simple décor and always clean. You’ll get your oder within 10 minutes.
Food ⁵⁄₅ one of my favorite spots with a great selection. They’re best known for their dry noodles with their housemade sauce which packs a great flavour and comes in a portion big enough to fill any 6ft tall’s tummy. If that’s not enough, their BBH and phở are pretty good too. Their beef is alway tender and perfectly marinated. If you’re still hungry, their starters of steamed rice cakes are really popular and tasty.
They also have a really good durian shake if you’re into that or feeling a bit adventurous.
Location ³⁄₅ 2 hour parking in front and free parking along 34^th. Along 20 bus route. Across from dairy queen and other food joints so you’re competing with them for parking. Dangerous intersection at 34^th and Victoria so just be careful making turns with the blind spots (use the same caution as you would in richmond lol).
Price ⁴⁄₅. Never more than 15 a person.

This place is a gem. Super clean and great service. The dry noodles are delicious and the spicy phở broth is great for a cold. They don’t have any deep fried spring rolls, so if you are craving greasy this isn’t the place.
The tapioca dumplings are very flavourful and the shrimp rolls are good too. It’s much nicer here than most phở places and the prices are awesome.

Another restaurant to add to my favorite Vietnamese food in Vancouver. We ordered Mi Quang, Bun Bo Quang and Bun Bo vien. I really enjoyed the broth of the noodles soup. It was light and flavorful at the same time. The Mi Quang was just ok, not memorable. I would come back for their noodles soup. I also like how the food came out really fast. The place looks clean and they accept Visa cards, that in itself deserves one star for this neighborhood.

Everyone who knows me knows I love to eat bun Bo hue. I’m always searching… This place was modern in décor. Really to me it doesn’t matter. I didn’t find the bun bo hue that appealing. Not much meat and not much flavor. No banana blossoms either. Boo. For me It didn’t fix that craving. I yearned for something better after this place. The price point was about right but I don’t think I would be back just because I know of a better place.

Team Fam came here for dinner and I had the following:
Large Phở Tai Gan ($ 8.50, rice noodles with tendon and rare beef)
Banh Bot Loc Tran ($ 7.50, boiled pork and shrimp tapioca dumplings with fish sauce)
Starting with the Phở Tai Gan, this was a standard large bowl of phở with your usual fare of scallion, onions, and cilantro. The noodles were okay in chewiness and clung together pretty well. I did not recall having jitters at how the broth was but there were an average amount of beef and tendon toppings in this phở. If I chose a matching restaurant for this place, it’d be Red Pagoda because nothing really stood out in the noodles or broth, but they got the job done.
The Banh Bot Loc Tran was an interesting dish. I know I usually get spring rolls but they didn’t have any here. These tapioca dumplings didn’t cling very well to the toppings on top so often times I would be trying to balance as much as I could while dipping into the provided fish sauce. The tapioca dumplings had a chewy texture to them but for $ 7.50 you could probably find the same quality at a chilled temperature inside a Vietnamese grocer for a few dollars cheaper. The bonus of ordering this here would be that the dumplings are probably fresher and are heated up evenly.

Very clean and very accommodating ! The soup was amazing! And they even accepted us and treated us kindly and accommodating even when we came in 15 mins before they closed! I’m from Las Vegas and I will definitely be back!

First visit to Hoi An on Victoria. Phở tai broth tastes odd but the Bun Cha Hue is good. Spicy and tangy! Be sure to add lime juice for extra tang. It looks clean and new and is reasonably priced with prompt and friendly service.

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 ½″. 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.
The food is very affordable-​about $ 8 – 9 for a dish that will fill you up! Try their specialties if you come here — either #1 or #2 or a combination of the two! I’d like to try their Cao Lau next time. Also, note that it’s cash only!

Tried this for the first time and it was ok. Heard great things about this place and have been meaning to try it for some time. Went with a friend and had #1 Mi Quang which is their special. It was decent but nothing special. Different as I have never had anything like this in any vietnamese restaurant. The bun bo hue was average –nothing special. We had the tapioca dumplings which were good. Also different from other restaurants but nothing to write home about. We went early so no wait. Cash only. Not sure what the hype is with this place

Favorite phở/​noodle place in van!
Love #2 mi quang noodles (pork)
or the BBH with phở noodles, rare beef on the side.
Pretty much every dish is good here! Other days bo kho with phở noodles is good too!
5 stars.
There’s often a wait during peak hours, come before 12, or come after 2.

My hubby is phở’s fan. He doesn’t mind to have phở every weekend. Since we went to Truong Thanh, we found more phở restaurants on/​along Victoria Drive.
When we were finding a parking spot, we saw line up outside. Lucky that we only waited for 10 mins then got the table.
Just simple and common items on the menu, we could picked something right the way.
His favour Bun bo Hue — it’s good and favorable. The Beef, pork balls, pork feet and pork blood with spicy vermicelli noodle slightly different than other Vietnamese places. They might use different herbal and make the broth base taste more favour.
Cau Lau — sautéed pork sauce and shrimp served with rice noodles. I heard dry noodles came from their family’s region in Vietnam. I liked the noodles, it tasted like egg noodles more than rice noodles.
Goi cuon — Pork and shrimp salad roll which good to have both on 1 order.
Overall, good food and great service! Another good phở place to go for lunch.
Recommend dry/​style noodles!

I had the noodle #1 which is a dry yellow noodle with broth shrimp pork flavor broth with pork (~BBQ style) and seasoned shrimps and lots of veggies (basil, lettuce, shredded dry banana flowers, chilli, etc.). It was a pretty damn good noodle.
I also had their ice coffee and it was excellent — It was a strong coffee had a slight burnt sugat after taste that worked so well. It actually took me back to a memory lane 30 years ago everytime I sipped the coffee. The service was excellent and the place was clean.
The Phở was good but the dry noodle was the star of the restaurant. The place was packed and I saw other tables ordering some small dishes that didn’t sound good on the meni but looked very interesting. I will come back and try again.

Having been to Hoi An and eaten the cao lau there, I was quite curious to see what this place had to offer.
Parking is available along Victoria, as well as the side streets.
The place is run by what looks like a family, but I can’t tell. I think the 2 waitresses are sisters though.
The interior is quite cozy. It honestly reminds me of eating in someone’s living room for some reason.
Obviously I had to try the signature dish (cao lau) here. It looked nothing like what I remembered from that little town. The noodles were drenched in too much sauce, and it was covered with peanuts and green onions. The toppings were served on a side plate as opposed to the same bowl as the noodles. Then there were the curious-​looking fried bread (?) pieces on the side. See picture.
My guess would be that this dish has been tuned to local palates. They gotta do what they gotta do to survive, and it’s working. I was hoping for something more like the real deal, but alas, that was not to be.
With that said, the food is quite delicious. Just don’t expect the highest standard in the authenticity department.

This is the friendliest vietnamese restaurant I’ve ever gone to! The servers smile, and give you extra fish sauce/​chili peppers… No wonder Its always packed when I walk by on the weekend around lunch time; the dinner times are easy enough to get a spot for tho, so resos not necessary. The food tastes clean and authentic but i dont know how in love with their BBH I am.
¹⁄₃₀ Unilocal challenge

Friendliest Vietnamese servers I’ve ever had. One’s even a talented singer as my gf remembers seeing a Youtube video of her. Scary? Yes.
The décor, along with the staff’s attire, is ‘modern’ to say the least. Let’s start with the kitchen. Being a true family joint, dad is sporting a blazer and dress pants. No apron! Mom and the girls are dressed like girl’s night out. Cute.
We started with #18 (banana leaf wrapped glutinous rice cakes w/​pork and shrimp). I loved unwrapping anything in banana leafs as a kid. Definitely has an interesting texture.
I had #1 (forget the name). Super colourful with dragonfruit crackers, it’s not really Phở. I liked the combo but wish there was more broth.
Still don’t know how they keep their clothes clean while cooking.