Bon Cafe

Marv’s friend Kevin suggested we try out Bon Cafe for some good vietnamese food.  Bon Cafe??  For vietnamese food?  Marv ‘n I were open to trying it out, so off we went to Main Street ‘n 33rd Ave to meet up with Kevin.  It turns out this place is right on the corner.  There’s ample street parking around the neighbourhood.

Bon Cafe
4909 Main St, Vancouver BC
Tel#:  (604) 325-1199

Upon entering the restaurant, there are rows of tables of 6 connected together.  This is because it helps utilize the space in this small room.  First things first, this place is cash only. Kevin was saying this place has really good pho, rice dishes, spring rolls as well as bubble tea!  I guess we’ll have to try them all! =)

Surprisingly, the place was pretty busy when we walked inside.  Another table had just left as we walked in, so we were lucky to snag a table together.  There are pictures of some of their dishes on their table beneath the glass.   Pictures certainly helped make our decision a lot easier!

First out was the Spring Rolls.  This came out piping hot, I burnt my fingers trying to pick one up!  This was crammed full of filling, and not the least bit oily.

Next to arrive was the Salad Roll. There were big pieces of shrimp included in this roll.  The vermicelli and vegetables were very fresh.  The peanut sauce here is to die for!  We could not get enough of it!

Kevin went with the Grilled Lemongrass Chicken on Rice. There was a generous amount of chicken with this dish.  It was juicy and tender and was quite delicious per Kevin.  It sure looked good to us!  We’ll have to try it out next time!

For my meal, I decided to get a Raw Beef and Rice Noodle in Soup. This was in a smaller than regular bowl, because I had decided to go with the combo meal which included this small bowl of pho and a Banh Mi(shown below).  Since Marv had wanted to order a sandwich along with his meal, I figured this would be the best combo to pick.  The soup here is clear and quite tasty.  It’s not too salty and there was a lot of noodles in this bowl.

We decided to get the Banh Mi Dat Biet. This was the special sandwich  which had ham, pate and vegetables.  The bun was crispy on the outside and soft & chewy on the inside.  They also did not skimp out on the filling.  This was quite good, however Ba Le still tops the list for banh mi’s.  After Kevin saw our sandwich, he decided to order one himself as well!  Lol!

Marv decided on the Deep Fried Pasted Shrimp, Grilled Pasted Pork & Vegetable on Rice Vermicelli. This was okay, nothing special.  There was a lot of meat on this dish.

For our drinks, Kevin recommended the Watermelon Slush with Coconut Jelly. Marv decided to try this one, it was less ‘red’ than the usual watermelon drink.  On the right is the Coconut Slush with Coconut Jelly. According to Kevin, this was very tasty!  The coconut taste was quite strong.

And I went with the Taro Coconut Slush with pearls. They were also quite generous with the pearls.  This drink was also quite good.  There was a distinct taro and coconut taste to it.  Usually it’s more one sided with less of a coconut taste, but this time it was nicely combined.

Overall, we were very pleased with the outcome of the meal.  The food took some time to come out, but that’s excusable as there was only 1 person working the front and kitchen!  Quite the multi-tasker!   Another thanks to Kevin for suggesting another great place for a meal!

Post by Colleen