This Vietnamese restaurant is located in East Vancouver on the Southwest corner of 33rd Avenue and Main Street.
We arrived around 3:00 PM for a very late lunch and as expected the restaurant was empty except for 1 other patron. We came here as it...was close by and my daughter had eaten here a few times and she said the food was good. Back in March of 2014, I had taken my daughter to “Au Petit Café” a Vietnamese restaurant on the next block and she stated at that time, the food at Bon Café was better.
There are lots of menu choices itemized as appetizers, rice dishes, vermicelli dishes, pho dishes and beverages.
Restaurant seating can be described as cosy. In fact, there are 3 rows (4 tables each row) with each row seating 8 people. In other words, if the restaurant is full you will be sitting very close to other customers as the tables touch each other.
The 3 of us ordered the following:
• Vegetarian combo ($11) that included a vegetarian banh mi and vegetarian pho.
• #38 - Lemon grass chicken, spring rolls, vermicelli, pickled carrots & daikon, and dipping sauce ($9.00). This dish contains nuts.
• Pork meat patty, shrimp paste on sugar cane, fine rice vermicelli stuck together that you can you as a crepe. Vegetables included fresh mint, basil, cucumbers and lettuce leaves ($15.95). The vegetables were really fresh.
My daughter ordered the vegetarian combo. The pho had lots of vegetables and tofu puffs. The condiments – basil and bean sprouts were really fresh as well.
My spouse ordered this dish from a photo underneath the table top glass. Fortunately or unfortunately there was no price on the photo; only a description. This was the most expensive dish on the menu otherwise she would’ve probably not ordered it. It did taste good.
She has never had this dish before but it appears the way to eat this dish is to wrap the vegetables and other herbs with the leaf lettuce and the vermicelli and then dip it into the sauce.
She commented she could have probably shared her dish.
I had the lemongrass chicken entrée based on the server’s recommendation as I had a hard time deciding due to the numerous items on the menu.
I enjoyed my spring rolls and the lemon grass chicken. There were a lot of vermicelli noodles. The pickled daikon and carrots were not too tart or sweet.
The fish sauce based dipping sauce was good as the fish sauce did not overwhelm the rest of the sauce.
I ended up with a slightly dry mouth possibly indicating that the MSG flavour enhancer was used.
The pricing is fair and the servings were a good size; good value.
There are no service complaints. We had to ask for tea refills, at which time the server bought us a teapot.
The restaurant is worth going to if you’re in the area.
I would give the restaurant a 3.75 out 5 for the quality of food, portion size and taste.
Notes & Tips:
• There is street parking. I parked on the side street.
• During the time we were there, there were 2 take out orders and 2 other patrons.
• Small restaurant that seats 38 people
• Typical “plain Jane” décor including glass covered tables with photos of some menu items
• Accepts credit cards but there is a surcharge for meals less than $5.00.
• Unisex washroom is wheelchair accessible but maybe slightly difficult to access because of the narrow aisle way
• Less than ½ block North of the Bon Café and on the same side are 2 restaurants that I have also eaten at – Au Petit Café, another Vietnamese restaurant and Long’s noodle house serving Asian dishes. See my reviews for both restaurants.More