Au Petit Cafe (小小咖啡屋), Best banh mi in town.

Au Petit Cafe is a Vietnamese food restaurant located on Main Street and 32nd Avenue. It has been opened for more than 20 years. They specialize in banh-mi, so make sure you try it when you come here. The food quality is not as it used to be (The bread used to just melt in your mouth), but they are still one of the top places to get your banh-mi in Vancouver

We came here on Saturday at 11:30am where there were 3 empty tables. By the time we leave at 12:30, there were 13 people waiting outside. If you decide to come, make sure you avoid peak hours.

Aside from the bright colored paint, awards filling the wall is the general decoration of the space. There are approximately 25 seats in this restaurant. It’s a small and cozy space, like their name suggests.

French Bread Sub with Home Made Ham, House Meatball and Vegetable

My Banh-mi’s bread was crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Au Petit Cafe called it French bread because it’s heavily influenced by French baguette.

It is generously filled with toppings that gave me a sense of fulfillment in each bite. I have a bit of complaint on how big the sandwich is. With its size and crunchy bread on the outside, I get cuts in my mouth if I don’t eat this with caution. Having to eat this delicious banh-mi slowly is really hard to endure.

BBQ Lemon Grass Chicken on Rice

The chicken is really tender, but chewy enough. There are lots of taste in them. Clearly, it’s been marinated for a while. I poured fish sauce on my rice to give it more moist, which also made this dish a bit salty-sweet. Au Patit Café can use broken rice instead of whole rice to make this dish more authentic.

Dark French Iced coffee served with Condensed Milk

The coffee was brought to me while it’s still dripping, like how it should be in a Vietnamese restaurant. The three ingredients, coffee, the condensed milk and the amount of ice are in perfect balance. I drank it 5 minutes after stirring to let the ice melt a little. It is very strong and sweet. Letting some ice dilute the coffee helped. The coffee paired very well with my banh-mi.

Utensil cleaning need more attention

I don’t know where that piece of tea leaf on the spoon comes from, and I don’t want to think about it. I stirred my coffee without my hand or my coffee touching it. There was another piece of leaf stuck on the inside of the orange cup. I made sure it didn’t touch the ice and transferred the ice into the glass. It’s probably not from the previous customer, I don’t think. It gave me comfort not seeing anyone drinking tea with an orange plastic cup. I am assuming this is one of those “If it’s not dirty, it won’t taste good” kinda place. Don’t expect too much.

Menu:

We got charged for more than what we’ve ordered

We ordered:
#1 French Bread sub with Home Made Ham and Meat Ball for $6.50,
#23 BBQ Lemon Grass Boneless Chicken on Steamed Rice for $12.95,
#42 Dark French Iced coffee served with Condensed Milk for $5.00,
#46 Iced Soda with Lime for $4.75
It’s supposed to be $29.20 plus tax, but the bill came to $36 before tips. We end up paying $41. I am pretty sure the tax for $29.20 food is not $6.80, but to be fair, the food tastes pretty good.

604 Food Critic Assessment

Au Petit Café is a Cantonese operated Vietnamese style cafe. They serve one of the best banh-mi you can get in Vancouver. Their lemon grass chicken taste pretty good too. Dark french coffee with condensed milk was rich and flavorful. Au Petit Café can use a bit more attention cleaning their utensil. The price point on the menu is spot on. However, do cautiously double check your bill before you pay.

How to get in touch

Website: http://aupetitcafe.com
Menu: You can find the menu in their website Page1 and Page2
Phone: (604) 873-3328
Location: 4851 Main Street, Vancouver