Trung Nguyen Cafe is a can’t miss store front on Kingsway. The bright green façade is so eye catching and definitely sticks out. This spot is a no frills, sticky tabletop, and one server type of joint. It’s been awhile since I went to such a hole in the wall, but it reminds me of why I love them so much. The food is homey and flavourful. I would definitely make sure you have plenty of time to dine here because the food does take a while. Although the restaurant is a hole in the wall, the pricing isn’t really reflective of that. Most of their menu items range from $15-20 which is quite high in my opinion. But I think it was worth it, because the bowls were chock full of ingredients.
Trung Nguyen Cafe – Must Order Noodle Dishes
The two soup noodles we ordered were:
- Banh Canh Cua ($15.50)
- Bun Bo Hue ($15.00)
The Banh Canh Cua is a crab tapioca noodle soup. The tapioca noodles are coated with a sticky and thick seafood broth. This version had plenty of pork hock pieces, pork blood, dill fish cake and chock full of crab. They were also very generous with the herb plate with plenty of fresh basil, bean sprouts and cilantro. Contrary to the red color this dish was not spicy at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I can see why it’s a signature dish here. Every table had at least one bowl of this!
The other dish we tried was Bun Bo Hue. This was a fairly standard version, but I like how light and clear the broth was while still being very flavourful. The spice builds up in a nice way, so there’s a nice little kick at the end. Again, this bowl was full of generous portions of pork blood, incredibly tender beef brisket and Vietnamese ham. I’m glad I found this spot, because my former favourite spot for this dish doesn’t make it the same anymore.
Worth a Try?
Yes! This place was very busy even when we came by for a late lunch at 1 pm. This is a very casual CASH ONLY spot. The must order for me is the Banh Canh Cua and it’s also the first I’ve seen this dish in Vancouver.
Trung Nguyen Cafe
Address: 1441 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5N 5R3
Telephone: 604-568-0806