Vietnamese-style Soup and Sandwich at Au Petit Cafe
Posted on 06/17/2011
Address: 4851 Main Street, Vancouver
For the second time in as many posts, reliable intel from Alvin Lim has led to another good Vancouver eating session at a popular local eatery. Au Petit Cafe on Main Street between 32nd and 33rd is one of those small, family-run outfits that actually have a daily lineup. A quick search at urbanspoondotcom revealed that the popular item here is the banh mi -- which is timely because I have been wanting to try out some local Vietnamese sandwhich other than those at Ba Le in Chinatown.
Now, although the lineup at Au Petit is nowhere near as long as the ones for Stepho's Souvlaki House on Davie St. or Anton's Pasta Bar on E. Hastings nor is the restaurant anywhere as large or as famous as the aforementioned eateries, the fact remains that yes there indeed is a daily lineup here. Interesting.
This table of Vietnamese 'soup and sandwich' is a far cry from the Western variant of say a club sandwich paired with chicken noodle soup. Although there are culinary merits to both traditions I far prefer the Asian incarnation of this timeless lunch combination.
Pho Bo Vien -- Beef Balls and Rice Noodle in Soup $6.25(small)
Alvin and his wife + 2 adorable children were the recipients of this beef ball soup as well as (one or two?) of the #1 sandwich (see below). The verdict? Very good broth. Very good sandwich.
Banh Mi Dac Biet -- French Bread Sub with Home Made Ham, House Meat Ball, Vegetable and Hot Peppers $4.75
Upon first bite I could immediately see why the lineup, and why Alvin's enthusiastic recommendation. The perfectly toasted French bread contained a generous portion of the usual banh mi fillings and there is butter! I couldn't believe the audacity of these people to actually put butter into the sandwich because it seems like the stream-of-consciousness that is Main Stream Media is always going on and on about the negative health effects... and yet here it is gracing the inside of what is probably Vancouver's most popular Vietnamese sandwich (short of canvassing the waiting patrons what their favorite item here is, Au Petit's webpage over at urbanspoon.com is replete with plenty of bloggers singling out the banh mi as the menu item par excellence). And so we have it: these people know who does it right and will line up for it. Interesting.
Banh Mi Thit Nguoi -- French Bread sub with Home Made Ham, Liver Pate, Vegetables and Hot Peppers $3.75
I guess the meat balls cost a dollar more notwithstanding the fact that this sandwich has real homemade liver pate. Which is a makes for a colourful banh mi eating experience by the way. The soft pork liver pate adds another layer of taste into the crispy, toasty french bread with a few spreads of butter soaked into its soft but crispy interior.
Pho Tai -- Raw Sliced Beef and Rice Noodle in Soup $6.25(small)
For my lovely wife and I, we shared this bowl and concur with Alvin and Family that yest indeed, Au Petit's broth is pretty well unmatchable in other pho houses in Vancouver. It seems like the brown, brothy soup has been the pre-boiling point recipient of roasted beef soup-bones and brought up to an exquisitely laborious process of slowly cooking the meat until the very marrow flavor is added to the mix. Or something like that. I have been told by other pho proprietors that the secret to their soup is exactly this time-consuming (we're talking 12 hours and longer) process of slow cooking the broth to extract maximum flavor from the pre-roasted beef bones.
Cafe Sua Da -- Dark French Iced Coffee Served with Condensed Milk $3.50
Alvin and I both ordered an iced Vietnamese coffee and both of us enjoyed it.
This lunch at Au Petit is truly a Vancouver-dining must-do. I can't recommend much other than the 'soup and sandwich' but what a good one!
Long live Au Petit Cafe!