Bao Chau Vietnamese Restaurant
2717 East Hastings
Vancouver, BC
I have mentioned previously about my Friday night activities but, last weekend, I had an additional session on Sunday afternoon. Or, so I thought. In the end, nobody came for this session. Oh, well…. However, that gave me an opportunity to try the restaurants in the Hastings area that otherwise I won’t try (due to they being close by the time I leave the area on Friday nights). But, since it was noon, almost all places were open. So, for this trip, I went to Bao Chau Vietnamese Restaurant.
To my understanding, Bao Chau is a somewhat popular Vietnamese restaurant. However, it also have the fame of being dirty. On this visit, I noticed they seemed to have undergone a makeover. For example, the “old” floor is gone, now replaced by hardwood floor. Likewise, the tables now are… Different. I must add my tolerance towards how “dirty” things can get is quite different from average Vancouverites so, caveat emptor!
When I arrived, it was about 2/3s full. Did somebody said popular? Anyway, I managed to grab the table next to the window *cough* and quickly got my tea and the menu.
Is it me or now all Vietnamese places serves their tea with some ice (making it cold tea) rather than ice water?
I already had an idea of what to order; however, I wanted to browse the menu anyway (which is somewhat extensive, though a lot of them are variations, i.e., same “basic” but different meats like chicken, pork or beef, et al). Some of them caught my attention but, instead, I went “back to basics”, aka, pho. And here it is:
And, as usual, it comes with your usual bean sprout and thai basil, among other garnishes. Does the picture look quite good? Did I mention I sat near the window and had certain level of natural sunlight? 
Now, while that is all good, there is one thing I must admit really freaked me out. I can swear the elapsed time between ordering and getting my bowl was less than five minutes. No, really, It was darn bloody fast!
Before I continue with my visit to Bao Chau (and one more dish I must mention), back in my head, I knew there were some “logical” explanations as to why it came out so fast. First, to the uninitiate, a lot of restaurants pre-cook some of the dishes in advance for either logistics or, “mojo”, in some cases. What? Mojo? It happens that, since you are “owner” of your domain (i.e., your station), you want to make sure whatever you need is at arms reach. So, it is quite possible Bao Chau had already some of the noodles prepared and just add some of the garnishes. Once done, serve it.
Before anybody freaks out, yes, that is some “blood” from the slice of meat. And, yes, it was pink/red when serve – if not, can they real call it rare beef? . The noodles itself were almost past of the al dente point but good enough for some slurping. Good thing nobody care much I was doing that! The rest of the ingredients managed to balance each other.
And, here, the other dish. Again, it was almost impossible for me NOT to order this. Why? Since they claim spring rolls are their speciality, that was a no-brainer! As for taste, the same comment about pho applies here as well. Since it did not just come out from the fryer, it was slightly above room temperature but not that hot (as in temperature). But the filling itself worked quite well, not too crumbly, not too soggy; unfortunately not too savoury either. Instead, it was the dipping sauce that made it by giving some acidic and sweet tones. Had it been a bit more crispier (as in just out of the fryer), I think it would have worked a lot better.
Overall, Bao Chau can fall into the category of cheap eats but, then again, the more sides you add, the more expensive it gets. Even then, it is better than others and they are definite good eats.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
i used to go here when i was in my 20′s i remember seeing them take the leftover bean sprouts and just rinse them to serve to the next table. suffice to say, i don’t eat bean sprouts here.
Koji, whether they still do it, or whether it is true, I can’t confirm myself. If they do, it would be stupid, considering bean sprout is relatively cheap. If it creates such cost, they might consider rising the cost of the bowl of pho $0.50, as it is relatively cheap to begin with. Putting that aside, it is said that if you like some dishes, you should not try to find out how it is made or it ended up in your table…
so true, so true, bean sprouts are really really cheap, it was just my experience that one time many many many years ago. the food, i agree is decent there and i have been craving their grilled pork patty and spring rolls. i just stay away from the bean sprouts.
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