Nhon Hoa vs Van Loc – Battle of the Banh Mi, Edmonton Edition

Nhon Hoa
10622 97 Street Northwest (location visited)
10154 82 Ave Northwest
Edmonton, AB

Van Loc
10648 98 Street Northwest
Edmonton, AB

Paris Bakery
1403 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

This is my third post on Vietnamese restaurants in Edmonton. As mentioned in my previous posts on Tau Bay and Pagolac, there is a large Vietnamese community, to the point that, Chinatown might look more on the line of Viet Nam Town! This time, I am falling back into yet another of their stereotypical dishes (from our perspective, that is): banh mi. See, when Stimulant Junkie was in Vancouver, “for fun”, we did an impromptu taste test from several banh mi shops in town – which I will briefly go through further down in this post. During my trip to Edmonton, it was really difficult to notice how many places they had, so it was almost natural I should try banh mi here as well to see how it compares to the ones in Vancouver. And, after checking around, it narrowed down to two places: Nhon Hoa and Van Loc.

First, the contenders in Vancouver: Ba Le, Tung Hing, Chong Lee Market and, a place I had not visited previously, Paris Bakery. Now, because I was a bit too entertained with the tasting, I didn’t take picture of any of the banh mi this time and, to be fair, we did a blind tasting (read: I might not have necessarily “known” which one was which). Conclusion? With the caveat that there might have been some degradation due to the transit time from all these places before the actual tasting (which would have affected all of them the same way), here is what we thought (for easier comparison sake, we ordered their “special”, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink versions):

- Chong Lee underperformed compared to last time.
- The major disappointment was Ba Le. It was gone downhill since my last post. Flavours weren’t there and the only consistent part was the size: It was still loaded but the components were not flavourful.
- Paris Bakery, which looks really ghetto (or, a place where I could feel at home) was actually quite decent. For reference purposes, I will suggest you check Sherman’s post of this place.
- Tung Hing was consistent.

Now, moving to Edmonton. The days I was there were unseasonally warm. Of course, for Edmonton, “warm” in January means something on the lines of -5C (not counting wind chill or other factors). And while the mercury dipped below zero, one thing it did have: Sunlight. Yes, while we can brag about a lot of things here, during winter, it is mostly gray here. So, when I arrived, the sun was out and good time for some good pictures! (Hopefully, that is…).

First order of business is usually what to order and, following an approach similar to the comparison above, I was going to order their “special” just to find out there wasn’t such item in the menu. In fact, all the menu was, for the most part, in plain English! Of course, after ordering is when I realized I overlooked the obvious: the menu which includes the names in Vietnamese was behind the counter, not in the sheet in front of me. Doh? Anyway, by almost peer sheer luck I got it right: I ordered their combo which includes “bacon roll, head cheese, Vietnamese sausage, served with liver pate”.

Before going on, I ordered it in a combo (a possible “WTF?” moment if you are used to the Vancouver shops) and, in this case, spring rolls and a pop. The spring rolls were almost a mini version of the spring rolls found in most Vietnamese shops here in Vancouver, i.e., a meaty filling inside. The “issue” with this one was the fact they weren’t fried to order; rather, these were under a heating lamp. I won’t necessarily be harsh on them for this fact, as I was going for the banh mi instead.

Back to the banh mi, here is yet another “WTF?!” moment. Yup, these were wrapped in a plastic film. I was a bit perplexed at this for several reasons, with the obvious one being that I don’t recall ever seeing it in that form (probably with the exception of the ones found in supermarkets like T&T). OK, that is not much of an issue per-se, instead, is the issue of condensation. Since the bread is toasted prior to the sandwich being prepared (there is a toaster right there), it would create some heat. If it is wrapped in the plastic film, it would certain create some condensation. That was proved later to be true, as I took the leftover pieces with me to test that hypothesis and, indeed, the consistency was starting to get a bit mushy. Of course, -5C would certainly be a factor…

Enough digressing and back to the sandwich. Out of the gate, these sandwiches were obviously larger than the ones found in Vancouver. As for the taste, one bite and… I have to hands it down to them… These are indeed better than the ones we have! It was quite well balanced in terms of vegetables and meat plus there is a good spread of the pate (though it didn’t have a strong taste). Furthermore, the bread… Ah, the bread. At first, based on visuals, I thought it would be quite heavy, but, nope, it was crispy and light. Enough to hold the meats; not too much to make it dense.

Now, I did something stupid here: I had the recommendation for a “siu mai” banh mi for somewhere else but, by mistake, I ordered it here. Oh, well… That “siu mai” was spelled as “xiu mai” which was actually meatballs. In this case, it was more on the lines of ground meat and, while it could hold itself, I preferred the cold cut taste from the combo sub.

Of course, a “battle” post means I had to visit at least one other place and that place ended up being Van Loc, a block and a half away from Nhon Hoa. “Fortunately”, they do have a “special” and that is what I ended up ordering. After paying and getting the goodies, I sat on one of the tables inside which, in its own way look really strange. How so? The glass “windows” were mostly covered, giving a sense of… Enclosed space? As if they had something to hide. Too bad because that meant not enough sunlight and had to rely on the fluorescent light as source. But, back to the food: The bread was more on the lines of a “regular” baguette, which, depending on your preference, it might work for you. However, here is where things started to go a bit in odd ways. The meat was actually even more savoury than the ones from Nhon Hoa. Could it be I am confusing it with a sauce they add? However, what stole the show was the pate: it had a strong taste. In other words, if you don’t like that meaty, almost metallic taste, this might not be for you. Alas (or fortunately?), it wasn’t spread evenly, so not all bites had some of that said pate.

So, which one was better? Pricewise, they are the same ($3.50, which, looking into perspective, it is not that different compared to Vancouver prices). Nhon Hoa’s bread and other non-meat components were better; while the pate stole the show for Van Loc. So, it might be difficult to say which one I prefer, as both had its strengths and not much of a weakness. But, I will repeat it: These were *WAY* better than the ones we have in Vancouver. So, while I can’t say which one was better, and to badly paraphrase Adam Richman (of Man vs. Food fame), “In the battle of Vancouver vs. Edmonton, this one goes to Edmonton…” (But, until restaurants on the lines of Sanpachi, we still have some other better restaurants. However, they are starting to catch up with offerings like Corso 32!)

(Sidenote: After the fact, I was told there might have been one ingredient that, while eating, I didn’t notice but could have made a lot of difference: a mayo prepared for the banh mi. Woops!)

Tagged under: Edmonton • Sandwich • Vietnamese