Chao Mami Express — Restaurant in Vancouver

Hidden spot for Vietnamese located by the Dunsmuir St entrance to Granville Station. The menu features pho (full size or mini size), a selection of salad rolls and bao, and Vietnamese drinks. The snack-sized items make it possible to try a few different things - they have “flights” of any 3 items for a small discount. The food is pretty reasonably priced. There's a good amount of seating. There are low plastic stools and tables by the entrance and high-top tables with stools in the back - the plastic tables give it the roadside character but the high-tops are definitely better for eating. I tried their mushroom & gluten strips bao, the mushroom & yam salad roll, and the salted avocado shake. The bao did not come with any sauce or dressing, but they have sriracha and hoisin sauce at the tables, both which I added a little of to give it some flavour, otherwise it's just dry veggies on the bao. The salad roll included a choice of dip. I chose the bell pepper and herb-based oo-mami dip, which was tasty and pretty unique - it REALLY tasted like bell peppers. The gluten strips in the bao were a little dry and chewy, but otherwise all the food tasted very fresh. I really liked the salted avocado shake too! The cream on top was quite salty but with the richness of the avocado it balanced out. Not too sweet. The staff were friendly. They had a display with some of the rolls and bao ready-made, but were out of the salad roll I wanted, and though they were happy to make a fresh one for me, I did have to wait a while, probably around 10-15 minutes. I brought my own cup for the drink and they were going to take it but then realized it was too small. Oops. The style of cup they use in the menu pictures makes them look smaller but I think the drinks are actually...

Been wanting to try this new shop located inside Granville skytrain station. Came during their daily happy hour (2-6 pm) and tried 3 items for $10. Good selection of salad rolls, bao, and mini pho to choose from. Each is regular price $4.25, so you're saving $2.75 during happy hour. I had the Pork & Shrimp roll, Chicken roll, and mini beef pho. The meat in the salad rolls were quite bland, specifically the pork, so the complimentary sauce was much needed (you have a choice between a few, including a fish sauce & peanut sauce). I wished the lemongrass chicken had more flavour, it was very light on the marinade. I think the cucumbers in the rolls need to be cut in smaller pieces, because there were some long slices that weren't easy to bite through. The rolls also fell apart quite easily, which made it difficult to dip!

The pho was the best option of the 3. It came with 2 beef brisket pieces. Simple with some rice noodles, green onions and beansprouts, but the broth had good flavour. For the price, I think it's a good value, but I wasn't very impressed with the rolls. Would be curious to try their bao in the future, but I'd stick to the pho if in the area during happy hour. Staff were nice, and they do have seating...

This was my second visit to this Express Vietnamese restaurant. The first time, I tried the duck and chicken bao, and they were both incredibly delicious—the meat was perfectly seasoned, and the buns had a great texture. Because of that great first impression, I decided to come back during Happy Hour to try a wider variety of items. This time, I ordered the beef, pork belly, and chicken bao, along with the mini pho and the veggie, mushroom, and beef salad rolls. Once again, every bao was excellent—small but packed with flavor, and honestly, so good that one might not be enough. The mini pho, however, was underwhelming and didn’t leave much of an impression. As for the salad rolls, the veggies, meat, and mushrooms inside were well-seasoned and tasty, but the rice noodles had a poor texture that really brought the whole dish down. It was disappointing overall. I chose the spicy peanut dipping sauce on the side, which was a pleasant surprise—just the right amount of heat and very flavorful. All in all, I would definitely recommend the baos here, but I’d skip the pho and...