Merci Beaucoup Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

For me, the banh mi from Au Petit was best in the city and still the gold standard to which I compare all current offerings. I was crushed when they closed. Their sandwich was the perfect combination of savoury & pickled flavours encapsulated in an insanely delicious and crispy baguette.

I first came here a few months ago to try the banh mi because I heard that the chef from Au Petit is now here. That day, I got take out and was disappointed with the bread and the relatively bland pickled carrots. But I wanted to give this place another chance because I wasn't sure if the bread quality suffered somewhat in my travel back home (though, this was never an issue with Au Petit or any other place), or if the pickled carrots were just from a batch not up to usual standards.

Today, I tried the meat special banh mi and the iced Vietnamese style coffee.

The Vietnamese style coffee was good and has the perfect balance between coffee and condensed milk. I liked the atmosphere of the place, a great combination between modern and cozy. That said, after trying the banh mi again today and the weird experience I had in paying my bill, I can't say that I'd come back. For these reasons I'm giving this place an overall 3 stars.

When it comes to any sandwich, for me the first consideration is the bread. For banh mi, if neither the table nor I are covered in bread crumbs then I'm going to be disappointed. The bread here is okay but it's quite soft and "collapsed" when I bit into it. From the pictures, you can see how relatively few crumbs there were when I finished (even from what I gathered on the table). It was also unusual to have it be served so hot (so much so that it completely wilted the cilantro). I love oven fresh bread but this is the first bahn mi spot I've been to (and I've been to several) where the bread was so hot I had to wait for it to cool before I could pick it up.

Second, the banh mi hits for me when the pickled veggies has a nice sweet/sour tang as an acidic contrast to the savoury fillings. The carrots here seemed bland and I wasn't sure if it just needed more time to pickle?

The service was basic, no one checked in on me after I got my food. Where it got weird was when I had to pay before leaving. When someone came to my table, he verbally told me the amount while handing me the portable payment machine with just the total amount showing. I was a bit confused and clarified that I hadn't received the bill. The person seemed annoyed as he verbally confirmed my order and did something to show me on the machine. I don't mind being shown on the machine if that's the practice for this restaurant but I wasn't being unreasonable to warrant his annoyance. I mean, it's standard for customers to want to see a bill of some form before paying. I don't know if they were trying to reduce the use of paper, or just didn't have any to print out bills. Either way, if a restaurant operates differently from standard industry practice then it has to be made clear to its customers, and restaurant employees need to take an extra...

Formerly Au Petite, I decided to try this Café out after hearing that Au Petite's kitchen staff started this new venture - they were known for their awesome banh mi (Viet sub).

First off, their banh mi was good as always. Highly recommend it. Bun was crispy, meats inside were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

However, and perhaps it's because they've recently opened up, but their whole operation is a gong show. Lineup to even order was around 30 minutes. There's no differentiating in the lineup to order takeout or to dine in. There were limited seats to dine too (even more so with Covid).

After waiting for a while, I finally got to order 2 house special banh mi's. I get that they're busy and new, but it took 45 minutes for just two banh mi's to be made. Unbelievable. The staff was unapologetic about it. One look at the bread counter and it was easy to figure out why it was slow. They had 2 people prepping the sandwiches and they were slower than an hourglass with frozen sand.

Perhaps they're whole operation will be swift and copacetic in the near future. At this point, I would not recommend it, considering how many other options are available in Vancouver. Their banh mi's are awesome, but not that special where you have to wait long enough to see yourself age in...

I had an incredible meal at merci beaucoup cafe! From start to finish, everything was top-notch. The chicken wings were perfectly crispy on the outside while juicy on the inside—so flavorful and addictive. The spring rolls were fresh, with the right balance of crunch and tenderness, paired with a delicious dipping sauce.

For the main course, I tried the curry beef brisket with pho noodles, and it was absolutely fantastic. The beef was tender and the curry had just the right amount of richness and spice. I also had the special beef pho, and I loved how they allowed me to customize the soup base to be spicy. It was packed with flavor, and the broth was deep, aromatic, and just the right amount of heat—definitely one of the best pho bowls I’ve had in a while.

Overall, the service was friendly, and the food came out hot and fast. I’ll definitely be back for more of their flavorful dishes. Highly recommend this spot for anyone craving authentic, tasty...