Banh Appetit — Restaurant in Murfreesboro

I don't understand this place: For a new place, it's absolutely gorgeous. You can tell the owners wanted something spacious, and inviting to stay and dine in; yet, service is set like a fast food restaurant. Shame. And by the way: please remember to bring your glasses: the menu is TINY and VERY HARD to read. I have squinty Asian eyes I had squint even more to be able to read.

On to the food: A for Effort. I had the Pho: The broth is lacking Coriander, Anis star and other very important spices. And for that lack, the broth was "beefy". On top of that, it was cloudy and too sweet. This is far from a good authentic North Vietnamese Pho. The meats were no proper cut and also smelled "beefy". The meat balls were the wrong meatballs. My wife had the Eggroll Vermicelli Salad: Why did you cut the vermicelli in small chunks?? Again, wrong herbs and ingredients to use: here are some that are used in authentic Vermicelli salad which weren't there: Vietnamese Coriander, mint, pickled carrot/Papaya. The "dipping sauce" (Nước mam chấm) for the salad was not it either. Far from it. Please search Google and you'll get a little close to authentic.

Service: again, no service. Period. All those pransing girls just stay behind the counter. Again, Very much a shame as this is one of the BEST settings for an Asian restaurant.

I'll be back and hoping it'll get better because Mursfreesboro does need REAL authentic VIETNAMESE food. And right now this place has the advantage of monopoly.

Being 3rd gen restaurant owner and having French AND Vietnamese background, this is not quite it yet.

The pastry and "viennoiserie": I know French Pastry is an art with a huge amount of patience and accuracy. The pastry didn't look right, so I skipped all together. The Croissant (considered in the family of viennoiserie) looked and felt delicious. That's right: I didn't have time to properly taste it so I will not say anything about that just yet, but first bite was correct: Croissant is to be glazed, flaky and crunchy on the outside. Slightly press with your fingers the outside needs to break in flakes. A croissant is also 90% air pocket. Kudos. Looking forward to trying it some day.

Price: most reviews are correct: on the high side for what it actually is. Please amp up your game and deliver authentic Vietnamese dishes. Only then pple will see the worth. Everyone can get the 2 dishes we had anywhere in Murfreesboro for cheaper. You're advertising your establishment serving authentic Viet. Please do so. Otherwise, be honest with everyone and call it Fusion Viet/Lao/Combonian. Or better yet, call it Indochinese. What it is today, it is...

I was so excited with the new grand opening of Banh Appetite. I work in Murfreesboro and have seen Vietnamese Styles Cafe, restaurants, and delis opened and shuttered their doors within a year or two of opening. Banh Appetite interior is spacious, clean, and next level to any other Vietnamese Style Cafes that I visited.

The Cafe name shouts out " We are Banh Mi per Banh Appetite". I ordered the special Banh Mi for $9.25 as a reference lunch dish.

Banh Mi is a famous cheap Vietnamese street food dish, and all can be seen on YouTube Vlogs. The standard bare for a Banh Mi should have fresh crunchy crush and fluffy light interior. Interior filled with various cold cuts, couple slides of Jalapeño, tangy veggies such as light pickled radish, light pickled carrot, slight of cucumber, spread with Polk pate, egg yolk mayo, lightly salted with soy sauce. I am very fortunate to taste hundreds of this Banh Mis from many regions of Vietnam, throughout California, Geogia, and our local Nashville restaurants.

Stale: Banh Appetite served days old bread. The bread was toasted with burnt bottom. The interior was chewy as staled bread. Bread is cheap. Banh Appetite should not serve any bread that is more than a day old. Zero Star

Size: I am not a big eater. However, Banh Appetite servicing size is smaller than a typical 6--inch Sunway sandwich. They should call it " Happy meal dollar menu Banh Mi" and not for $9 plus dollars. This was the record smallest Banh Mi compared to anywhere else in the world. 1 star for Value.

Meat: I am not going to weight the amount of meat but "Where is the meat" I am guessing there are about two ounces of two type of cold cuts. They were Vietnamese Polk (Cha Lua") and Polk Sha Shiu. 1 star

Taste: Where is the secret ingredient soy sauce? I look around for condiments but there was none. 1 star

Menu: The Banh Mi menu options here does not appeared to be Vietnamese (except for the special combo). I am not sure if this Cafe is owned, or food prepared by Vietnamese chef. I wouldn't eat Southern BBQ cooked by Chinese chef nor eating Chinese food cook by Country Chef.

If your LOGO is "Banh Appetit " make the best Vietnamese Banh Mi and hopefully this CAFE won't shutters its door in a...

I was born and raised in Vietnam, and have had my fair share of Vietnamese restaurants in the States - good and bad.

I will review 2 most popular dishes according to the comment section: Phở, and Bánh Mì.

Phở: The broth is rich, as it should be. The phở noodles are good, no complaints. Protein choices are fewer than what you would expect in a traditional setting, but the choices they do have seem to be catered to an international crowd. Overall, this is decent Phở, and will satisfy your craving for the dish. I saw a comment that compared this dish to instant Phở, I disagree. This is leaps and bounds better.

Bánh Mì: Let me address the size since it was mentioned by several people: this was much bigger than a Bánh Mì you would find in the streets of Hà Nội. For reference, a traditional Bánh Mì is comparable, in size, to a 6" sub. It tastes AMAZING. One of the strongest Bánh Mì I've tasted in the US. Pro Tip: Vietnamese people excel at grilling pork, and you (like me) will fall in love with their Grilled Pork Bánh Mì - a must try!

Suggestion to owner: I was surprised not to find a Pâté Bánh Mì on the menu. This version of the Bánh Mì is a staple for Vietnamese breakfast and a lovely reminder of French influence in Vietnames cuisine. Given that the concept of this restaurant celebrates this influence, I think adding this option is very...