Y Nhu Bakery and Cafe — Restaurant in Orlando

I’m picky with banh mi. I live within 1 mile of 4 banh mi bakeries and here are the reasons why Y Nhu is my number #1 choice for the last 10 years:

Best bread and best filling hands down. I’ve tried them all and my go to are number 1.8.9.12 xa xiu, thit nguoi, dac biet, thit nuong. I always call ahead and ask for extra mayonnaise. Also I always go for the buy 5 and get the 6th free deal and order veggies on the side.

Bao bun - they rarely have buns as they get sold out quickly most morning. Their bao is the best in orlando. Pillowy soft dough with perfectly seasoned egg, Chinese sausage, mushrooms, ground meat and I don’t know. I dare you to find me a better bao than this place.

Banh cuon aka rice noodle rolls aka steamed rice roll- a few restaurants make this but what make this banh cuon special is the ratio of rice flour. I grew up eating this banh cuon made from scratch from grinding rice into flour- This is the most authentic banh cuon I’ve had in orlando. They will let you order by the pounds but make sure you give them a few hours ahead.

Other desserts/snacks that I like from here: Che/sweet desert is made in limited batch and they taste amazing, banh gio (rice flour with savory ground pork, egg, mushroom erdpoed in banana leaves), coconut jello, nem nuong cuon (cured pork spring rolls) , banh cam (sesame ball with mung bean filling)

Go and you will be sad that you did not know about this...

Man, what a sense of nostalgia. The comical Vietnamese chatter in the background. The interactions between the staff and their customers. The jokes made. It felt like I was attending a reunion of my childhood. Needless to say, service was excellent.

There is ready to eat food items at the front. I arrived at 1130am on a Tuesday, and the Banh Cuon tray felt warm and fresh so I nabbed one, along with ordering a Banh Mi Thit Ngoui (traditional cold cuts sandwich) and a Vietnamese coffee. Bánh cuốn is a Vietnamese dish of steamed rice flour pancakes that literally translates to "rolled cakes" in English. It's often eaten for breakfast or a snack in Vietnam. This one was stuffed with minced meat, and came with steamed pork slices ("cha"), fish sauce (nuoc mam), and fresh veggies/herbs. It was delicious! I hardly ever get to find these so fresh.

The Banh Mi was great! The bread was perfect, the best baguette I've had in Orlando so far. It was fresh out of the oven, soft, and crispy all at once. The portion of meats/pate/veggies in the sandwich was perfect! Everything balanced really well and no components overtook the other. My only gripe is the headcheese (a type of cold cut) was a bit too thick for my liking which made it tough to bite through effortlessly at some points. I give the banh mi a solid 9/10.

The coffee was perfect and strong, a flawless representation of...

If you ever wanted to expose somebody new to Vietnamese banh mi, you wouldn't be failing them here.

Loved the grilled pork version. Incredible bread - maybe the best banh mi bread in town. The thin crunchy crust yeilds to the soft core as you bite through. The excellent paté is not overpowering, but is an optional add. Fresh crisp vegetables taste like they were cut to order. The thinly sliced grilled pork has the perfectly caramelized char. (They used to slice it overly thick imo, but have since made it better.)

FYI: If you get the bbq pork, just know it has the skin on it. And it doesn't taste barbecued. More like steamed. Not the crispy kind of skin, but the jiggly kind. You got to be a little more hardcore to enjoy this one. Not a fan.

The pork bao bun is in a league of its own. Absolutely outstanding. Perfectly seasoned pork and wood ear mushrooms, egg, and even a slice of fermented Vietnamese sausage: Nem Nuong; it was delicious. Plus, if you get there in the morning, they're still hot. In fact, speaking of morning, this is one of the few places in town you can get a fresh made banh mi at 8:30 a.m. Gimme this for...