Banh Mi A&B
Authentic Vietnamese on Quinpool
BY LINDSAY WICKSTROM
PHOTOS MICHELLE DOUCETTE
I was excited when I found out that a banh mi shop was opening on Quinpool Road. I used to live in a city where banh mi (a.k.a. Vietnamese subs) were ubiquitous street food, and I miss the convenience of swinging by my corner shop for a cold cut. I visited Banh Mi A&B soon after they opened and was surprised at the chef’d up treatment, complete with colourful Vietnamese slaw and faux newsprint. Banh Mi A&B is, in fact, owned and operated by a chef, so everything is made in-house with a vibrant freshness and attention to detail.
Chef Andy Pham has high standards and couldn’t find satisfactory Vietnamese cold cuts, so he initially opted for Montreal smoked brisket. However, many guests, including myself, kept requesting Vietnamese cold cuts. His wife’s family has a company that makes Vietnamese ham back home, but it requires very fresh meat and a special machine. Chef Pham is more enthusiastic about his fresh meat banh mi options: lemongrass pork, garlic-lime chicken, pork belly, pork meatballs, and sate shrimp. He eventually added Vietnamese ham to the menu, though he has converted most of his regulars to his lemongrass pork.
“A lot of people…asked for the Vietnamese ham in the beginning,” says Pham. “But after that…they say: no, I’ll have the lemongrass pork now.”
Procuring the perfect Vietnamese baguette is also challenging. There is no dedicated banh mi bakery in Halifax, so restaurateurs have to compromise with approximations from local bakeries.
Pham is currently working with a local bakery to make the baguettes for him, but while they tweak the recipe to get it just right, he is baking some of the bread in-house.
Pham has a relative who operates a 40-year-old banh mi bakery right across the street from where he grew up. When he was eight or nine, he used to run deliveries for them. Nowadays, he occasionally pays a visit to learn more about the baking process.
“When I worked with my uncle for the bakery we made two thousand [loaves] a night. He only does one bread. We start making dough around 7 or 9 p.m. and bake it around 4:30 a.m., ready to sell to food stands on every corner. Delivered right away and so fresh.”
It isn’t common for banh mi purveyors to make their cold cuts or bake their bread in-house, but Pham is working within a challenging Canadian context where specialized banh mi bakeries and meat products are uncommon. In Vietnam, it is all about specialization, and everything is made expertly and fresh. Even restaurants generally specialize in one thing, says Pham.
“In Vietnam, there are one or two items in the restaurant. You know when you are just selling one item you can keep it really fresh. If you see somewhere selling pho and bun bo hue together, you are not going in!”
Competition and population density make this possible in Vietnam, but Pham says it is challenging to start a new venture there because you would be competing with well-established restaurants.
“When I first graduated from university I wanted to open my own restaurant but my parents didn’t allow me to do it. Because they don’t make a lot [of money]. If you’re good, you can make a lot of money. But it’s so competitive for the market there. You have to compete with [a business] that’s 70 years old. They know everything. They get all the goods from the supplier.”
Pham had gone to university for engineering and worked in petroleum and fertilizer factories. But his passions were food and beer, and he wanted to see more of the world beyond the factory floor. When he learned that Canada had a program for international students to study abroad, he seized the opportunity, enrolling at George Brown College in Toronto for a degree in Project Management.
The plan was to upgrade his education and return to Vietnam, but then he made some friends in the culinary arts and decided to change his program. He met his wife there, too, and they worked in fine dining establishments around Toronto until Pham got poached by Mezza in Halifax. Accustomed to fine dining, Pham decided he didn’t like the quick service model and floated around some waterfront/downtown restaurants for a few years with his longest stint at Gio. When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, Pham had to work in three restaurants to get enough hours. It was clear that it was time to open his own business.
Pham originally planned to open a roaming food truck.
“My first idea I wanted, in the morning, to sell near some office buildings and in the afternoon I could sell near the ocean or a park,” he explained. “But [you’re] not allowed to do [that] here. You have to get assigned to a spot…and not a lot of slots [are] available. So that’s why we opened the restaurant.”
Banh Mi A&B offers a selection of banh mi, fresh spring rolls, soups, skillets, and specialty coffee drinks.
Vietnam is known for its coffee, which comes to the table in a contraption that filters coffee through a metal “phin” into sweetened condensed milk. It is also available as iced coffee, and Pham offers a few variations, including coconut coffee. In Vietnam, coconut coffee involves coffee layered into a coconut cream slush. Pham simplifies the process by shaking the coffee with coconut cream and ice (no slush), but it is still a deliciously satisfying iced coffee.
I was surprised to learn that Pham has three beers on tap: Propeller’s ESB, Pilsner and Galaxy IPA. While a little unusual for a small banh mi restaurant, Pham is a huge beer fan, so it makes sense he’d want it on tap. (Galaxy is his absolute favourite.)
Next up are the fresh spring rolls: sliced brisket, shrimp, vermicelli, carrot, cucumber, lettuce and red cabbage wrapped in rice paper. The peanut dipping sauce is addictive, with crunchy peanuts to add texture. The spring rolls are a fresh and light gateway to a hearty, umami meal.
The lemongrass pork banh mi is the best seller. The meat marinade has chilli, soy sauce, sugar, lemongrass, confit garlic oil, and several other seasonings. It is saturated in flavour and complemented by the brightness of the pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, cucumber and house-made mayo. A chicken liver and ground beef pâté is available by request. It's so good that I easily forget my cold-cut allegiances.
The bread is crispy and fluffy, holding everything together.
In addition to banh mi, Pham offers noodle soups, and bun bo hue is an exciting new addition. Bun (noodles), bo (beef), Hue (a city in Vietnam) is a flavourful noodle soup made with pork and beef bone broth, lemongrass, shrimp paste and other seasonings. The rice noodles are round and bouncier than the flat pho noodles, and there is an assortment of meaty toppings, including pork ribs, beef brisket, rare beef, Vietnamese ham and crab meatballs. It comes with a heaping pile of bean sprouts, herbs, lime, cabbage and bird’s-eye chilli add-ins on the side. The broth is rich and meaty, enhanced with lemongrass, shrimp paste and chillies to give it that acidic, umami and spicy balance. Pham also makes a delightful sate (a spicy and aromatic red paste) that adds even more oomph.
He also makes a basic pho with rare beef, brisket and beef balls served with a similar pile of vegetables. The pho broth has a refined beef flavour and notes of coriander, cinnamon and ginger.
Pham prefers this northern style of pho despite growing up in southern Vietnam. He recently travelled there to learn this style, which is more minimalist with a clean and clear broth, compared to the cloudier southern-style broth that also has more toppings, seasonings and sugar.
Pham also makes vegan pho and has a dedicated vegetarian menu.
“I have four or five items already but I have a lot of customers who are vegetarian and vegan, and they say: can you make something more? So I’m thinking about two more items.”
In addition to the vegan pho, the menu currently features a teriyaki tofu mushroom banh mi, a vegetarian skillet, and mango veggie spring rolls.
Clearly, Chef Pham is passionate about food (and beer!) and striving to perfect his craft and make his customers happy. He may not benefit from the specialization of the Vietnamese system, but here in Halifax, his food is something special.
Banh Mi A&B
6172 Quinpool Rd, Halifax
Vietnamese Eatery $-$$ BR/L/D (GF/V)
banhmianb.com
