Au Petit Cafe – Banh Mi Pilgrimage (4th Stop)

After my previous bánh mì pilgrimage visits to Kim Chau Deli, Tung Hing Bakery and Ba Le Deli & Bakery on Kingsway, I ended my trip at Au Petit Café located on Main Street. While a little further away, it was well worth the trip. Now, unlike the other 3 bánh mì spots, Au Petit is an actual full-fledged restaurant (albeit small) and serves a number of other dishes other than bánh mì. I think Eating in Vancouver put it best by describing this place as a “hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese joint” but that didn’t seem to dissuade the number of diners that were already there (most of which were of a more advanced age).

Au Petit Cafe’s bánh mì includes homemade ham, house meat ball, veggies, and hot peppers for $4.75 plus tax (I think the price went up recently) and is the most expensive of the sandwiches that I tried today. The bun is also one of the shorter but poofier of the lot. Despite this, the sandwich was still very flaky and I could hear the crunch when I bit into it. Au Petit also had the most paté of the bánh mì that I tried and the hot pepper added a good deal of slow-burning heat to the meal. Of all of the bánh mì I tried, Au Petit had the most fragrant aroma (vinegar?).