Ethnic Eats – Sampling the World’s Cuisine Without Leaving Vancouver

In an increasingly difficult struggle to find decent lunch places close to my work, I recently ended up at One Saigon on Hornby Street. A cute little Vietnamese place tucked into a row of storefronts, it’s otherwise unassuming, but the decor is bright and clean and the lunch is both tasty and good value.

Not feeling for my usual pho, we ordered special bánh mìs (although they call them “baguettes” this close to downtown), with a prawn and green papaya salad and a pork salad roll to start. Another friend ordered Combo #2 with grilled marinated pork and spring rolls on vermicelli and veggies, which I didn’t try but which looked delicious.

The pork salad roll ($3.00) was quite tasty, but we could have done without the prawn and green papaya salad ($5.00). Not only because it was somewhat dried out and bland, but also because it was too much food. By the time my special bánh mì ($4.75) arrived, filled with cold cuts, more pork roll, sui mai, cucumber, carrots, daikon, cilantro, jalapeño and various sauces, I was already starting to get full. Which was unfortunate, because it was easily the best part of lunch. I regretted not ordering the special (2 sandwiches for $8.00) and keeping one for lunch the next day.

Luckily it’s close by and with the various combo deals, it will take me a while to get sick of it. When the rain sets in again, I bet I’ll be slurping up a lot of their pho.

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One Saigon
979 Hornby Street, Vancouver