Toronto’s Vietnamese food scene is as broad as it is beloved, from deeply fragrant bowls of phở and crisp bánh khọt to great bánh mì and inventive cooking rooted in Vietnamese tradition. Our team of 11 food experts selected the spots below as being extra special: they made our Top 100 Under $100 guide to delicious, affordable restaurants in Toronto. Here are some of the city’s standout Vietnamese restaurants. Did we miss your favourite? Let us know.
Banh Mi House Plus
Address: 6545 Hwy 7, Unit 20 (At Wooten Way S., in the plaza) and other locations
Contact: 289-554-1915; banhmihousemarkham.ca
The first bite at this best-in-town Vietnamese sandwich specialist makes you reconsider every mediocre bánh mì you’ve tried. Start with the crispy pork belly version, its roast meat deliciously juicy, its skin lacquered and crackly. Beneath it, a deeply savoury pâté lays a velvety base, along with garlic butter (bơ) that melts into the bread, while tangy pickled carrots and daikon (đồ chua) cut cleanly through the fat. Every bite is crunchy, bright and beautifully balanced. This is as great a bánh mì as you’ll find around town, and as good as in Vietnam. The price: just $7 a pop. Owner Vĩnh Lưu opened in 2024 with a simple goal: to turn out top-quality Vietnamese food for working people. For his incredibly silky pâté, he marinates fresh pork liver in a secret blend of spices before cooking it down. Don’t be shy about asking for extra; along with the bơ and đồ chua, it’s on the house. They sell more than a dozen bánh mì variations here, all excellent, from charred lemongrass pork sausage to assorted cold cuts layered with giò thủ: Vietnamese head cheese with a telltale pig’s ear crunch. —Chi Nguyễn
Pho Ngoc Yen 3 Toronto
Address: 350 Adelaide St. W. (at Peter St.) and other locations
Contact: 437-836-2764; @phongocyen
The specialty at this enormous and elegant downtown room is vibrant, family-style Vietnamese dishes, made with skill, care and cultural pride. The short-rib phở comes packed with flavour: a whole braised rib sits submerged in its broth; lift it, and the yielding meat slips away in one clean pull. Chicken thighs follow, balancing smoke from the grill and the fragrance of lemon leaf, the juicy meat set against crackling fried sticky rice. Chef and co-owner Trí Trần’s cooking combines time, technique and deep-rooted tradition. That shows in his seafood-laden gỏi ba bía đu đủ salad, its translucent green papaya ribbons balancing citrus sours, subtle sweetness and fish sauce’s salt; the salad’s toasted peanuts add depth, and fermented crab brings a delicious layer of briny funk. Trần’s cơm chiên thập cẩm — house special fried rice — mixes fluffy broken rice, sweet, crispy shallots and juicy pork in a savoury slick of wokked egg and soy. It’s the kind of dish you keep reaching for long after you think you’re done. End with the avocado milkshake: thick, buttery, stirred through with strands of fresh coconut, not too sweet. —Chi Nguyễn
Tân Định Quán
Address: 2428 St Clair Ave. W. (at Runnymede Rd., in the plaza)
Contact: 289-317-3699; tandinhquan.com
The dishes at this family-run Vietnamese spot taste unmistakably like home. Start with the turmeric-stained rice cakes called bánh khọt, a beloved Vietnamese classic. They arrive straight from the pan, crispy edged but custardy in their centres, crowned with juicy shrimp. Wrap each one in lettuce, then dip it through the sweet-tangy nước chấm. Chef-owner Thị Dương Phạm’s superbly made bánh cuốn đặc biệt — savoury wood ear mushrooms and pork in silky rice noodle sheets — are the sort of cooking that resonates with diners far from their homeland. Alongside them sit squid cakes scented with dill, and sausage flecked with chili, each bite adding depth and gentle heat. The phở đặc biệt here is outstanding: charred onion and ginger, cinnamon and star anise rise from the steam; the soup’s tender beef slips between springy rice noodles and squeaky beef balls, brightened by herbs and sliced white onions. Tân Định Quán’s chalkboard specials are worth exploring; don’t hesitate to ask the staff for help translating. And for those so inclined, the kitchen’s snail dishes are terrific: try the ốc len xào dừa, small snails simmered in coconut milk and lime leaf until the broth turns fragrant and rich. —Chi Nguyễn
Vit Beo
Address: 858 Bloor St. W. (at Carling Ave.)
Contact: 416-792-3333; vitbeo.com
The sharing plates that pour from Vit Beo’s tiny kitchen aren’t meant to taste just like in Vietnam. They’re rooted in chef-owner David Huynh’s Vietnamese heritage, but with inspired influences from around the world. Vit Beo’s shrimp toast is Cantonese in spirit, but with Japanese milk bread and mayo that’s seasoned like in New Orleans; the turnip cakes come dark and crisp, with meaty chew, as if their lineage includes Korean ttokboki and fried Italian polenta. Whatever the origins, they’re crazy tasty. The egg fried rice, too, is way more delicious than you’d expect: it’s made with broken rice grains, deliciously crunchy, loaded with garlic and furikake. Eating here, you have to remind yourself to take a moment and breathe. Even the cucumber salad is thrilling somehow. The beef brisket noodle dish called PBK — for pho bo kho — is also superb, along with the comparatively straight-up (but not at all straight-up) pho. NB: the restaurant is planning a move to a bigger space this summer. With luck, the cooking stays the same. —Angelyn Francis
