Because Toronto has the best pho this side of Vietnam
Two new restaurants are offering up world-class pho and banh mi
Vietnamese food has been part of Toronto’s culinary DNA for decades, but it’s having a delicious moment courtesy of two magnificent new restaurants. The first, Cà Phê Rang, is a sunny, cozy space from Matty Matheson and his longtime friend and mentor, Rang Nguyen, who gave him a job at Le Sélect Bistro after he dropped out of culinary school. Now they’ve teamed up again to serve up deeply savoury bowls of pho, and banh mis that clock in at about a pound apiece. Their shared history makes itself known in Cà Phê Rang’s occasional French twist, like the peanut praline sauce that accompanies shiso-adorned prawn spring rolls. The second restaurant is Banh Haus, a Vietnamese delight tucked into a lower-level storefront in Chinatown. The family business has a choose-your-own-adventure menu of bright, zingy flavours that are refreshingly nutritious. It features a selection of sandwiches, including pancake-battered fried chicken served on bánh tiêu, a fluffy semi-sweet Vietnamese doughnut.
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Liza Agrba has worked as a freelance journalist in Toronto for over a decade and has earned multiple awards. She covers food, business and culture and writes memoir-style pieces. Her work frequently appears in the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Toronto Life and many other publications
