Banh Cuon Bac Ninh

This place has definitely gotten worse. Went in to order lunch at 11:30 am to go and was highly disappointed in the quality of their banh cuon.
The onions are not finely chopped but in large chunks. There was so much and heavy that it all fell out of the roll once I picked it up. Followed by crunches of uncooked onions is not my kind of lunch.
Took a picture so you have a visual and will not be returning unless I’m heavily craving for some raw onions.

Came and ordered the banh cuon– I mean, how could I not try it? Pretty good dish– I’m not sure that it stands out from other restaurants that don’t specialize in banh cuon though… Before the banh cuon, I went with spring rolls. Always a favorite starter of mine; mainly because the peanut dipping sauce.

The food hygiene here is a big problem. The lady handles food has a very bad cold and sneezing the whole time. We won’t be eating here.

Bánh cun is on point with thit nng yumm. I come here just for this. It’s not on the menu but they were willing to do it for me. Love it. My ex bf is friend with owner. Nice guy.

Came here to eat with my family for the first (and last) time. We all ordered #1 since it was their specialty. When the food arrived, everything looked decent and we all started chowing down.
First thing my wife said was, «Aren’t there supposed to be 7 toppings?» I counted, and sure enough, there were only 6. Nevertheless, we continued to chow down.
3 minutes later, my wife said «Aren’t there supposed to be 3 types of rolls?» I counted, and sure enough, there was only 1. Again, we continued to chow down.
After we all finished, I asked the waitress (an older chubby lookin’ asian lady) to get us our bill, and she said «ya!» and walked right over to another table to talk to her friend and took her forever to get us our bill.
It wasn’t until we got home that we decided to look up the restaurant on Unilocal again and noticed that we got gypped. Take a look at the picture I downloaded from another Unilocal customer. See the stuff I circled in red? Yeah, we didn’t get those; not even one of us. Not even sure what those are, but I want them!!!
To top that off, see that little half eggroll on the plate? Yeah, you got that right, HALF an eggroll! They think I ordered a kid’s meal or something?
A quick tip for the restaurant: If you run out of item (s), let your customers know. If not, they’ll use the power granted to them by Unilocal to spread the word about your business practices.
A quick tip for customers: Don’t be dumb like me. Remember the number of toppings on the entrée you ordered and count them as soon as it gets to your table. Be smart… don’t get gypped!

You’ve probably tried the usual Vietnamese food staples — phở, BBH, spring rolls, vermicelli bowls, etc. Now it’s time you tried something just as tasty — rice noodle rolls mixed w dried shrimp and pork along with a boat load of Vietnamese side dish fixings.
It’s a popular dish among the Vietnamese, but hasn’t fully adapted to the normal offerings at restaurants, and it requires specialized chefs who are experts in making it. If you buy it at an Asian supermarket it’ll taste dry and hard.
Banh Cuon Bac Ninh does an amazing job at it. For $ 9 get the main combo and enjoy a bit of everything shrimp, pork, egg meatloaf, shrimp tempura, fish sauce with chilis and carrots, and more. Everything is a perfect mix and the dish is huge, you’ll prob share or take half home.
The various soups are also non-​phở Vietnamese staples that you’ll love as well.
Try the ‘banh cuon’ rice noodle rolls out. They are great! The staff is really friendly and the place is clean and has a TV too.

Check out their 5 stars. Says earn a point for every $ 9 spent. Spent $ 21 and the owner only gave me 1 pt and insisted that I should only get 1 pt max per visit. Okay…

Food is not so good. The bánh cun is dry/​old. The fried toppings (bánh tôm C Ng, egg roll, bánh cóng) are cold. You would think that they at least throw them in the oven to heat them up before serving. They didn’t bother! The main concern is cleanliness. There is hair in both mine and my husband’s dish. NOT COMING BACK! EVER!

I gave this place two tries before writing this review. The first was more pleasant, but not impressive; I liked the shrimp-​flecked «banh cuon tom chay» but noticed the portions were small. They were comically presented on a dish that was too big, making the juxtaposition seem even greater. Everything looked skimpy, from the tiny «nem chua» ham square to the midget-​sized eggroll. I don’t have a large appetite but left hungry from that meal.
Recently I was craving their «banh cuon tom chay» again and headed there with my husband some time after 8:00PM for dinner. After getting excited over which precise ingredients/​toppings to customize my banh cuon dish, as soon as the words «banh cuon» left my mouth while ordering, the lady taking the order cut me off and told me they were out, and they only had the soupy dishes left. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if the words «Banh Cuon» are in your restaurant name, you’d think that would be your specialty and you wouldn’t run out of that to only then offer your supporting dishes. I asked if they usually run out at a specific time or if it was just my dumb luck that day, and the waitress responded curtly that they never know when they may run out. I was really trying to stall for time as I quickly perused my other menu options. The polite thing for the waitress to do would be to apologize for the restaurant’s shortcomings, ask if we needed a few more minutes to order, or offer her runner-​up suggestions, but in typical Vietnamese fashion (not trying to be racist against my own people here – just telling it like it is for your typical traditional Viet restaurant service), she hovered over us and made us feel rushed to order. I went with the «Mi Quang,» yellow noodles.
Here’s where things go from bad to worse. As soon as the waitress left and my view of the television was no longer obstructed, I noticed they were on some Vietnamese channel where COW SLAUGHTER was being demonstrated! Maybe I should say cow castration as that was where the knife was poised on the upside-​down cow carcass before I looked away in shock. Now, I’m not in denial as to where my meat source comes from, but C’MON! It’s a restaurant, not a Berkeley demonstration! People are eating here! I noticed at least one other patron at the table next to us was visibly uncomfortable from the content, but they kept airing it like it was your regular ol’ Paris By Night bootlegged DVD.
Back to my food, which I tried to enjoy despite my unfulfilled banh cuon craving. The noodle broth was quite bland for this dish; it’s one where the noodles are sitting in just a little bit of broth, so the broth should be more deeply flavorful to compensate. The only thing I could give it was that the portion, for once, is filling here. Before we even finished our meal, the same lady who took my order pulled a giant trash bin right across our table to get it out the front door. Really, I know you’re closing shop, but do you have to yet again rush your patrons by pulling trash out right next to me? What’s in that bin, leftover cow carcass?
Finally, I got to the counter to pay. They use Square for their payment method (ok, kudos for not being a traditional Cash Only place), but the choices for tip were pre-​set at 15%, 20%, and 30% or something like that; you can’t opt to put down your desired denomination, which by now I’m thinking a buck or two at most, if any.
I’m disappointed in this place and am never coming back. Next time I want to sate my banh cuon craving, I’m going to Tay Ho Restaurant on Senter. They are always amenable to customizing my order, and I could eat my banh cuon in peace while watching the real shiz of Paris By Night on their TVs.

LOVE THIS PLACE. Vietnamese restaurant and service on another level! The lady serving us was so nice. Me always being picky and not being able to eat onions and many other things in my food, she was very friendly and helpful in ordering.
The atmosphere is very nice. Decorations and theme was beautiful… Wooden tables, chairs and benches. Everything looked clean and new.
I got the #1 Dac Biet with substitute for banh cuon with shredded shrimp in it because it doesn’t have onions in it like the meat one. This plate came with plenty of food and was super filling! The fried sweet potatoes and the mung bean bread thing was DELICIOUS. I can’t even!!! Enjoyed my meal so much. :) One of my fav spots in SJ now.
Definitely coming back. Checked in for 10% off bill.

5 stars for customer service, cleanliness, and food quality. I’ve tried their bánh cun which is good, but I love their bun cà ri which is curry with vermicelli. The dish comes with bean sprouts and basil leaves for garnish. Add lemon and Sriracha and your good to go. This meal is about $ 9 and can be two servings!
There are other kinds of items on their menu also like soups, rice but I haven’t tried them. I’ve heard their MI quang is very good.

I absolutely LOVEEEEE coming to eat here! #10 is the best I’ve had so far!
The waiter guy is super HOT with his sexy smile ;) lol and his customer service is great! So he always deserves a big Tip!
If you’re ever in the area definitely stop by and grab some food here :)

Fresh traditional Vietnamese food. Always quality and consistency at affordable price. Definitely a family favorite.

Having fun with my high school friends tonight.
Food really great! The staffs are so friendly!
I ordered vegetarian food and they are happy to make it for me. So appreciate the service here.
We also asked them to take a picture for us and they are happy to do it for us.
Definitely I will come back again.

********************* 1185 *********************
Banh Cuon Bac Ninh, another Vietnamese restaurant in East San Jose, that not many people know about. If it was’t for the restaurant next door is closed on WED, I wouldn’t know about this place.
— #1 Banh Cuon Combo, is made from a thin, wide sheet of steamed fermented rice batter filled with seasoned ground pork, minced wood ear mushroom, and minced shallots. Then Banh Uot, similar with dried shrimp flakes stuffing, topping it off with 4 sliced of Vietnamese pork sausage, 1 slice of NEM fermented ham, Shrimp Fritter, green bean fritter, shredded lettuce, mint, and bean sprouts, with the dipping sauce NUOC MAM (mixed fish sauce).
The Banh Uot was good, but the Banh Cuon didn’t hit the par. Microwave heat up before servering you. Cha Lua (ham) wasn’t good and the fritters were room temperature, weren’t crispy! The mixed Nuoc Mam was tasty to save the dish. But if the restaurant name is BANH CUON, it should be better than mediocre.
— Mi Quang, is a Vietnamese noodle dish that originated from Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam. Tomato broth, pork, shrimp, half egg, topping of with sesame rice crackers, fried shallot, peanuts and various herbs. It was a very generous portion. The broth was nice and lighter than it supposed to be, Mi Quang broth should be thicker, overall, it’s not a OK dish.
They do give you 10% OFF when you check in on Unilocal.However, the cashier DID NOT give me the bill to look at. The server took the order, dropped off the food and that was it. It’s a typical Vietnamese CHEAP EAT restaurants, what do you expect right?
So many choices in this area, they should step it up!

I’ve ate here about once or twice and the second time around I was not impressed at all. I usually order their Banh Cuon Dat Biet and to my surprise their filling for their rolls just wasn’t enough. I felt like they totally jipped me and although their portions are big, I still like the meat filling from Banh Cuon Tay Ho on Senter.
What made me give them 2 stars is because I came for lunch w/​a friend and couldn’t finish his food. He ordered their Bun Oc with a side of soup and when he asked for a cup togo for the soup they literally brought out a sauce container. Imagine how many containers you would need for 1 bowl of soup LOL.
My Favorite joint for when i am craving for Banh Cuon would be Tay Ho on Senter.

First time here.
Brb, let you know how it is after I eat! :D
It was OKAY to me, but I’m not too big on banh cuon. It was still yummy though! Judging by the amount of people in the restaurant it’s probably very popular.
Portions are huge. I couldn’t even finish my dish!
Also, the workers were all very friendly and you get 10% off for checking in!

Banh Cuon Bac Ninh brings a variety of Banh Cuon dishes to East San Jose. This restaurant is located next to Bun Bo Hue An Nam 2.
I ordered the Banh Cuon Tom Chay with a side of Sweet Potato Shrimp Cakes. The Banh Cuon was okay in my opinion. The texture of the rice sheet was not a soft as I would’ve liked it to be. It was thin and the Tom Chay was flavorful. The Sweet Potato Shrimp Cakes were pretty good but they should provide a piece of shrimp on each piece of sweet potato. It was like I was just eating sweet potato fries on my Banh Cuon.
I don’t think I’ll be back for more Banh Cuon from here because there are better options in the area. There’s a place in Lion Plaza’s food court that sells banh cuon and there’s also a lo banh cuon in downtown San Jose and another one on Senter and Lewis rd. So, if you’re gonna compete for banh cuon in San Jose … You gotta make it better!

We received a recommendation to try the banh cuon at this place. It was pretty good! My husband ordered the banh cuon with all the toppings and he liked it a lot! I chose banh cuon with two toppings with the shrimp tempura with yam and the fried mung bean cake.
Restaurant had a nice décor for a Vietnamese restaurant.

Family pride in what they make. This isn’t a Typical Vietnamese Joint that churns out the food and makes you feel like you are a dollar in the bank.
I would say they take their time in making and prep of the food and they aren’t in a hurry to get you in and out.
I like that idea. It makes me want to leave more than a 2 to 3 dollar tip like every other Vietnamese place I go to.
I had the Ga Roti and red rice. Someone ordered the bun bo hue and my sister ordered the Banh Cuon, which I liked the best. The Red Rice tasted great, so i am going to try to make it at home.
I would come back here, cheap eats, friendly people, that barely speak any English.
Makings of a great place.