I visited this Vietnamese restaurant years ago and had a good impression back then, so I decided to come back recently. Unfortunately, this visit was very disappointing. The restaurant has no atmosphere and is cash only, which I normally wouldn't mind if the food were affordable and tasty. However, prices have gone up over the years, and the quality has gone down. The food tasted like it had been microwaved and was not enjoyable at all. The portion is so small. Because of this experience, I wouldn't recommend coming here, even though the restaurant still has strong reviews. I suspect many of those are from years ago when things were better. I genuinely hope the owner sees this feedback and considers revamping the business by improving cleanliness and, most importantly, the food quality. read more

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The French bread has a nice crunchy crust with fluffy interior. Cold cut filling is not super generous in quantity but commensurate with the low price. We ordered at the counter, & the cashier was very friendly. If you are in the Kensington Market areas and craving banh mi, this is a nice stop to make. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - Menu - May 2024 - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Still off the charts rating for this place, as I love it so much! The lady here is the Viet mom I never had. She tells me to sit while she warms up my braised fish with ginger lunch special. Comes with rice and her awesome, addictive bitter melon soup for only $11. I find I prefer the banh mi up Spadina at the grand masters there, but for the lunch specials this is the best a brisk walk from home can get me. There are a couple other specials at $10 too, and if you ask you can get something custom as well so there's no need to be shy with mom! read more

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This is exactly my kind of hole in the wall. No frills, just Viet mom vibes. Before exploring Kensington Market over Christmas weekend (where probably more than half the businesses were closed) , we stopped in here for a meal. There was only one lady in the front assembling banh mis and taking orders and she was the sweetest. We felt like we were at a friend's home. The sandwiches are a bit on the smaller side, but I was shocked to see how cheap they were - $5.50 CAD? We should've gotten a sandwich each. We shared the BBQ pork one which was so good for only $5.50. We also shared a large bowl of pho ($13) which was the warm hug I needed, and the banh cuon cha (steamed rice rolls) ($12). I'm so glad that we had visited on a Sunday, when these are actually available. They were probably one of the best banh cuons I've ever had - soo fresh and the texture was perfect. We wanted to try the banh xeo too but we were too full. I'd recommend skipping the Viet Coffee here though - a bit on the lighter side and not as strong as I'm used to. The nice lady gave us a warm cup of tea which I actually preferred over the iced coffee! If I lived in Toronto this would probably be one of my go-to spots. So affordable, warm service and delicious food! read more

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My husband and I decided to give Banh Mi Ba Le a try after reading such great reviews on Yelp. I ordered the stuffed bitter melon soup with cooked pork and steamed rice. It was delicious! The soup was new to me and the bitterness in the broth took a bit of getting used to, but it grew on me. The cooked pork was amazing! It was little pork ribs braised with onions in a rich, slightly sweet sauce. I loved it! My husband had the bun rieu which had plenty of crab in it and a really tasty shellfish broth. The place itself truly is a hole in the wall, but the yummy food makes up for it and the owners are so friendly! We'll be back! read more

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The Banh Mi here was point on Delicious. It sort of helped me out when i started speaking in Vietnamese. The taste is very authentic. The store is small. I was surprised to see some seating area that they served Pho. I would come back to try the Pho for sure. I would def admit they do not stuff the sandwich with proteins mine was fully of carrots and veggies which i did not have a problem with. Would return to try others. read more

Everyone goes to yellow sign (Nguyen huong), I'm different I will go here. A bit more hidden in Chinatown since it's not on the main street. Despite its rusty looking interior they do provide delicious banh mi. $5.50 now. It used to be $2.xx, I always remembered they provided good quality sandwiches. Make sure to have the bread toasted. It's a difference maker. I also like some of their hot dishes like the bitter melon. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - tables and chairs in a restaurant - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

bbq pork banh mi ($6.5) was yummy and the employee was so nice. slightly smaller than nguyen huong but the bread was better

It's a pretty authentic Vietnamese restaurant. I very like it. Pho is good but besides pho I definitely recommend their bitter melon soup. It is simple, gentle and delicious (of course, for the people who like bitter melon). read more

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I decided to try this place based on good reviews on Yelp, but was disappointed. Firstly the place seems a bit run down and unhygienic. But even if I overlook that, tofu lemongrass sub was average. I tried Vietnamese Iced Coffee which was average too. I would prefer going to my regular - Bahn Mi Boys in the vicinity. read more

Nasty place and people and food. Dingy spot Go down the road for some better sandwiches Lack of substance and flavor There is no Meat in the sandwich read more

Omg WHAT A GEM. Cannot stress this enough. Everything about this place is beautiful and comforting. Owned by a Vietnamese couple and often assisted by a younger (reluctant lol) family members, this whole in the wall is what you need to weather the cold Canadian winter. Every single thing I tried from this place tasted fantastic. It's nothing fancy - quite simple in fact. But lunch date at this place is my perfect day. The owner Auntie hand served our mushroom rolls while the sun glistened through the glass windows. The broth in the beef vermicelli noodle soul is magnificent. So flavourful. Again, it's not much - but the simplicity is its beauty. The spicy noodle soup has a huge bone in meat piece, tender as butter. When people say support local, please support these restaurants instead of gentrified "elevated" cuisines. While I myself have enjoyed elevated cuisines at times, nothing compares to the pure joy of simple meals at places like Banh Mi Banh Le. read more

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The banh mi here are longer and narrower than I'm used to. The meat is more spread out instead of stacked because of the long bread. The banh cuon was very good. They are steamed rice rolls with minced meat inside. It's only available on weekends. It's very affordable. Got 2 sandwiches, steamed rolls, and coffee, all for $20. I would probably stop by again for a quick lunch. read more

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Place had a weird smell. I ordered bahnmi, the oven used to toast the bread was dirty.. looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ages. I ordered Pho, the broth was pretty good. However, I found a baby roach in the pho midway eating it. I felt so disgusted I couldn't finish my food or bahnmi. I told the worker and she played it off as it being "pepper"... if it was pepper then why was there a head and body attached to it? Overall, it is not clean and doesn't make up for the tasty broth. Go somewhere else, health over wealth. read more

An authentic Viet hole in the wall right beside Chinatown. This place offers a variety of Vietnamese food from banh mi to pho at some of the fairest prices in the city. I ordered the bun bo hue, which was as authentic as you can get. It comes with the the bones and pork blood which not every pho place has. I would definitely come back to try more items on their menu. They seem to have lots of items for take out too. Make sure you bring cash - they are cash only, as are many of the restaurants in Chinatown. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - Bun bo hue - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Best pho I've ever had! Perfect flavors, textures, and freshness. Vermicelli was great too. Very nice staff as well.

There isn't a lot of filling. Bread is too crusty. The employees there are not very nice.

The only thing I've ever gotten here is the banh mi...It's part of the place's name! It kinda has to be what you come here to get, right? I will say, I really like the banh mi here. It's one of my favorite places to get banh mi from in Toronto. The flavours are good, and the banh mi (bread) itself is how it should be (crispy but not hard on the outside, soft on the inside). There's only a few things I'd note about coming here: 1) Speed over the last few times I've been here has been variable...and somewhat slower than I remembered from the past. If you get the owner making your banh mi, it will come crazy quick. The helpers are not nearly as fast. It can get busy here, and on one occasion, it took me about 20-30 minutes to order and get my food. 2) They wear gloves to make the sandwiches. Great! The owner takes off the glove to handle anything that isn't the food. Great! But the helpers will take the cash with the gloves on and then make the next person's banh mi....not so great! 3) The last time I was there, they ran out of a bunch of things. The owner made the sandwich and then apologized that they didn't have any cucumber to add to mine. I said it was OK. I always have some at home, so it was not going to be a problem for me. I felt sorry for some of the next few people ordering sandwiches though. I'd probably rate this place between a 3 and a 4 star. I like it enough that I'll be back for more for sure. read more

If I can summarize Ba Le in one line, it would be: decent food with great value in a down-to-earth setting. For vegetarians there are two bahn mi options on the menu, lemongrass tofu and tofu in tomato sauce. The sandwich comes with the usual fixings, carrots, cilantro, cucumber and lots of butter (optional). I also asked to have it spicy and to me, this was everything. At $4.50 total, the bahn mi was tofu-filled 'til the last bite, not like some others I've tried where you're eventually just taking hunks out of plain baguette. Besides the lemongrass tofu bahn mi, I didn't taste anything else this round, so I will certainly return for other menu items, to sit at the street-facing bar seats and to bask in the hustle and bustle of Chinatown. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - Lemongrass tofu bahn mi - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Poor quality, kinda dirty environment and slow service! Pricey. I am viet but will never go there again.

Hands down my favourite banh mi shop in Toronto. Their shredded pork banh mi is definitely an underrated order and honestly a great departure from the typical fare that you'd find at more "modern" banh mi shops. Don't forget to order a cold Vietnamese coffee from here to wash down your sandwich. You won't regret it! read more

My husband and I were visiting Toronto for a week and on a cold evening, decided to look for some warm and homey food. That's when we found this place: Had delicious pho and spring rolls like I never had before! Highly recommend it! read more

In my ongoing attempts at sampling the various variations of banh mi in our fair city, I found myself standing in Banh Mi Ba Le on an exceedingly gorgeous weekday. I quickly landed on the "cold cut" version of the venerable sandwich, and the little old lady behind the counter asked if I wanted it spicy. (Always a very good sign.) A few minutes and $3.75 (!) later, I walked out the door with a delicious-looking 'wich. My first bite wasn't too promising, admittedly. The crusty bread seemed like it might be too much for the sandwich to withstand, but subsequent bites proved that this just wasn't the case. The banh mi was bursting with flavorful ingredients, from cilantro to pickled carrots to cucumber. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the meat itself, which was closer in taste and texture to pate but worked amazingly well in this context. I appreciated, too, that it tasted a little bit different from any other banh mi I've ever sampled. The requisite flavors were there but it also contained a few little additions I really dug, including a creamy sauce that provided an undercurrent of deliciousness. read more

I was around Kensington Market a couple days ago and at the end of a cafe study session, began craving something to eat that's not too pricey and wanted to keep to my personal mantra of not exceeding $10 a day -- especially in downtown where I often splurge on something yummy -- and often mantra-damaging (chit ching). I revisited the nostalgic Banh Mi Ba Le, a modest-looking-Parisian-inspired diner on 538 Dundas St West where I was first brought here by a Vietnamese friend of mine who swears by their subs. My few moments of brave but unauthentic demonstration of the Vietnamese language failed to register any understanding with the sweet-old lady behind the counter and I quickly retreated back to plain English to place my order for the shredded chicken sub. Good try. My order began. It's a joy watching experienced hands manoeuvre around a freshly toasted baguette putting together a medley of fresh cilantro, cucumber and pickled julienne carrots onto a bed of lightly seasoned shredded chicken. No one ingredient was standing out, but rather, all made up a rapport of texture, flavor and color -- very much how Toronto is, and according to the Economist, our city is the best one to live in the world. Interestingly, it's not number 1 in all areas, but, all major areas of life are ranked favorably and this consistency contributes to the greater picture of city liveability -- or, "flavor-bility" in the curious case of the Banh Mi sandwiches -- where there's a nice harmony of crunch, flavour and yums all wrapped up in this delicious $3.75 treat. I would highly recommend their subs if you're into a freshly toasted, nicely-crunched banh mi. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - Good alternative to Nguyen Hong as they toast it real nice - shredded chicken (: - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Hot is freaking hot! Be careful! I had to open 'er up and take out the chilli peppers because my mouth was on fire. Hubby had the same but felt hot wasn't that hot. I'm convinced I got his peppers in my sandwich. Cheap and tasty, made to order, next time I'll order more so that we can eat one fresh on the spot and then more for a midnight snack later. Definitely a gem in Chinatown. read more

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Best Banh Mi you can probably get in the city.. especially if you're going to eat it right away; request to have it toasted, trust me fam... Legit a hole in the wall, this place hasn't changed since ... ever. mainly a take-out banh mi type of set up but they do have tables for dine-in and a menu with a lot of Vietnamese delicacies. Service is super friendly as long as you're patient if you don't speak Vietnamese might not seem like it but they're actually really nice ladies I think they also speak Cantonese. Food is homestyle in my opinion (very refreshing when living in a city where Pho is made by Chinese people in roughly 3/5 restaurants), although I still like Bun Rieu from St Clair Banh Cuon better, their take on it isn't by any means bad. The Banh Mi is a MUST don't even wait just go and order one or five... I stick with the cold cut just because by the time I walk in my mind shuts off and only focuses on filling that void ASAP. ps get it toasted It's a tad more expensive than the assembly line on Spadina but the extra dollar equals out to much more joy every single bite :). If my aunt never showed me this place years ago I would've never known about it and continue to walk by like they don't got the good good in the there. read more

This place is almost a rival of Nguyen Hong on Spadina. Even the person making my banh mi compares Ba Le to it. And I feel that I'm in a dilemma because the bread is clearly superior here. Long French baguette that is freshly baked daily and toasted. I tried the shredded chicken and barbeque pork. Both are great. I ask for extra pickled veggies, otherwise it can be too salty. BUT. Know this. The banh mis are pricier here. The food also always comes with a side of attitude. The lady has no patience, and will yell at you if you are too slow when ordering. You only get pate if you ask for it. Whether you get extra veggies if you ask depends on her mood. These are not problems at Nguyen Hong. read more

Delish sandwiches for cheap and they open early on Sundays. Bread is soft and meat isn't too thinly sliced where you can't taste or see it. Just the right amount of veggies to go w/ it. Can't customize the coffee since the machine pre-makes it. Hubs likes his coffee milkier and they said no. Cash only. read more

The restaurant is very dirty. There are live roaches in the bowels. They don't turn on AC even outside is hot.

Forget Subway's $5 footlong. The Vietnamese sandwiches here are twice as delicious and they're only $2.25. No, that's not a typo. Each banh mi costs a twoonie and a quarter. No other food offers that much deliciousness for so little coin. I've tried the roast pork banh mi and shredded chicken banh mi. Both are good but the pork was more flavorful. The lady at the till will ask, "You want spicy?" The correct answer is yes. Then let the sandwich elves behind the counter work their magic. When you get your sub, you can park yourself on one of the five tacky chairs in the rather charmless joint. Then brace yourself for the explosion of flavors and textures you're about to encounter: crisp-airy baguette slathered with buttery mayo and filled (but never overstuffed) with savory meat, cool cukes, crunchy shreds of pickled carrots, refreshing cilantro sprigs, and a few chili slices to keep it sassy. Oh, man. Banh mi are so good I lie in bed at night thinking about eating these sandwiches. (Er...oops, was that an overshare?) read more

Best banh mi in the city. They also have a small but excellent selection of traditional custards and other hard-to-find foods. Great prices and delicious food. One of our main go-to's! read more

A hole in the wall kinda place right in Chinatown. Great authentic Vietnamese food with very friendly service. The ladies remind me of the good old days in Saigon. We've been coming here for years. We have not been disappointed with any dish we tried. Highly recommended. read more

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The best bánh mì in town. I was so sprised their bánh mì tasted exactly like the bánh mì I had in Vietnam. The ladies made me feel like home, introducing variety of the vietnamese food she has made. All the humble yet super tasty snack food that you can barely find anywhere else! read more

My review is for the Tofu Bahn Mi. They use the right bread, toast it just right, and season the tofu perfectly. I paid $2.50. I would have paid twice that much. Some of the places in the area don't toast the bread and that drives me CRAZY! And what's nice is that they add a little bit of mayo and she asked me if I wanted it on my sandwich before she spread that shit. I'm not sure if she asked to be conscious of my veggie diet or just because mayo sounds kinda gross on a bahn mi. I don't expect this on my sandwich, but I agreed to it here. It worked well. I came back the next day and had it without the mayo and liked it just the same. Eat a tofu bahn mi here. You'll love it. read more

I don't care if this place has been shut down in the past for rodent violations. Anyone who thinks any restaurant in Chinatown is cleaner than the next is really fooling themselves. Banh mi is a very cheap and traditional Vietnamese sub that was brought to Vietnam by the French, arguably the good legacy they left in that country. All this being said, Ba Le is a nice alternative to the other banh mi shops around the corner on Spadina. Starting with the bread. The bread here is more true to the baguette style -- longer and crisper than the more common shorter, stubbier, chewier versions found at most Vietnamese bread shops. The long subs are better fresh, but don't toast as well as the others, so if you are looking at eating it later, you may want to walk around the corner. A standard sub is $2.25, but is bigger than the ones around the corner that go for $1.75. This gets 3.5 stars for me but I rounded down to 3 because 4 just didn't seem right. A TOONIE & A LOONIE RECOMMENDATION: banh mi ($2.25) read more

I haven't been to Ba Le for years since their health code violation years ago but since I was in the area and looking for a quick snack I decided to drop in as long as they had the green pass sign on their window. I decided to order a few cold cut banh mi sandwiches ($2.60). I always liked the fact that Ba Le used the baguette style bread which was good but the quality of meats used was not too good, even though it's only $2.60, they should be using meats that aren't so fatty and meats that haven't been defrosted which affects the flavour. For the downtown core, my first preference for traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches would be Rose's cafe but overall Que Huong on Finch Ave West in the west end makes the best traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches in the city. FYI: They also offer Vietnamese food other than banh mi sandwiches but the selection is limited. read more

I love the Banh Mi shops on Spadina itself, but when I have the hankering for a tofu sandwich, this is my shop of choice. The tofu and tomato sandwich is so soul-satisfying that I am often willing to walk the 7 or 8 blocks from my place to pick up a couple of these vegetarian delights. Having said that, I'm not sure I would walk that far for the other sandwiches offered here. They are OK at best, but for meat sandwiches, I'll stick to the ones on Spadina. And having said THAT, I will add one last thing, which is that Banh Mi Ba Le's baguette is the absolute best I've tasted at any of the Viet sub shops I've tried in Toronto. If the other banh mi places offered the same kind of bread, well, I guess I'd be doing way more walking to Spadina! read more

The restaurant is not really decorated very well, but the food was absolutely great, very authentic taste, and great price too. read more

Banh Mi Ba Le - Only $15 with tips - Vietnamese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

We literally ate for two days and spent $20 - can't get much better than that for value for money! We were also in and out in about 30 minutes so it's great if you're in a hurry. The baguette on the banh mi was perfectly crusty and the filling on the BBQ pork was delicious and they didn't shy away from the spice when we asked that they make the sandwich extra spicy! The broth on the pho was flavourful and the fried spring roles were tasty too. The only major draw back is that the place had a bit of a funky smell, but it wasn't enough to deter us from the delicious food! read more

Very tasty, inexpensive ($2.25) subs at Dundas/Spadina. If you have a TTC pass and are by the area, worth jumping off to grab one, or if you're super hungry, two. To second Susan's rec: try the BBQ Pork Banh Mi (get it spicy). I'll give it four stars strictly as a sub takeout (you will not want to stick around). ETA - ask them not to put on too much mayo if its not your thing, there was quite a bit on mine... read more