The Ban Me team. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Read with caution; while you are expecting to read about banh mi here, the unique coffee featured at the end just might become your new caffeine addiction. You have been warned.
When Ban Me opened their eatery behind Waves Carwash in Braddon just last year, Canberra fell in love with their uniquely southern highlands-style of Vietnamese food, with an emphasis on smokey, barbecued meat. My visit there was officially the best meal of 2023, in fact.
So when I saw on their Instagram that Ban Me had just opened a new location in Gungahlin, I beat a hasty path to their new door.
Owner Minh Tri Nguyen (aka Tommy) says this location will have the production kitchen for both Ban Me restaurants.
Ban Me’s beverage list Photo: Kazuri Photography.
I could just eat their banh mi, but this evening, Tommy and chef Vilasad Lichinda steer me towards some of their other dishes.
Ban Me’s all-day menu features a range of five banh mis alongside Vietnamese staples like pho, rice paper rolls and bun cha.
Our starts meal with a welcome soup.
The clear, hot broth holds delicious, exotic flavours that taste familiar around the edges but are just out of reach of my memory. Any soup that has been slowly cooking for 24 hours is going to taste incredible. The still-poaching egg in the centre is meant to be pierced and stirred into the soup.
Ban Me boasts quite an extensive beverage list and I recommend that you go with one of the drinks in the photos section! Matcha honey tea is my favourite matcha drink anytime, anywhere. On a base of cold brewed Vietnamese black tea, delectable layers of chai matcha tea are infused with cream. It is icy, refreshing and luscious.
Crispy prawn wonton and dry egg noodle bowl. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
We have the crispy tofu with basil salt starter. Its flavours, and even its textures, remind me of salt and pepper squid. The tofu flesh inside is a velvety foil for that crunchy exterior.
My prawn rice paper roll holds precisely positioned prawns pressed against the delicate film of rice paper, wrapped around crunchy vegetables and fresh herbs. A robust sauce blends five spice, onion and garlic with hoisin.
Of course, we have a banh mi, and it is perfect. My favourite banh mi in Canberra. The bun is flawless: pillowy inside with a crisp and flaky crust. The banh mi fillings sing harmoniously together like an angelic choir. Crisp-edged, charred pork belly, pork crackling, herbs, sour pickled carrot and white radish, herbs and, of course, the world’s best pâté.
Banh mi, perfection. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
We try the crispy prawn wonton and dry egg noodle bowl. The prawn wontons have a golden crunch surrounding juicy prawn and herbed filling. Cut through the fried egg and toss this noodle dish all together to coat the noodles with some of the gorgeous secret five-spice sauce lying under the slices of smokey rump steak with rendered fat and tinged pink in the middle.
The final dish arrives – the ‘wow factor’ chilli beef soup.
The warmth of its homemade chilli sauce is enough to heat the insides of my cheeks but not enough to stop me relishing all the gorgeous flavours. Delicate beef slices, shallots, fresh herbs and rice noodles make this soup a full meal.
And now we come to the promised coffee. I did not know coffee like this existed. It’s a fusion of Vietnamese flavours and French influences – crème brûlée and coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
The strong, sweet coffee is topped with egg yolk custard, burnished caramel from the torch and, already espresso-soaked, I stir it through and get the most delightful, deep, rich, sweet coffee that tastes like an exotic blend of affogato and macchiato. A must-try for any coffee lover.
The incredible Vietnamese egg coffee. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Whether it is delicious, exotic comfort food you are after or top-notch coffee and tea, Gungahlin’s Ban Me has it in spades.
Ban Me is located at Unit 114, 43 Hibberson St Gungahlin. It is open every day from 8 am to 9 pm. Follow Ban Me on Facebook and Instagram or visit the website for the menu and more information.
Original Article published by Michelle Taylor on Riotact.
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