The kalbi taco and five-spice pork belly bao at Banh Mi Boys (Images: Renée Suen)
After days of holiday excess, cheap, hearty and delicious food is just what’s called for. Banh Mi Boys, opened by brothers and first-time restaurateurs David, Peter and Phil Chau, serves just that, with a menu that fuses Vietnamese, North American and Korean flavours into surprisingly coherent snacks. The kalbi taco ($3.99) features a soft, roti-like flatbread that’s crammed with sweet soy- and pear-marinated beef short ribs, mild kimchee, cabbage and dabs of chili sauce. The five-spice pork belly bao ($3.49) is a soft steamed bun filled with meltingly tender pork belly that’s been braised for four hours and topped with refreshing cucumber slices. Both handheld treats are garnished with a boatload of cilantro, sliced jalapeno and pickled daikon and carrots. A generous stack of crisp, lightly battered sweet potato fries ($2.99) rounds out the meal, which we wash down with a bottle of lemon white tea Flavür ($2.50).
The cost: $14.66, including tax.
The time: eight minutes to process the order just before the midday rush.
Banh Mi Boys, 392 Queen St. W., 416-363-0588, banhmiboys.com
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