5 stars for the food, the concept and the execution! I love banh mi and knowing that Toronto has a large Chinatown, I was very excited to see what they had to offer. When doing my research, I found a lot of potentially great establishments but the Banh Mi Boys concept just popped off the list as not only having a quality banh mi with a strong selection of meats, but also Asian inspired tacos and steamed bao.
The roll on the banh mi was top notch and even held up well to the meatballs with a generous amount of tomato hoisin sauce we had. The meatballs were tasty and tender and everything I was hoping for. Despite there being a bit too much sauce, I really enjoyed the combination. The 5 spice pork belly bao had a generous, thick slice of pork belly and was surprisingly well balanced. The pork belly was nicely seared and had some fat on it but was plenty meaty and 5 spice wasn't overpowering like it can be sometimes. The pickled veg cut through the richness and made for a pork belly bun that is one of the best I've had.
The best one of the bunch though was the kalbi taco with a roti pancake replacing the traditional tortilla and banh mi style toppings along with kimchee and cabbage slaw. Reasonably spicy with jalapeno sticks, the short rib was perfectly seasoned and we devoured it quickly.
I walked out of the busy restaurant hoping that something like it would come to Rochester and loving the concept so much that I found myself dreaming of opening a similar establishment. Must see!