Ba Le Sandwich Shop in Chinatown is a tiny shop that sells incredibly cheap banh mi sandwiches. Any lunch thats under $5 has got my attention. It’s even cheaper than McDonalds. I’m trying not to spend much for lunch, so anything cheap and decent is good enough for me.
Even when I went to order, they just handed it to me right away. I supposed since it was the lunch rush, they have a few sandwiches premade.
Cold Cut Banh Mi ($3.50) is always one of my favourite kinds of banh mi sandwiches, so I gave it a try to see how it is. When I unwrapped it, it’s really does not look impressive at all. It’s kinda hidden inside.
Inside the crispy bun are the slices of cold cuts and veggies inside. I could always use more ingredients inside, but for $3.50, I won’t complain.
It filled me up for lunch and it wasn’t bad at all. I would come back again for a quick cheap lunch to bring back to the office. Most people come here to get take out.
We Rate Ba Le: 
Address:
638 Main Street, Vancouver
3 Comments
This Ba Le (which used to be further south on Main, on the west side, off of Georgia), was much better in the past before they moved. BTW they are not related to the Ba Le on Kingsway/Fraser aside from the name. I’ve been to this one in the ’80s and my recent experience at their new location (your review) was pretty awful.
My $0.25 for a really good banh mi while in Chinatown is to go 2 blocks north to Golden Garden. Their foods are generally quite good and their banh mi’s are very decent:
http://goldengardenrestaurant.ca/
Gotta agree, Golden Garden is definitely a lot better! I always go there for lunch with my coworkers
Golden Garden for me has the best chicken banh mi in town. I believe they are still cheaper if you order them to go. The proprietors (brother and sister) are super nice as well which doesn’t hurt. I call ahead and they have my sandwiches ready for me.