Tavs Banh mi

How Vietnamese street food brought a hope of civilization to Latvia

Tavs Banh mi is an unexpected discovery. Hearing about the existence of Vietnamese restaurant in Riga intrigued me but I was cautious with expectations. The name “Tavs Banh mi” did not add much hope, either. Banh mi just means “bread” in Vietnamese and often refers to a Vietnamese sandwich - a popular street food dish in Vietnam. Tavs is "your" in Latvian. Imagine a restaurant called “ Your Hamburger” or “ Your Pizza”.

And who could have thought that it will turn out to be a casual local Vietnamese restaurant (little cleaner but not much) serving common street food like Pho noodle soups, mixed noodle dishes, Banh mi sandwiches and a Vietnamese coffee! You see countless places like it in Vietnam but when you find one in Riga, that’s something. 

Then I observed a Latvian man in a business suit eating his noodles with his son of around 12. They looked as if they do it every other night. Suddenly I was was not in Riga. This was London, Paris, or Berlin, where an eatery like this is nothing uncommon or exotic. Riga needed a place like that, now it has it and it makes me hopeful about this city's future.

The food looked and tasted just like the one you would find in numerous simple street eateries in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. No effort was made to boost its esthetics or adapt the taste. The only complaint is that they seem to be constantly out of pork so you have to choose other types of meat for your noodles.

I did not have a chance to try the hero - Banh mi sandwiches. They are more of a brunch food for me but the place does not work on weekends. For weekday dinner I rather go for noodle dishes. I tried to come here on a public holiday, just for those sandwiches, as their facebook page said they are working. Well, they did not.

So here is what we managed to try.

Deep fried veggie spring rolls (2 Euro) could be mistaken for those just taken out of a huge pot with oil old by a Vietnamese lady in a random street eatery. There was something wrong with the jelly-like consistency of the sauce, though - but only this one time.

Noodle soup with beef (4.5 Euro) was also delightful. For me, broth is the whole essence of Pho noodle soups, and this one had it right. In Vietnam, you would get more greens on top but that's forgivable. 

Mixed noodle dish with beef (4.5 Euro) (pork sold out again) was just pure happiness. Noodles mixed with meat, veggies, peanuts and washed in refreshingly spicy sauce - maybe doesn't sound so but it is heavenly delicious. I wonder how much better can it be with pork.

Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (2.5 Euro) looked authentic in that old-ish dripper but tasted like the one we made at home once - with coffee and the dripper from Vietnam and Latvian condensed milk. It was not amazing and I am still wondering what the secret is.

The whole dinner with a beer came to ~15 Euro. They could definitely charge more if they worked on weekends and made sure they do not run out of ingredients too often.

Final score: 4/5

Tavs Banh Mi

Gertrudes iela 9, Riga, Latvia

https://www.facebook.com/tavsbanhmy/