Bánh Town is a family owned restaurant in North Seattle that serves traditional Vietnamese street food with a twist. They’ve been serving the neighborhood for about 4 years. Recently, my Seattle Foodie Podcast co-host Nelson Lau and I visited with foodie friends Reda and Tony. We had a chance to sample a variety of dishes and chat with Anthony, one of the owners.

Chau’s Wings (cánh gà chiên): Chicken wings in a spring onion batter, gently fried and served with Chau’s secret honey sriracha sauce. These wings are one of my favorite dishes! They are crispy and the honey sriracha sauce is spicy and flavorful. They’re great to share but let’s be honest, I’d prefer to eat them all myself.

Corned Beef Banh Mi: Chau’s specialty with a twist on the traditional banh mi. Corned beef dipped in pho broth, and lightly grilled. Served with pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeño. I’m a fan of corned beef and this sandwich hits the mark for me. I loved hearing about how this was an experiment after the wrong beef was purchased. It quickly became a fan favorite and has been on the menu ever since.

Bún Bò Xào (curry lemongrass bowl with tofu): Tofu sautéed with lemongrass, onions, peanuts and cilantro. Served with vermicelli noodles, pickled carrots and daikon, Grandma Le’s egg rolls, Vietnamese herbs, cucumber, crispy shallots, and green onion. This bowl was a bit of surprise. I can’t say that I’ve had a curry vermicelli bowl and it was a refreshing twist!

Joey’s Crunch Berry Boba: I’m a lover of this drink! It tastes just like cereal milk and is one of the few pink drinks I’ll order. You can get this blended or iced and with or without boba.

Quail Egg Poppers (trứng cút chien): Four seasoned ground chicken and quail egg poppers wrapped in crispy wonton and gently fried. Served with sweet chili sauce. This was a dish that I could have eaten all day. I love fried appetizers but this is truly addicting. The crunch was perfect but then the chicken and quail egg stuffing was delicate and flavorful.

Lotus Root Salad: Lotus root, shrimp, pickled carrots, daikon, leeks, shaved onion, crispy shallots, roasted peanuts, and tossed with nước chấm and Vietnamese sesame chip. This was a dish I hadn’t had before. It was full of interesting textures and flavors, rooted in fresh ingredients. If you haven’t had lotus root before, you should give it a try. It’s fibrous texture holds flavor well.

We also tried the brisket pho (chinh), likely the most traditional thing we sampled. I’m sorry to report that we were so busy eating that I didn’t get a picture. It was comforting and delicious, a bit milder than I’m used to. The broth is a 24-hour bone marrow broth. The noodles were cooked perfectly and overall, it was a good bowl of soup.

Bánh Town offers both dine in and take out options. Be warned, the parking lot is very small so plan accordingly. Thanks to Bánh Town for hosting and to Nelson, Reda, and Tony for joining me and taking such gorgeous pictures!