I don’t often land in Bankstown, in fact this was my first visit, so when a friend had a 40th birthday party nearby I wanted to make sure that I managed to sneak a food blog post in. That’s me, obsessed with my blog. I’m the one who measures a place by its blog worthy status and cannot go anywhere twice much to my husband’s annoyance. We had intended to visit The Taste of Egypt on Greenfield Parade as we had never tried Egyptian food before but as we arrived at 10.30pm on a Saturday night, all of the Egyptian goodies were gone. We exited and found ourselves faced with the bright lights of My Canh, a large Vietnamese restaurant which was thankfully still open and serving.
Before we knew it we were seated and examining the huge and varied menu for goodies with over 220 items to choose from. Warm tea arrives in a cute little metal teapot and two small plastic tumblers. I see items such as Chicken’s Feet salad and Beef Fondue (I ask about this later and it’s not cheese but vinegar) but I wanted to try Special Beef Phở ($9) as the evening has a slight chill to it and I know my husband likes noodle soups. I peruse the menu for another less soupy offering and am a little stumped due to the myriad of options. My eyes rest on the Bun with spring rolls and BBQ Pork ($10), something through culinary kismet was featured on an episode of Food Safari just a few days ago. We order this and as for something to drink, the Avocado shake is just begging to be ordered by me and my husband sees the Durian shake and orders this ($4 each). Our waiter is friendly and efficient.
We’re not waiting long at all, within a couple of minutes, the bean sprouts and basil arrive along with plum and chili sauces for the Phở and the Vietnamese dipping sauce arrives for the Bun. In the Food Safari episode they explained that a girl’s marriage worthy status was based on her ability to make this dipping sauce and a prospective mother in law would be served this so she could inspect how well her potential daughter in law could make it. If the seeds and chili float, then it’s good. If not, well I guess you end up in dating Siberia. My Canh’s sauce of course floats.
Avocado and Durian Shake $4 each
Our Shakes arrive and the avocado is a lovely light sweet and frosty shake. It’s also incredibly rich yet still manages to be refreshing so a little goes a long way. I dislike Durian but for the sake of trying it, I sample my husband’s Durian shake. Yes, it’s that smell again. I quickly pass this back to him. I’m convinced my husband only orders Durian due to its reputation and like boys tend to do, he likes to order the most hideous sounding thing and live to tell the tale. He was seduced by the folklore and legend of the Durian being banned from the streets and my description of gagging and running away when my mother first opened one up in our home. He admits that he doesn’t like it and admits it may have been the idea of a stinky fruit that made him order it.
Our Bun and Phở arrives. I try the Bun first – it has nothing to do with an actual bread bun, its a noodle dish with the opaque thin vermicelli noodles underneath a tumble of salad, mint leaves, spring rolls and BBQ pork. I spoon the dipping sauce over the noodles and it’s perfect. I love the crunch of the vegetables and mint and the very fresh crispy spring rolls cut in thirds. The BBQ pork is delicious too and oops I may have found that I ate a bit more than my alloted half.
Special Beef Phở $9
I then try the Phở and the broth is richly flavoured yet light and sustaining. I add some bean sprouts which still remain crunchy and some lemon to give it flavour and its delicious. The fatty beef pieces I dip in the chili sauce which is very spicy especially given the presence of freshly chopped chilis. There is also tripe and meatballs as well as another thinly sliced leaner beef. For me however, adding the basil is overkill and I find it overpowers the Phở broth. My husband likes the basil in it but I pick out the leaves.
As much as I don’t want to move out of my safe, and what some may say is boring North Shore enclave, I do wish we had a late night haunt like this.
My Canh Vietnamese restaurant
29-31 Greenfield Parade Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9796-7586
Open 7 days
11am-11pm
Surcharge for Credit card/add 50c per takeaway container
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15 Comments | Add your own
hehe I like the bit abt your hubby and durian…I actually love durian…but only the fresh fruit and in small quantities…I don’t like anything else to be durian flavored though…candy, drinks, ice cream etc.
I love visiting the far flung suburbs, there are some sensational meals to have, can’t wait to visit My Canh (any idea how to pronounce that?)
If you have a chance to make another visit, you need to try the fresh fish steamboat. I think the name ‘My Canh’ is the style the fish is presented or the soup used (don’t quote me on that though
). We get it every time and it seems like every other table has a giant steamboat sitting in the middle of their table too.
Hi Alexandra-I think my husband just likes the idea of liking it. The actual eating of it is another matter
Is it the actual texture of the fruit that you like? I’ve heard that is the best part of it and people put up with the smell for the texture and flavour. I personally can’t separate the smell though but I have a really, really sensitive nose. Pity cos eating Durian could almost be a party trick here in Australia! 
Hi Popeye-I’m afraid I have to plead ignorance on the pronunciation. Far flung suburbs are indeed excellent-sometimes I almost feel like I am on holiday when I go for a drive!
Hi felix-Ahh ok, interesting! I might give that go as I love fish, thanks for the rec!
as a fellow north shore inhabitant, i love going to bankstown as well! however, for pho, we go to an’s, which is just a couple of doors up. i tend to go during the day, on a weekday, if possible. then i can get sugar cane juice and fried bananas! anyway, i’m going off on a tangent….
thanks for the review – i think we may try to give the hotpot a go next time we’re out there – maybe thurday?
cheers,
lynn
Interesting about 50 cents extra per takeaway container. Most of the Asian places here offer 10% discount for takeway.
I really enjoy Pho -so does hubby. I’d not heard of the “Bun” dish before.. I was indeed imagining a bread roll bun!
It sounded like something yummy!
I saw the episode of Food Safari you mentioned. I see in the TV guide this week it’ll be Greek food? Come to think of it.. I’ve seen it on the commercials too -so you probably have too?
I would never think to order a Durian shake.. or even an Avocado one.. which I’m embarrased to admit. I usually like to think of myself as a “will try anything” foodie. But if faced with a shake menu like that.. I’d have probably ignored it. To be honest.. I guess it’s because wherever I go I just seem to drink water. I don’t do sweetened beverages much at all. I prefer to eat my calories it seems.. or leave room for more food?!
I sometimes find the Thai basil a bit overpowering too.. so only tear-up a small amount to stir through the soup.
Thanks for another lovely post Lorraine
Hi lynn-Ahh yes, we saw the An’s sign but it was closed that night. Mmmm sugar cane juice is heavenly, you’ve just said the magic words and I don’t know if I’ve tried fried banana asian style, only flambe style. Have fun and I’d love to hear what you think of the hotpot!
Hi Maria-I went to another place this weekend which was also charging 50c for a takeaway container. Perhaps it’s a trend! :S
Whilst I thought that the Durian was a bit unpleasant, I’d definitely recommend trying the avocado shake, it’s really not like having a lot of avocado. Although like you, I tend to have water instead of wasting stomach space and calories on drinks-but that’s what husband’s are for. to drink the rest of what you wanted to have a sip of!
Thankyou!
I love how Pho at restaurants always come out piping hot. Mum makes it at home just on the normal stove and it never is as hot as I like it. This blog makes me salivate.
Hi Maria-It is very hot, much like ramen can be volcanic in temperature! Thankyou!
Personally, I think My Canh is rather average. It’s not bad, but not great either. I’m of vietnamese descent, so I have lovely vietnamese food all the time!
I love durian. At home, I tend to be the one that gobbles most of it up! The boys in my household don’t even try and pretend they are tough enough with the ’stinky’ fruit. My brother hates it and refuses to eat it. My dad dislikes it, and often says the smell gives him a headache.
On the pronunciation front, it’s hard trying to spell out phonetically vietnamese sounds to non-native speakers, and even when you say it I often get sounds which are nowhere close when they’re relayed. My Canh is pronounced sort of like “me gun” Both words are said rather drawn out and long sounds, and each sounds almost as though you’re asking a question. Hope that helps!
Pho An is a great pho place! It most likely is loaded up on MSG, but it’s not something you tend to think about when you’re eating tasty soupy noodles. The servings are huge but a bowl of pho there is very expensive! The last time I was there, it was probably about $11 a bowl for the pho bo dac biet (the special beef noodle soup, which has the different types of beef, tripe, tendons etc) so you’re looking at at least a couple dollars more than two doors down at my canh. I don’t think I tend to eat pho out anywhere else though. Most viet places tend to have rubbish pho compared to Mum’s cooking!! The broth at pho an is great because it doesn’t have that awfully ‘meaty’ smell…and they have very speedy service. I’m quite the opposite to you though, I LOVE loading up my pho with basil and bean sprouts. I can’t stand pho with a strong meaty smelly broth. Lots of basil and bean sprouts for me! Word of advice, if you like bean sprouts but find that what they give you is never enough (as is always the case for me), at pho an if you ask for “cooked sprouts” they’ll bring out a little plate of cooked bean sprouts free of charge (and since the raw sprouts comes out with the basil and lemon, that plate comes out as well)
Pho An also have the surcharge for take-away. They also do this ridculous thing where they charge you for an extra empty bowl to share (even if it’s for a child) at an inflated price of $3.50 or so. Sometimes I just CANNOT fit in even a small bowl when I could easily share half a large bowl with someone, but I refuse to pay for an extra empty bowl. I remember when I was younger I never ordered my own bowl and used to get spare for free and just take parts of everyone else’s meals! Interesting bit of trivia, pho an used to be located where my canh is now.
I’m not a big fan of bun (definitely not like a bread bun, it’s pronounced almost like “boong”, this is a short sound though and once again, almost as if you’re asking a question. You don’t really pronounce the g though) but it’s cheap and very easy to make. Goes with anything! Great with spring rolls. When I”m feeling extremely lazy, I tend to whip up some bun and top it with thin strips of beef, lemongrass, onion and curry cooked almost satay style. Lots of fish sauce of course.
Hi Cathy-Very interesting, thanks for the tips about pronunciation. I think I understand as I heard them pronouncing it on Food Safari.
Unfortunately Pho An was closed when we got there. That’s good to know about teh cooked bean sprouts. I really love bean sprouts but find it hard to fit the raw ones into the bowl and I prefer them slightly more cooked anyway. I’ll do that next time. I don’t quite agree with charging the $3.50 for an empty bowl although I can see why they do it so that people don’t share. But sometimes you just can’t fit it all in.
I actually prefer Bun to Phở as I love the fresh crunch of salad and meat together. I must try making it myself!
I live near Bankstown but never eat in that area so I decided to try something.As always I check your site to see if you’ve visited any place in the area I want to visit & yes you had been to My Canh so I decided to go there.
It wasn’t a disappointment good food.I has the seafood soup my husband grilled pork,tomato rice & fried egg.We loved it all.Very good food.
Hi Anna-Cool!
That’s great to hear, did the seafood soup have a lot of seafood? I love tomato rice, I could eat a huge plate of it and be very happy 
Glad to hear that you liked the food!
No it didn’t have heaps of seafood but that was ok the broth was really good,with lots of noodles.
There is a great place in chatswood that I go too in the lemon grove center.It’s absolutely the best vietnamese food/soup going around.
Hi Anna-A good broth can do wonders indeed!
The Lemon Grover centre has some great food options. I wish I could get there more often.
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