My Canh - San Francisco

Owner super nice waited for us to come in last minute order. Banh Canh Cua is the best!!

The Vietnamese pancakes were just as good if not better than the ones I had in Vietnam.

Super lovely and sweet owner, good is tasty and hearty.

A visit here was prompted by my planned lunch spot was closed on a recent Monday. Wanting to get to my office to catch up on some work, I crossed the street and walked in. There were two ladies seated at the rear left table as I seated myself at a table along the right wall. One of the ladies brought a menu to me before walking to the kitchen to get me a cup of tea. After a quick study and a skim on their Yelp listing, I was ready to order. I started with the VN egg rolls which were crisply deep fried; this is one of my tests in confirming the authenticity of the cuisine as many purported VN places use your standard egg roll wrap instead of the rice paper wrap like here. Though on the thick side, these were fried crispy and the density made it taste a bit more oily than I'm used to. I ate half and brought the other half home for my brother for part of his dinner. For my main meal, I had the rare steak and beef ball with rice noodles it came in a decent sized bowl and the broth was piping hot. The noodles were plentiful and paired well with the clean tasting broth that looked like it was housemade and not a powder mix. My only wish was that the rare beef was left higher about the soup so most slices weren't medium by the time I got to them. There was a nice plate of bean sprouts, jalapeno slices, and a wedge of lemon on the side which I used. Wished they had a few sprigs of basil to top it off. Service was efficient as she checked on me as I ate to confirm everything was okay. In reading more information about the business, I noticed that their listing states that they are also closed Mondays so I asked my waitress about this. She told me that the owner was away for a few weeks so they shifted their closing day to Wednesday until he returns. So do call and confirm their hours if you plan to come on a Monday or Wednesday. I would eat here again if in the area and try other menu items.

It's as hole in the wall as you can get! The weirdest part is they don't have prices on their menu! They either too cheap to print off menu or the price fluctuates depending on who walks in? I've never dined in a place with no prices on the menu! I ordered #27 was hoping for beef and jelly like tendons but instead I got chunks of red beef and fat and thinly sliced beef which I believe to be #24 the brisket and not tendon. Not sure if I would bother coming back, the noodles were very al dente barely cooked. Might try their buns next time if I remember to. Otherwise so many other Vietnamese in the area!