Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Sandwiched between a Chinese herbal shop and Asian bakery is Thu Hien Deli, a Vietnamese bakery and delicatessen — purveyors of a rainbow assortment of unnaturally fluorescent treats, baked goods, and homemade traditional Vietnamese dishes for takeout.

We came for their specialty: the Banh Cuon, a crepe-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice flour stuffed with ground pork and minced wood ear mushroom. A short, portly lady with a grim look on her face asked us for our order. We asked for the Vietnamese Crepes. Without so much as raising her head to look up, she remarked in a disinterested tone, “Cheong Fan?” — to which we nodded. Uh, sure. I guess so. Rice rolls it is. We looked at each other and shrugged .

(Clockwise: 1. Banh Cuon aka Vietnamese Rice Crepes aka Rice Rolls? 2. Nothing says upscale like fried garlic chips wrapped in wax paper and rubber bands and fish sauce in a plastic bag. 3. Unidentified colourful treats.)

She reached into the back room and picked up a box from a stack of styrofoam boxes and dropped it into a plastic bag. Methodically, she dropped in a crumpled ball of wax paper wrapped haphazardly with a rubber band and tossed in a see-through plastic bag of curiously golden liquid before handing us the bag over the counter. I was surprised by the weight of the bag when she handed it over, it was surprisingly heavy — it felt like 5 pounds.

When we got home, we unpacked our meal: the wax paper contained chips of fried garlic and the plastic bag contained Nuoc Mam, aka fish sauce — the distinct, pungent aroma was unmistakable. We opened up the styrofoam box to reveal fresh looking, homemade rice rolls. The crepe skin was super thin to the point of transparency, revealing the heavenly mixture of pork and mushroom.

This takeout meal that served 2 people with leftovers for the next day was a mere $6. Okay, if you’re really hungry, one person could probably eat this alone in one sitting — but I wouldn’t recommend trying.

Perfect for: The cheapest takeout meal. Ever.

The Details

1388 Kingsway, Vancouver
604.874.9243

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Pho Saigon is a Vietnamese restaurant located on Kingsway in Burnaby. The name is about as generic as you could have for a Vietnamese restaurant, but this family run eatery is a really nice alternative to fast food when you want something to go.

Although we often fall back to the standard beef noodles at Vietnamese restaurants, Bun Cha is a great-take out friendly alternate to Pho. It’s basically vermicelli noodles (cooked and drained) served with fresh, raw vegetables (usually bean sprouts and julienned carrots and cucumber) and topped with a choice of shredded pork, spring rolls or a pork or chicken brochette (or for the meat-a-tarians, you can mix and match). It’s got all the essential components for a complete meal: veggies, starch and protein.

I ordered a pork brochette (skewered pork that’s been marinated in fish sauce and lemongrass and char grilled) and a spring roll over a bed of vermicelli noodles. It’s usually served with a side of the infamous nuoc cham (fish sauce) for dipping. Case had the same minus the pork brochette. It’s really difficult to screw up grilled meat on a stick, or anything deep fried as well, so you’re pretty much guaranteed a good meal, and Pho Saigon doesn’t disappoint. At $15 for the two of us, this meal handily beats a couple of value meals at your typical fast food joint.

Perfect for: A nice alternative to fast food take-out with all the essential food groups: veggies, starch, protein… and fish sauce.

The Details

6322 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.438.1982

Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Kam Gok Yuen is the traditional Chinese hole-in-the-wall restaurant you’d expect to find in Chinatown. It’s been here forever — well, at least for as long as I can remember coming down to Chinatown. They serve your typical noodle soup and fried rice dishes, but their specialty is the roast/barbeque meats.

Whenever we don’t have the time (or feel like) cooking, Case and I like to pick up half a barbeque duck. The stern yet jovial butcher will yank one of the ducks hanging from the storefront display and proceed to skillfully chop up the bird with a big scary knife before placing it in a styrofoam takeout container.

In an assembly-like manner, the perpetually grumpy looking hostess/server will finish packing the duck, throwing in a couple packets of the famed Wing Kee plum sauce for dipping, and sometimes a small container of duck sauce if she feels like it.

The duck is really tender and juicy on the inside, and the skin is super crispy — some of the best we’ve had in Vancouver. Half a duck is under $10. Fast service, cheap and tasty food, ghetto atmosphere — what more could you ask for?

Perfect for:

Tasty takeout alternative to your run-of-the-mill poultry in a bucket.

The Details

142 East Pender Street, Vancouver
604.683.3822

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars :

Now that we’re in the middle of playoffs (Go Canucks Go), I thought it’d be pertinent to look at the only acceptable culinary accompaniment to the noble sport of hockey. Namely, the humble yet universally awesome take out pizza. Bella Pizza in Burnaby has been our primary supplier of cheese and pepperoni for a long time.

Everyone has their favourite, secret neighborhood pizza joint — Bella Pizza is ours. They have storefronts all around the Metro Vancouver area, but our’s is just on the outskirts of Metrotown and is run by a friendly, hardworking family.

The pepperoni pick up specials are a bargain, but they are better known for creations like the Masterpiece (Pepperoni, Back Bacon, Onions, Mushrooms, Capicollo & Green Peppers) and the Hawaiian (Ham, Pineapple & Back Bacon). Their Gourmet Vegetarian (Spinach, Fresh Tomato, Artichoke Hearts, Onions, Feta Cheese, Fresh Garlic & a Touch of Pesto) is enough to convert a carnivore such as myself into vegetarianism. Ok, not really — but it is really is good.

Pizza, of course, can only be washed down with an ice cold beer. Might I recommend locally brewed suds such as those produced by Granville Island or Okanagan Spring — anything made in small batches will do.

Pizza. Beer. Game on.

Perfect for:

Accompanying good, local beer.

The Details

4624 Imperial St, Burnaby
604.438.3555
www.bellapizza.ca/imperial.html

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Tre and I are really into Indian style food. We like how the spices, textures and sauces marry with one another. What’s unusual about Baba Sweets is — it’s located in the burbs. Burnaby to be exact. We have driven by this place occasionally and have noticed the bright, banana yellow sign, but never actually checked it out. A friend had recommended it, so we thought we would give it a go.

The storefront doesn’t look anything special. In fact, it’s difficult to tell Baba’s is a restaurant. It looks more like a cafe or deli. At first, I was apprehensive about ordering something here, unfamiliar with all the strange but tasty looking sweets displayed. I was completely mesmerized by the different colors and shapes of sweets — until Tre reminded me we were here to order dinner. So we got down to business.

We ordered the butter chicken, their specialty. Boneless chicken marinated in special sauce cooked with garlic, ginger, cream, onions, fresh tomatoes and spices. It’s pretty good. The chicken was fairly tender and not at all dry. The sauce was delicious. Aloo Gobi is cauliflower and potatoes cooked with fresh onions, tomatoes and spices. This dish was not bad, but can sometimes be a bit dry. Their fish pakora is fish marinated in yogurt, ginger, garlic and battered fried. The fish was alright, not dry and not at all greasy. The sauce that came with it was a little weird for me, but Tre liked it. Vegetable Biryani: Basmati rice cooked with fresh veggies and spices. The rice was good, no complaints here. Their Naan bread was surprisingly disappointing. It was over cooked and extremely dry. We have since tried the naan bread a number of times and it’s been good so far. For dessert — Gulab Jamun. Made from dry milk and deep fried and dipped in honey. This is one of our favorite desserts. I wouldn’t recommend eating too many of these — they’re really sweet and can be heavy for such little suckers.

Overall, this place is worth checking out. The prices are slightly higher than you might expect for take out. But we think its worth it. We’d rather pay a little more for tastier homemade food.

UPDATE: Tre and I have finally tried their famed samosas, since they’re usually sold out before we get to them. These samosas are awesome! I’m not sure what they put in the batter, but it’s light and flaky. I can see why their samosas are their best sellers!

The Details

7561 6th Street, Burnaby
604.522.5211

9285 120 Street, North Delta
604.581.6960