{"id":5112,"date":"2026-09-15T20:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T11:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/?post_type=news&p=5112"},"modified":"2026-09-29T23:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T14:23:42","slug":"banh-trang-toronto","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/banh-trang-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Two chefs left high-paying kitchen jobs to open a banh trang tron shop in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banh trang tron \u2014 a snack loved in Vietnamese alleys and outside schools, made by tossing thin-cut rice paper with dried shrimp, green mango, quail eggs, and fresh herbs \u2014 is now selling for CAD 25 a plate in Toronto, Canada's largest city. Vietnamese business newspaper Dan Tri reports on two women born in 1997, both former head chefs at Western restaurants, who left their well-paid jobs to open a shop devoted to this street food. Even after opening their first location, they went nearly a year and a half with almost no income, but they kept expanding through that stretch, and the shop has since grown to draw 100\u2013150 customers on weekdays and 200\u2013300 on weekends. As a case study in how Vietnamese home cooking is received abroad, it makes for compelling reading both for travelers who enjoy Vietnamese food on the road and for Vietnamese-food lovers living overseas.<\/p>\n

\"\u30c8\u30ed\u30f3\u30c8\u306e\u5e97\u5185\u3067\u30d0\u30a4\u30f3\u30c1\u30e3\u30f3\u30c1\u30e7\u30f3\u3092\u8abf\u7406\u3057\u76db\u308a\u4ed8\u3051\u308b\u30d9\u30c8\u30ca\u30e0\u4eba\u5973\u60272\u4eba\"<\/figure>\n

Two women who stepped down as head chefs to sell street food<\/h2>\n

The shop is run by Kim Ngoc and Pham Thi My Loan. Both were born in 1997 and previously worked as head chefs at Western restaurants, earning roughly CAD 80,000 a year \u2014 about 1.5 billion dong in Vietnamese currency, or roughly \u00a58.6 million. They gave up that stable income to sell the street food of their hometown overseas.<\/p>\n

What stands out is that the signature dish they chose, banh trang tron, sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from refined Western cuisine. Two chefs with professional training deliberately bet on a humble, homestyle snack. It was a challenge to turn a dish young Vietnamese people grab on the street into a product that could work in a foreign city.<\/p>\n

A shop selling CAD 25 banh trang tron<\/h2>\n

The shop is named \"Cach Mang Thang Tam \u2013 Truong Chinh,\" after Vietnamese street names \u2014 a hometown place name flying the flag in a shop overseas. Its signature banh trang tron costs CAD 25 a plate, a price that layers processing, shipping, and overseas cost of living on top of a snack that sells for a few thousand dong back in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The menu doesn't stop at banh trang tron. There's a birthday cake made from rice paper (banh trang cake) for CAD 85 and up, plus che (Vietnamese sweet dessert soup), tapioca milk tea, coffee, banh gio (steamed rice cakes wrapped in banana leaf), banh bao (steamed buns), banh mi, and com tam (broken rice plates). Prices range widely from CAD 2 to CAD 28, catering to customers grabbing a light bite as well as those there for a full meal. Some ingredients are hard to find in Canada and are imported from Vietnam, which adds to the cost.<\/p>\n

Prices in Canadian dollars alongside yen<\/h2>\n

The main menu items and the pair's former salary are listed below with a rough yen equivalent. The exchange rate used is about CAD 1 = \u00a5108 as of September 2026. The article also gives a dong conversion, which is included here for reference (roughly \u00a51 \u2248 175 dong).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nCAD<\/th>\nYen guide<\/th>\nDong (per the article)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Banh trang tron (1 plate)<\/td>\n25 CAD<\/td>\nRoughly \u00a52,700<\/td>\nRoughly 468,000 dong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rice paper birthday cake<\/td>\n85 CAD\u301c<\/td>\nRoughly \u00a59,200 and up<\/td>\nRoughly 1,500,000 dong and up<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Overall menu price range<\/td>\n2\u301c28 CAD<\/td>\nRoughly \u00a5220\u20133,000<\/td>\nRoughly 37,000\u2013524,000 dong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Former chef salary (annual)<\/td>\nRoughly CAD 80,000<\/td>\nRoughly \u00a58.6 million<\/td>\nRoughly 1.5 billion dong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A plate that would cost small change at a Vietnamese street stall sells for \u00a52,700 in Toronto. Once you factor in imported ingredients and overseas dining prices, even a hometown snack lands in the local price range.<\/p>\n

Expanding first, accepting losses \u2014 about a year and a half to break even<\/h2>\n

It wasn't a smooth start. They opened their first location in October 2024. For about a year and a half after that, they had almost no income and lived off savings from their previous salaries. Finding staff in an unfamiliar place was difficult, and Vietnamese-specific ingredients were hard to source locally. Relying on imports drove up costs and squeezed profits.<\/p>\n

Even so, the two didn't stop opening new locations. They opened a second shop in March 2025 and a third in August of the same year, before profitability was even in sight, expanding to three locations in under a year since launch \u2014 a bet on growth ahead of returns. One factor that boosted foot traffic was setting up a food stall at a local Vietnamese culture festival. People who discovered the flavor there spread the word, and visits grew from there. It took roughly a year and a half from opening for the finances to finally turn a corner. The response has come from two directions: Vietnamese-Canadian customers say tasting the flavors of home eases their homesickness, while local customers have embraced it out of curiosity for a new food culture.<\/p>\n

Street food going global is changing how travelers see Vietnamese cuisine<\/h2>\n

This case shows that Vietnamese cuisine's standing overseas is shifting. Until now, pho and banh mi were the stars of Vietnamese food abroad. Now, more grassroots snacks like banh trang tron are starting to work as products too. When a trained chef makes it with real commitment, even a street snack can become a dish worth paying for in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

This matters to travelers in two ways. First, it broadens what's worth eating on a trip to Vietnam \u2014 not just pho at famous restaurants, but snacks like banh trang tron eaten outside schools and in markets, which are closer to the everyday flavors of the country. Second, for Vietnamese-food lovers living abroad, it's a sign that more shops are recreating the taste of home. If you're in Toronto, these three locations are a place to bring back a bit of the atmosphere of a Vietnamese street stall.<\/p>\n

Looking for it in Toronto versus tasting it on a trip<\/h2>\n

If you want to actually try it, there are two routes in. If you're visiting Toronto, this shop named after Vietnamese street names is a good option \u2014 with everything from banh trang tron to heartier dishes like com tam, you can order light or make it a full meal. Payment is generally in Canadian dollars on-site. If you're in Vietnam itself, look for this snack near markets and schools or in an alley in the evening, and you'll find an authentic plate for a few thousand dong instead of CAD 25. The balance of tart green mango and savory dried shrimp varies from shop to shop, so trying a few is the way to find your favorite.<\/p>\n

If you want to read more stories of people who bet on food by taking over a family business or changing careers, our story on a woman who took over the family business (A 3-time-Michelin eel glass noodle shop taken over by a daughter who closed her US nail salon<\/a>) is a good match. For a look at Vietnamese cuisine's standing on the world stage,Vietnam voted world's best food destination by NZ paper readers, ahead of No. 2 Italy and No. 3 Japan<\/a>is worth a read. And if you want to understand the price gap between street stalls and restaurants with lines out the door,A 2030-yen hot-plate banh mi in Saigon, 6 to 10 times the street price, still draws a line<\/a>is worth reading as well.<\/p>\n

is one to check out. Next time you order Vietnamese food, try reaching one step past pho and banh mi for banh trang tron. A plate that costs \u00a52,700 in Toronto can be had for small change in a Vietnamese alley. That price gap for the same dish says a lot about the everyday richness of the country.<\/p>\n

Sources: Dan tri\u300cB\u1ecf l\u01b0\u01a1ng 1,5 t\u1ef7\/n\u0103m, hai c\u00f4 g\u00e1i b\u00e1n b\u00e1nh tr\u00e1ng tr\u1ed9n gi\u1eefa TP l\u1edbn nh\u1ea5t Canada\u300d<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Vietnamese women born in 1997, both former head chefs at Western restaurants, opened a banh trang tron shop in Toronto. They pushed ahead with expansion despite losses, taking about a year and a half to turn a profit. Prices and their journey are presented with yen conversions.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"swell_btn_cv_data":"","ssp_meta_description":"\u897f\u6d0b\u6599\u7406\u306e\u30d8\u30c3\u30c9\u30b7\u30a7\u30d5\u3092\u8f9e\u3081\u305f1997\u5e74\u751f\u307e\u308c\u306e\u30d9\u30c8\u30ca\u30e0\u4eba\u5973\u60272\u4eba\u304c\u3001\u30c8\u30ed\u30f3\u30c8\u3067\u30d0\u30a4\u30f3\u30c1\u30e3\u30f3\u30c1\u30e7\u30f3\u306e\u5e97\u3092\u958b\u696d\u3002\u8d64\u5b57\u899a\u609f\u3067\u51fa\u5e97\u3092\u5148\u884c\u3055\u305b\u3001\u9ed2\u5b57\u5316\u307e\u3067\u7d041\u5e74\u534a\u3002\u4fa1\u683c\u3084\u6b69\u307f\u3092\u5186\u63db\u7b97\u3064\u304d\u3067\u7d39\u4ecb\u3059\u308b\u3002","ssp_meta_keyword":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[426,19],"tags":[1086,1085,277,730,1087],"purpose":[],"keyword":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-5112","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gourmet","category-news","tag-1086","tag-1085","tag-vietnamese-food","tag-730","tag-1087"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/5112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/5112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6112,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/5112\/revisions\/6112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"purpose","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purpose?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}