Fish-cake bánh canh Nha Trang

4.3

Our own score, not an average of guest reviews

Four fish-cake bánh canh shops, and why the name Bà Thừa answers to four addresses

City centre

Banh canh Ba Thua, 143 Hoang Van Thu — reference photo 1 — Reference photo

Banh canh Ba Thua 2, 19 Cuu Long — reference photo 1 — Reference photo

Banh canh Ba Thua, 27 To Vinh Dien — reference photo 1 — Reference photo

Banh canh long ca Tran Van On — reference photo 2 — Reference photo

Banh canh Ba Thua, 143 Hoang Van Thu — reference photo 2 — Reference photo

Banh canh Ba Thua, 27 To Vinh Dien — reference photo 2 — Reference photo

Address: Hoang Van Thu, Cuu Long, To Vinh Dien and Hoang Hoa Tham. Four named shops at the foot of the page
Opening hours: Mostly a morning dish, sold out before noon; 27 To Vinh Dien runs 6:00–20:00
Price range: 30,000 – 45,000₫/dish
Best time to go: 6:30–8:00. After nine only 27 To Vinh Dien and the Hoang Hoa Tham shop are still going

Overview

Fish-cake bánh canh belongs to Nha Trang the way bún sứa does: a broth boiled from sea fish, so it stays clear and lightly sweet, thick rice-flour noodles, and in the bowl steamed fish cake, fried fish cake and chunks of fish. Some shops add fish innards and roe. No fresh herbs, only slivered onion, with a saucer of sweetened fish sauce for dipping the cake. Anyone used to bún bò or crab bánh canh further south will find this bowl markedly lighter.

If you are eating one bowl, I would order at 143 Hoàng Văn Thụ. This is the Bà Thừa room visitors reach most: 45,000₫ for the full bowl, the fish cake cut into pieces with slivered onion and sweetened fish sauce, a clean room and street parking. One thing to know: go early. By seven the pot is half down, and by nine it is usually finished.

No article spells this out: the name Bà Thừa now answers to four bánh canh addresses, not one. The original was on Yersin and has moved. Today there is 143 Hoàng Văn Thụ, 19 Cửu Long near the railway station, and 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện, and two of those describe themselves on the sign as the main branch. One more listing sits on the map at 10A Phan Chu Trinh with over six hundred reviews. That address is closed, and the owner points people to 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện or 11 Trịnh Phong. Follow the listing with the most reviews and you arrive at a shut door.

Among the three that are open, each suits a different day. 19 Cửu Long is the cheapest at 30,000–40,000₫ and sits by the railway station, handy if you are taking a train; it serves only the thick noodles, with no bún and no herbs. 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện is the only one open all day, 6:00–20:00, which matters for a dish every other shop sells out of before noon; its noodles are made on the premises, and the fish innards and roe are the two things to order.

The fourth shop is not part of the Bà Thừa family and earns its place twice over. Bánh canh lòng cá Trần Văn Ơn sells a 30,000₫ bowl and a 40,000₫ special with fish innards, roe and skin: which the three above do not have, and opens 10:00–17:00, which makes it the one to eat at once the morning shops have sold out. The second reason: it has moved off the street it is named after. The banner on the new frontage says so, beside the house number 134 Hoàng Hoa Thám, while its own map listing still carries the old address on Trần Văn Ơn. Navigate by the street name and you go to the wrong place.

In the same family: Bún cá Cô Ba, Hai Cá and bún sứa.

Some shops, with addresses

Bánh canh Bà Thừa — 143 Hoàng Văn Thụ
Open map →
143 Hoang Van Thu, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
4.5★ Google · 139 reviewsfrom 45,000₫
This is the Bà Thừa room visitors reach most, and the one I would order at first: 45,000₫ for the full bowl, a lightly sweet broth, and springy fish cake cut into pieces to eat with slivered onion and a saucer of sweetened fish sauce. Clean, easy to find, with street parking and a menu in several languages. Go early: by seven the pot is half down and by nine it is usually gone. The shop moved here from Yersin, so if you read an older article giving Yersin, that is the previous address.
Reference photos from sources on the internet.
Bánh canh Bà Thừa 2 — 19 Cửu Long
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19 Cuu Long, P. Nha Trang (Phuoc Hoa former), Khanh Hoa
4.8★ Google · 125 reviews30,000 – 40,000₫
The cheapest of the four at 30,000–40,000₫ a bowl, and close to Nha Trang railway station, which helps if you are catching a train or staying nearby. The large bowl carries steamed cake, fried cake and chunks of fish, in a broth that tastes of fish rather than sugar. It serves only the thick noodles. No bún, and no fresh herbs, just slivered onion. Prices are posted. They will also make fish cake to order.
Reference photos from sources on the internet.
Bánh canh Bà Thừa (Tèo Anh) — 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện
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27 To Vinh Dien, Tay Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
4.4★ Google · 110 reviewsOpen 6:00 – 20:0030,000 – 40,000₫
The only one of the four open all day, 6:00 to 20:00, and for a dish every other shop runs out of before noon, that alone is a reason to pick it. The noodles are made on the premises, the broth is clear and lightly sweet, and the 40,000₫ special comes fully loaded. The two things to order are the fish innards and the roe; the innards here are hard to better anywhere in the city. Garlic, chilli and calamansi are kept cold until you use them. This is also the address the owner points to when customers ask about the branch that closed.
Reference photos from sources on the internet.
Bánh canh lòng cá Trần Văn Ơn
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134 Hoang Hoa Tham, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
4.3★ Google · 125 reviewsOpen 10:00 – 17:0030,000 – 40,000₫
A pavement shop of twenty years that now has a room of its own, and the place to eat once the morning bánh canh has gone: 10:00–17:00. A bowl is 30,000₫ and the special is 40,000₫, with fish innards, roe and crisp fish skin: the tuna roe, rich and fragrant, is what customers write about. The jellyfish salad with fish stomach is worth ordering too. There are no fresh herbs and no fan, so midday is warm. The address is 134 Hoàng Hoa Thám, not Trần Văn Ơn: the shop is named after the street it used to be on, its new frontage says as much, and its own map listing has not caught up. For that reason this page gives it no coordinate, the pin on the map is the old spot.
Reference photos from sources on the internet.

Addresses come from each shop's own Google Maps listing, and the Open map button opens that shop's pin rather than running a search. 18 shops on the site have no listing we could confirm, so they have no button: the address lookup returned a different business, and a button that points at the wrong place is worse than none. A Google score appears only when Maps carries both the score and the number of reviews — a bare average cannot be weighed, so this page leaves it out. Street-food stalls change hours and close without telling anyone; call ahead if you are travelling across town.

What to order

A clear, lightly sweet sea-fish broth
Steamed and fried fish cake in the same bowl
Fish innards and roe at two of the four
27 To Vinh Dien runs all day to 20:00

Practical tips

Go before eight. This dish sells out early
Dip the fish cake in the sweet fish sauce with slivered onion. That is how it is eaten here
Do not follow the Bà Thừa listing with the most reviews. That address is closed

Frequently asked

How is it different from bún cá?

Same fish broth, different noodle: bánh canh is a thick soft rice-flour noodle, bún is thin. Many Nha Trang shops sell both, and bún sứa adds salted jellyfish to the same broth. For a single breakfast, bún sứa is the more local dish; bánh canh is the more filling one.

Which Bà Thừa is the real one?

Three addresses are open: 143 Hoàng Văn Thụ, 19 Cửu Long and 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện. The original on Yersin has moved. The 10A Phan Chu Trinh listing, despite having the most reviews, is closed. The owner replies there pointing people to 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện or 11 Trịnh Phong.

When does it sell out?

At 143 Hoàng Văn Thụ the pot is half down by seven and usually finished by nine. If you sleep late, 27 Tô Vĩnh Diện runs to 20:00 and the Hoàng Hoa Thám shop opens 10:00–17:00.