Thanh Binh

An okay place, but nothing special; pretty average as far as Thai places I’ve ever been to.

Had a really nice meal at Thanh Binh tonight: first time I’d had Vietnamese cuisine.
The atmosphere was good; the upstairs section was pleasently busy. The waiters perhaps a tad over-​attentive — we were in for a leisurely evening, not that they were really rushing us. Other tables were occupied and reoccupied as we sat and chatted and navigated the three courses.
We started with a mix of vegetable and meat spring rolls — nothing eventful there.
I had chicken in coconut milk, which was delicious. Plenty of chicken too. One friend had soup, the other ordered talapia. Both were enjoyed.
The ginger ice cream was an intersting taste combination that I’ll try to replicate at home. However the geen tapioca pudding might be an acquired taste!
There’s no bar, but there’s provision to take your own alcohol, which we did.
Good company. Good food. Comfortable surroundings = a very pleasant evening. Thank you, Thanh Binh — see you again! :)

Very over priced and very tiny portions. I was not happy with my experience at all. They did take us upon walk in. I spent over $ 60 US Dollars on two tiny meals that should have cost less.
My Phở was over £9.00, I had maybe 15 noodles, 2 tiny prawns and 2 tiny pieces of chicken. It was the smallest and most expensive Phở I have ever been served in my life. This place is a total rip off, but maybe if you are rich and living in Cambridge you don’t care about it being a rip off.
My friend ordered the tilapia. It did not smell fresh, it was very stinky. They served her a tiny portion of rice that she ate in two spoon fulls. I don’t understand why this place charges so much and gives epic tiny portions for what they are charging for.
I also ordered the fried spring rolls, they were again tiny, had prawn and pork but couldn’t notice if it was in there because the portions are so tiny.
Was not happy at all and won’t be going here again.

The sign on the door indicated that they were open til 2pm for lunch. At 1:50 the door was locked. Went down the street to a converted theatre and had a great meal.

It was a while back, like september. But I ordered from the Lunch menu and for starters I ordered Ch Giò (Pork spring roll) and for main course I ordered Tofu Phở. The spring rolls were tasty but the Phở was just ok. I had better. I think there was flavor missing and there was not enough Tofu and the mushrooms were disgusting. The price wasn’t that bad. It was pretty good for starter and main course. If i went back there would not be for the Phở but for the spring rolls.

I’ve been a handful of times and introduced it to a few friends and family, who’ve all loved the place. It is a little small so would recommend booking, even a day in advance. The food is amazingly aromatic and portion sizes are good.

I waited until leaving Cambridge to write this review, because my favorite cuisine is Vietnamese and this is the only Cantabrigian option. I was scared that the owner might notice a bad review and blacklist me. So I waited and bided my time. Until now.
I have the same complaint about Thanh Binh for Vietnamese food as I do about Teri-​Aki for sushi: both are horrendously mediocre restaurants that are overpriced because they have no competition in Cambridge. Every time I visited both restaurants, I would feel honestly depressed to be in a city where these disappointing, pricey efforts were the best/​only food I could get in their respective genres. In fact, I am typing this review from more than 5000 miles away, and it is depressing me even now.
I am especially grouchy about Thanh Binh because I was treated poorly when I came here by myself for lunch as an obvious (backpack wearing) student. The hostess made me sit at the table by the door (when it was raining, windy, and cold outside) apparently so that she could keep the several better tables for more desirable customers. I explicitly asked to be seated further away from the door and she refused, even though no one else had a reservation for those tables, and I made it through the entire meal without all of the tables in question filling up. (Note: I later came here for dinner with a date, and we were treated normally.)
Seriously, if you are in Cambridge and want Vietnamese food, pony up the cash, get thee to King’s Cross in London, and venture out to get really good Vietnamese food. It’s worth the investment, rather than settling for this mediocre offering.

kleines und nettes vietnamesisches Restaurant leckeres Essen und nette Bedienung. Die Preislage ist ortsüblich und angemessen. Es gibt keinen Alkohol im Restaurant es ist zu empfehlen im Weinlanden gegenüber einfach einen Wein der Wahl zu kaufen und mitzubringen. Das Personal öffnet diesen auf Wunsch gern außergewöhnlicher Service. Insgesamt gut!

I visited Thanh Binh last night and had a delicious meal. I had never eaten Vietnamese cuisine before and was very impressed.
I had the Beef Rago, which was braised beef in a tomato & carrot stew and I have just spent the last 30 minutes online searching for a similar recipe I can try at home in the US. It was that good. We were part of a group of six and all split one of the ice cream deserts. We bought a bottle of wine across the river but our dinner tab at Thanh Binh was about 25 pounds for two.
I have spent the past week visiting London and Cambridge from the US and THANH BINH WAS BY FAR THE BEST MEAL I’VE EATEN IN ENGLAND.

I really wanted to love Thanh Binh and nearly did. It’s Cambridge’s only Vietnamese restaurant and thus my only local source of phở… and after street sides and train stations in Vietnam and strip malls and chinatowns in the USA it felt something special to be slurping up the beefy stuff in a beautiful 300 year old street house sandwiched between Elizabethan colleges.
But sweet location and fancy presentation comes with a price — £8.50 for a phở bo that’s slim on good beef, £11+ for duck curries. And where were the other phở and soup options? No Hue crepes? It was a slim menu with tempting descriptions but few real stand outs.
The phở passed the test (just) and so did the (Thai-​ish) duck curry. The Hanoi beer was delish and so was the red bean dessert. If you feel brave they do durian ice cream too. I was feeling wimpy. No, not the burger chain.
Typical of so many places in England… high prices for okayish exotic food served in outstanding beautiful locations. If it’s the cuisine you love, you leave wanting — if it’s the occasion you love, you’ll be one of the many many people waiting for another seat here. You may probably even have to book ahead.
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Perhaps not so typical but worth a random mention… they double as a shop selling gorgeous Vietnamese handbags and jewelery during the day.

Found this tiny restaurant by chance as we were walking past and felt hungry! If we’d have known about it we would have bought wine to take with us as this is a BYO restaurant. The staff are very friendly and attentive and the food is good and very reasonably priced, particularly by Cambridge standards. What’s more it’s surely the only Vietnamese restaurant in Cambridge.

Great Vietnamese food in a family-​run restaurant, situated in a quaint old building in a beautiful part of Cambridge, overlooking the River Cam. The building is quaint and the food delicious — both for meat eaters (so I’m told) and vegetarians (personal experience). I particularly recommend the mock duck.

We have been to this restaurant several times. The starters are pricey but together with the coffee the best things on the menu. The main course always disappointed me a little bit, although my partner always loved it.
Thanh binh does not have alcohol, but I can recommend the ice tea.
Over all a nice restaurant, very cosy but a little bit too expensive for what you get.

The restaurant looked lovely from the outside with its oriental décor. It looked authentic Vietnamese and the atmosphere was calm with traditional music to complement. There weren’t many customers when I visited last winter, but there were enough to say the restaurant wasn’t on its way to bankruptcy. What I didn’t like about this place was the look the manager gave me when I asked for boiled water to add to my dried up noodles. I know how Vietnamese food tastes because I’ve been to Vietnam, and if I hadn’t have made that bold move in adding hot water, I wouldn’t have tasted those rich oriental flavours. If the chef reads this, ‘I do apologise, but hot water does the trick!’ The menu had most of the dishes you’d expect from a Vietnamese restaurant, however, my experience of it wasn’t good. Maybe I went on a bad day when the manager wasn’t happy and the chef forgot to add water to my noddles. :S Either way, I still think it’s worth the visit if you can spare the time in Cambridge.

This is a strange wee place. By day an embroidered handbag shop, and by night a quality restaurant (although I’m sure you can buy bags then too…). Its really small, and so booking is highly recommended, though not essential. I’m pretty confident its the only restaurant of its type anywhere nearby, and its certainly different. The food is great and the staff are happy to help if you’re not sure what to plump for. Its got a really good location too. Love it, however random it may be.