Best Dishes at Nonette

The signature sweet finish. A light, airy beignet (fried dough) is split and filled with kaya—a smooth, aromatic pandan-coconut cream that's sweet but not cloying. Pandan is a Southeast Asian ingredient that tastes faintly floral and coconutty, and here it's become the house's most recognizable flavor. At €1.80, it's the kind of dessert that pays for itself three times over in joy. Reviewers camp out on the order pad when kaya is running (which is most days).

For the vegetarian order. Pieces of eggplant are quick-fried and then braised in a hong shao (red-braised) sauce—a treacly mix of soy, star anise, and ginger that the eggplant soaks up eagerly. Served on the same baguette with pickles and cilantro, it's richer and more substantial than you'd expect from eggplant. At €8, this proves vegetables can anchor a bánh mì without apology. Reviewers praise it as the standout vegetarian option on the menu.

Two hand-rolled spring rolls (bánh cuốn) fried until golden and crispy on the outside. Filled with a blend of shrimp, pork, and aromatics wrapped in a thin wheat-flour wrapper. Served with a small pot of sweet dipping sauce. At €8 for two pieces, they're a good side to a bánh mì or can stand alone as a snack. The texture is the appeal—that shattering crispness the moment you bite in.

The signature bánh mì from chef Khánh-Ly—a crispy French baguette split and filled with a quintet of housemade charcuterie: fatty mortadella, lightly spiced pork shoulder (porc coup de coeur), pork floss, and pâté de foie. Layered with pickled carrots, daikon, fresh cilantro, and chili. The bread is toasted to crackle against your teeth, and the interplay of rich, soft meats against acid and heat is the whole point. At €10, this is the flagship—the one to start with.

A Vietnamese take on the classic French chicken sandwich. Thigh meat (darker, more flavorful) is marinated in a blend of spices, then fried until the outside crackles. Slipped into the same crispy baguette as the Cheffe's Special, topped with housemade mayo, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and chili. The crust of the chicken stays crisp even under the weight of toppings. At €10, reviewers call this the best entry point for fried chicken devotees.