A bite of Vietnam in Jubilee Hills

Banh Mi Babe in Jubilee Hills offers Vietnamese cuisine in a cozy setting with a compact menu.

In a quiet lane in Jubilee Hills, shaded by trees, sits a cosy 30-seater diner. Inside, the decor is understated — no more than six framed photographs adorn the walls. This is Banh Mi Babe, Nirmala Vanamali’s take on Vietnamese food. Do not expect sushi, gobi manchurian, or chicken 65 here; the menu remains firmly and unapologetically Vietnamese.

In a time when size often equates to status, this diner proudly positions itself as a straightforward neighbourhood café with a compact menu.

The idea was born from Nirmala’s love for banh mi, discovered during one of her trips to Vietnam. There, she indulged in banh mis to her heart’s content. After returning to Hyderabad and missing the flavours, she set about recreating them to satisfy her cravings. Following several trials — once she felt she had perfected the recipe — she began sending banh mis to friends and family.

“Sharing is caring,” she laughs. “The good thing about having a big circle of friends and family is that sharing becomes easy.” At the time, there was no thought of turning it into a business. Her trips to Vietnam, she says, continued purely for the love of the food.

Practice makes perfect, and for Nirmala, it did just that. As she perfected her craft, requests for her banh mi kept coming from friends. Whenever friends planned a get-together at her home and Nirmala asked what they would like to eat, the answer was always the same: “Babe, banh mi!”

Meanwhile, with each visit to Vietnam, she would return home inspired to recreate another dish — from spring rolls to pho. “I noticed how everyone relished stuffed rice paper rolls, so I decided to try those as well,” she says. Within a year, she had curated a mini Vietnamese menu for her home.

After a few pop-ups, Nirmala realised she wanted to share her love for Vietnamese food with a wider audience. “While it’s not strictly authentic, it’s also not Indianised with curry powders, heavy oil, or chilli-laden fries,” she explains.