Banh Cuon Thien Huong

The most common forms of Vietnamese spring rolls are made with industrially pressed and dried discs of rice paper – thin enough to be translucent yet strong enough to serve as soft but chewable tubes for meats, shrimp, and veggies. But there’s an entire category of Vietnamese rolls that use freshly made rice batter instead, typically called banh cuon when rolled up or banh uot when left as sheets for DIY assembly. Since the process of making the sheets is far more time- and space-consuming than simply dipping a pre-manufactured rice paper disc in hot water, fewer restaurants offer banh cuon or banh uot, but those that do are among Orange County’s most memorable Vietnamese places: Banh Cuon Luu Luyen and Quan Hy have some of our favorite versions, with Banh Cuon Thanh Tri close by, and Banh Cuon Tay Ho somewhat distantly behind them.

Soft-opened in August 2026, Banh Cuon Thien Huong is related to but not the same as the multi-location Tay Ho chain, and seemingly more ambitious. Occupying a surprisingly large space in a Westminster plaza that’s undergoing substantial modernization renovations, Thien Huong shares part of its name (“heavenly scent”) with seemingly unrelated San Diego and San Jose restaurants, replacing decade-old Vietnamese generalist Ngoc Suong with a comparatively focused menu. Five pages of a laminated menu offer 20 different variations of banh cuon and banh uot ($14 to $16), plus soups (hu tieu, mi, bun rieu, banh canh, wonton, or meatball; $11 to $17), bun vermicelli noodle dishes ($15 to $17), com broken rice plates ($16 to $19), and a tiny list combining appetizers and random entrees ($13 to $22). There’s no drink or dessert menu, but a dispenser in the entry area offers free milk coffee – not Vietnamese coffee, but nice – and black bean drinks.

Worth a brief note: Our attempts to order more items from the menu were stifled by timing. An additional menu page showing off a cafe sua da-style iced milk coffee and dumpling soup was, we were told, out of date as a “soft opening special,” and our attempts to order soups or bo luc lac shaken beef were shut down as currently unavailable. We wound up ordering more conservatively than we otherwise would have as a result, and focusing mostly on banh cuon and uot plates that were easy to order.

As is the case at most banh cuon places, Thien Huong supplies each table with a pitcher full of primarily sweet and lightly savory fish sauce, here augmented by small jars of chili sauce, fried and battered scallions, and an uncommon bottle of high-protein, particularly savory fish sauce made with fermented anchovies. Bowls at the table let you create your preferred mix of mild, hot, sweet, savory, and umami flavors for dipping the banh cuon; as if that versatility wasn’t enough, Thien Huong also brought a special fish sauce bowl customized for one of our entrees.