For you ignorant fuckbags who don’t know what this is, here is a quick primer:
Banh Mi literally means bread in Vietnamese. More specifically, it’s a reference to the French baguette; French due to the former colonial influence on the country of Vietnam. Stuffed inside the classic version of this sandwich is typically a sordid concoction of pork meat, including but not limited to liver pate, head cheese, sliced processed deli-type meats, sautéed ground pork and braised pork belly. The sandwich also has veggies like cucumber, carrots and daikon, the later two of which are often pickled in a sweet, yet sour vinegar base. The masterpiece is then topped off with fresh cilantro and fresh sliced jalapeño peppers, and sometimes given a squirt of maggi (a dark soy sauce type of seasoning liquid) and/or a smear of mayo. You also tend to see lots of BBQ chicken Banh Mi sandwiches floating around as well, which is usually filled with chicken that was grilled with a soy, molasses and fish sauce-base, and then topped with all the rest of the non-pork items I mentioned above.
Banh Mi has become a hot item around the city; trendy, even. There are lots of variations being passed around. I tend to like the classic or chicken styles, but there are some wide variations out there (some good, some bad). Below is an alphabetical listing of places where I have eaten recently and reviewed Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwiches.
- Alice’s Arbor (CLOSED)
- The Anthony (CLOSED)
- Ba Le (Hawaii)
- Banh Mi Co Ut
- Banh Mi Saigon
- BONMi
- Cafe Thanh Truc
- Cha Pa’s
- Clubhouse Sandos & Suds
- CoBa 53
- Em
- Hanco
- Hanoi Vietnamese Kitchen
- Hometown BBQ
- Num Pang
- Paris Sandwich
- Pho Tau Bay (New Orleans)
- Pho Vietnam
- Phu Khang’s (Outside of Philly)
- Saigon 9 West Vietnamese Cafe (CLOSED)
- Saigon Social
- Saiguette
- Sam’s Deli
- Sao Mai
- Sau Voi Corp (CLOSED)