1723 NW Market St SeattleVietnamese food is rarely awful, but truly great restaurants are also hard to come by. We stumbled across The Monkey Bridge after an appointment in Ballard and were wowed by the juicy, flavorful bahn mi.
Pork and beef were equally noteworthy and indicate that their larger menu is worth another visit. We did take out but the space in inviting and casual and the staff friendly.
160 Havemeyer St. store 6, Williamsburg, BrooklynBanh mis are popping up everywhere these days (not that I am complaining in the least!) but Nha Toi‘s unique menu, offering classic and not so classic sandwiches (like fried duck egg and shrimp patty) caught my eye. It’s been in the neighborhood for a little while, but was new to me.
After discovering their website via yelp, I was excitied to find they were happy to deliver to Spritzenhaus because a Vietnamese sandwich accompanies an afternoon Sweet Action pretty darn well.
After Shaun and I had initial skepticism over the bread – which turned out to be perfect – just toothsome enough on the outside to not get soggy and stand up to the innards and just soft enough on the inside to be delicious, we found (almost) everything was superb.
To get the one mishap out of the way, we’ll admit that the original Banh mi Dac Biet was perhaps too authentic for all of us. Depends on your tolerance with spam/head cheese textures – ends up ours is pretty low. (Somehow I feel like other similar sandwiches have been less out loud and proud with this texture, with BBQ pork and other insides balancing it more?)
Anyways, not a favorite, but certainly not enough to dissuade you from trying them for the other menu options.
My unusual sounding but oh so perfect on the bun Pho Banh mi was excellent, with a rich, spiced broth/ hoisin sauce and tender cuts of beef brisket. Mike and Shaun devoured their Bi Heo (shredded pork and skin with roasted rice powder – which I plan to try next time) and Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with high praise.
With a really friendly staff and a menu that also includes an equally exciting array of spring rolls, pho and bun, I am glad it didn’t take me too long to find this place and add it to my list of local treats.
from Food NetworkI am always intimidated to make a restaurant favorite, especially one as seemingly complex and delicate as Bahn Mi. But.. if the recipe changes things up a bit like this Vietnamese Bistro Burger, I am more up to the challenge. These are so good, Mike said I could win some sort of Food Network challenge with them.. except that I got the recipe from Food Network Ultimate Recipe Showdown. One more time that Asian flavor, ground pork and I get along swimmingly.
37 St Mark’s Place (between 2nd Ave & 1st Ave)While sitting down to write an essay about my favorite sandwich has me feeling a smidge like Liz Lemon, banh mi (a French/Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette stuffed with pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, chile peppers, pate, mayonnaise and more) is something I love so much that I honestly don’t care if I’m betraying a deal-breaking character quality (I’ve already written about Phish – twice this week…).
I’ve long been a fan of Vietnam Banh Mi So 1 on Broome Street and Nicky’s on 2nd Avenue, so when Silent H opened its doors on Berry Street and banh mi became available locally, I was totally psyched. Sadly, the price, service and hours they chose to serve sandwiches during (weekdays noon to 4), made me less than happy…
Recently, An Nhau’s banh mi shop on Bedford and North 7th has changed my life (I must eat at least one meatball sandwich a week). The sandwiches are cheap, delicious and prepared in about three minutes, but when Brittany and I were out in the EV a few nights ago, we grabbed dinner at Baoguette Cafe.
I automatically ordered the classic #1 banh mi sandwich (pork terine, pate, pulled pork, fresh herbs) and it was amazing – but totally heavy duty, I was actually having a hard time finishing (the pulled pork is no joke) – and Brittany totally scored with beef vermicelli noodles (the waitress recommended the beef over the chicken bun dish).
We got to the restaurant at around 6:45 and it was gloriously devoid of any other diners, but by 7:15 dudes were beginning to pack the tiny interior – so go early!
Already a huge fan of the delicious, cheap and impressively efficient bahn mi shop, I was optimistic about the owners' expansion project; the full menued An Nhau next door. The fairly new addition to the Williamsburg dining scene has not disappointed. One meal we enjoyed a warm eggs and pork belly in broth dish that was perfect for sharing on cooler nights and a fresh shrimp vermicelli. Last night, we split a chicken vermicelli and a nice, tender shaken beef dish, cooked perfectly medium rare as requested.
It not only is a convenient place to eat but it's one of the most friendly meals your likely to have. Everyone seems so truly happy to be working there and to have you as their guest. They're awaiting a liquor license, but in the mean time this is a wonderful spot to enjoy a great non-alcohol fueled meal with an almost completely excellent menu of unique items not found in your run of the mill Vietnamese clone (the only thing we haven't been wild about are the fried spring rolls).
Aside from being the most Los Angeles like place in all of Brooklyn, t.b.d. distinguishes itself from other places to get boozy with it's huge picnic table dotted back yard and most importantly it's incredible grilled take on the increasingly common Bahn Mi. While it may take a while to get from the grill to your table, this hulking, slathered meal of pork, eggs, fresh veg and spicy sauces is worth the wait.
I pushed it into the restaurant category for it's stellar menu, even though the place advertises as primarily a beer garden. The food is taken pretty seriously though and its no surprise that the wonderful flavors come from a former chef at Brix Picks fave Fatty Crab.
Another welcome addition to the growing food and drink scene in Greenpoint.
I really just don't make it out to the Bronx very often, and I don't think many people who live outside that neighborhood do. It seems to have held on to its seventies era dangerous reputation through the years, but I experienced a whole other, dreamy, bright sunny hazed side of the borough after a recent trip to Wave Hill.
The sidewalk was steaming, hundreds of kids were on the playground in their summer shorts, an ice cream truck was blaring its tune on the corner. It was a quintessential Bronx moment, and possibly how I'll now think of the borough forever… along with cheap, excellent bahn mi.
I read about a place on Jerome Avenue on Chowhound, which led me to this extensive piece on The Porkchop Express. As rabid bahn mi fans (trendiness be damned) our interested was highly peaked. We found the address easily enough, but found a different but similar restaurant to great us.
Now called World of Taste Seafood, the red and yellow corner shop still serves large, over stuffed, perfectly seasoned sandwiches at a mere $3.50 a pop. A gracious, smiling woman makes them herself, leaving you lots of time to peruse the sparse refrigerators for unique, over sweet foreign sodas.
We grabbed the pork version of the sandwich (the rest were sold out) to go and paired it will some crisp, summer beers. Yummy. It's not a place you go for ambiance, but I'd return for the service and to try more of the great food.
This is amazing and it's really cheap too. French bread with Vietnamese cold cuts are a match made in a colonial culinary dream. There's one with pate (which is awesome) and there's one that's just called the Number 1. You probably should get them both.