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Still a winner in my book Somewhat far direction for banh mi when there’s so many choices in the area, but this place makes my heart happy – fried tofu with lemongrass banh mi is bombdotcom I come here when I’m lazy to drive to lb for vegetarian food lol so freaking flavorful – meatball (banh mi xiu mai) is chockfull of little porky tomatoey slightly sweet and savory morsels Recently tried their salted fish fried rice Flavor is down, but I prefer my rice slightly drier to attain that chewy texture. Plenty shareable as this fed two ppl from one Togo box Another roasted chicken dish with rice was quite yummy and homey Their sticky rice selection looks damn good – roasted chicken with pork floss – BBQ pork looks scrumptious, haven’t seen that one before – another chicken one that escapes my mind They tend to be heavy handed on the mayo/pate, so I always tend to ask them to lessen it in addition to pulling out the doughy part of the bread (so I don’t get food coma lol) Nice service as always One thing though, when I went at 930am on a weekday my bread was more floppy than crusty…

Pho & Po Boy Menu with Prices 1827 SW Green Oaks Blvd #149, Arlington

Always like trying new places and read the reviews and saw how much shrimp they put on their poboys and it was on the way to Six Flags so decided to try it. Hubby thought of reserving ahead which was a wise choice bc food was ready when we got there. Ordered 3 shrimp poboys, 1 fried chicken, 1 grilled pork which is basically like banh mi. It’s Vietnamese owned poboy place so was expecting banh mi. Their poboys were 6.99 each and loved how fries were included. Got there and order waa ready. There’s a cute flower wall for pics inside. Firemen were waiting for their food lol and restrooms were clean. Got our order and ate in the car. Not the easiest to even tho there’s take out boxes. It’s messy with the sauce. I was impressed with how much shrimp they put in and the chicken tenders were huge. Liked that. The fries were Cajun style n a bit too spicy for little ones. My regret is ordering ahead bc it wasn’t as fresh as it could be. Fries were a bit stale. But I liked the fried popcorn shrimp tho. It was alot. However I m picky on my bread n this wasn’t banh mi bread like someone mentioned and the grill pork tasted like banh mi but not the bread. It wasn’t bad but chewy. The tenders were good but nothing wow. I like how they have alot n the shrimp was good n plentiful but the sauce and slaw like fixings were ok. Idk what I was expecting. Louisiana poboys at Parkway? Either way. It was fine and filled our tummies. Way too big for 1 person n lots of fried food here. Not sure if we will be back but maybe for their actual nonfried seafood?

Little Shop of Mary – Menu with Prices – 2205 Torrance Blvd, Torrance

(Food) For context, I have eaten a lot of banh mi in my life. The best is Banh My My Tho in Alhambra which I use as the gold standard. With that said I got the most popular banh mi here, the roasted pork. It was okay. It was just savory pulled pork and pickled onions and a house sauce. The banh mi is not BAD, but for almost 10 dollars it was puny and it strayed way too far from the traditional Vietnamese sandwich. Where are the pickled carrots and radish? Cucumber? Perhaps their other options are better but for 10 bucks I would not come here. You’re better off at the local Lee’s Sandwich for 6 bucks which offers a sizeable sandwich with traditional flavors for the price and that is not saying much about this place… I also advise against ordering their milk tea. I thought I would give the benefit of the doubt because of the good reviews but boy was I wrong. (Service) Standard. (Venue) As the title says, this shop is literally little. 5/10 would not banh mi again.

Xiang’s Hunan Kitchen – Menu with Prices – 1032 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

While I’m a *very* weak spice eater, I’ve grown to love Xiang’s Hunan Kitchen, which serves delicious and authentic Hunan dishes. Lots of options, great portion sizes, reasonable prices, and easy to get to (right on the green line, plus plenty of parking spots around). My favorites so far: [M7 – Sweet Sticky Rice Cakes] Dessert for appetizers, yes! Warm, sweet, and sticky, super tasty! [C5 – Stewed Tofu with Duck Yolk & Pork Floss] For non-spicy and spicy eaters alike, this is hands down everyone’s favorite dish every time I go! The savory duck yolk and slightly pork floss add both flavor and texture to stewed tofu that has a texture that’s almost cheesy. [S1 – Steamed belly with Preserved Veggies] A salty-sweet and slightly spicy dish that goes really well with rice as well as the steamed buns that you can order for a small additional fee. Make your own pork bao! [S4/S5 – Steamed fish with Chilies] They are two versions of the most classic Xiang dish. If you like fish filet, order S4; if you can handle a whole fish and can deal with fish bones, order S5 which gives you larger portion and IMO more flavorful. Spicy Xiang food might not be for everyone, but if you are tired of Szechuan food, come try Xiang’s Hunan Kitchen instead!

Quoc Bao Bakery – Menu with Prices – 3419 W Walnut St #104, Garland

This place is so amazing that I went two days in a row, and I live 30 minutes away so that’s saying a lot! What really stole my heart was their Vietnamese coffee. For $3 (the sign says $2.75), you’ll get a tall cup of iced deliciousness that even Starbucks can’t replicate. Seriously the best Vietnamese coffee I’ve ever had and that’s coming from someone that grew up on Vietnamese coffee. Now on to the banh mi. I’ve definitely had a lot of banh mi in my lifetime, but I will say that the sandwiches from Quoc Bao are one of my top favorites due to the generosity of the meat portions, flavor, and the pricing! For less than $15, my boyfriend and I got 4 sandwiches and one iced coffee. (On a previous visit we also had Thai tea but I didn’t think it was that impressive, definitely go for the coffee). The bakery has a buy 3 get 1 free deal for the sandwiches so we took advantage of that offer. We ordered the rolled ham, meatball, grilled chicken, and roasted pork. All were delicious and had great flavor. The bread was crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and the meat was perfectly seasoned. If I were to rank them, I would say the rolled ham was my favorite because it’s reminiscent of my childhood, second favorite would be the roasted pork, third would be the grilled chicken, and least favorite would be the meatball. The meatball sandwich wasn’t really filled with meatballs, but rather chunks of ground pork instead of uniform meatballs. The rolled ham didn’t have as much meat as the other sandwiches but the flavor profile makes up for the lack of meat. The other sandwiches had large portions of meat packed with great flavor, which I appreciate. I recommend ordering ahead of time by phone as the bakery is always packed and cranking out orders, so it will definitely reduce waitintime. When you place an order, it’s easier to order by the menu number than the name of the sandwich (ex: say you’d like a #1 instead of saying rolled ham). It will make the ordering process so much smoother. I also recommend asking for the veggies on the side to avoid making your bread soggy. I called to put in my order and they told me it would be a 20-25 minute wait so I’m glad I called beforehand. If this is your first time trying Banh mi, I recommend either the roasted pork or the grilled chicken for sure! You won’t be disappointed.

?ì???ë?¤ Ianâ??s Kitchen – Menu with Prices – 40-17 150th St, Flushing

What a pleasant surprise! I pass by this place everytime I take LIRR but haven’t had a chance to try. The place is very small so I was skeptical at first, but I decided to be adventurous. I ordered chicken + roast pork belly combo. The combo came with generous amount of sliced pork belly, an order of fried chicken, ddukbokki (spicy rice cake), french fries, vegetables and a sauce for pork belly (to make wraps), 3 sauces for fried chicken. The pork belly was slow cooked in a rotating roaster, and it was juicy, soft and flavorful. Usually the Bossam (pork belly served with veges to make wraps) is served with steamed pork which tend to lack flavor. Not this one. I didn’t know slow roasting pork could bring out such flavor. Chicken was still crispy despite being in a container for 30 minutes. I don’t think the chicken was flavored and yet, it had enough flavor. Crispy outside and soft inside. I tried the 3 sauce it came with and two of them paired really well with the chicken! I should have asked the names of each sauce. Ddukbboki (spicy rice cake) was reasonably sweet and spicy, well balanced. French fries got soggy from being in the container for 30 min so didn’t try it yet. Throw it in the oven for 15 min and it will come back to life. Overall, this was a very pleasant experience. If you are digging chicken with something else ( they have roasted pork belly and sliced pork feet option), you should definitely try this place. You will be surprised. Will definitely come back.

Thanh Thanh Sandwiches & Pure Water – Menu with Prices – 707 E March Ln, Stockton

Had an immense craving for banh mi on drive back to LA and decided to browse through Yelp to find a legit sandwich shop. The reviews for Thanh Thanh looked incredibly promising, and I have to say that I am so glad Yelp did not lead me astray. We all know that banh mi can be really bad or really good – for around $3-4, the sandwich variations can vary. But the banh mi at Thanh Thanh are not only super affordable, but also incredibly tasty and filling as well. You can probably buy food for 3-4 people and spend less than $10 and have everybody be relatively full/satisfied. The typical banh mi selections that are popular are under $3, while they have rice dishes for under $5. They also have smoothies for $2-3 bucks as well. I opted to only order the combination banh mi (#5 for $3). Came with a ton of meat – as well as a good amount of pickled vegetables and veggies to satisfy my stomach. The bread used was the piggy bread – fatter and shorter than most banh mi places. That is probably the only critique – bread was a little on the hard side, but I prefer my sandwiches to be more chewy anyway so it wasn’t a big complaint. Each bite was packed with meat and veggies, making for a very satisfying mouthful. I believe they had a good amount of pate on the bread as well, giving the sandwich some creaminess that helped with the dryness of the bread. Even though the sandwich was slightly smaller than other banh mi places, I was pretty full after eating half. We also added 3 eggrolls to our order for $1.50 or something. Came with a sweet and sour sauce that was not needed. Egg rolls were crispy and tasty (but all fried things are, right?). A nice pick-me-up in the middle of the day if you’re feeling hungry. Workers are really friendly. Orders come out fairly quickly. Shop is located in a small plaza with a decent number of parking spots. tl;dr – Solid banh mi in Stockton for a very cheap price. I have to give them 5 stars since it’s a small mom and pop shop that’s producing delicious sandwiches for so cheap.

Nom Nom Bánh Mì Menu with Prices 2491 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley

Went here the day it opened, as I work down the street and had been anticipating a new lunch option in the ‘hood for a long while. While I gotta say that it’s nice to have another food spot on Telegraph, as a Banh Mi fanatic, Nom Nom left me pretty underwhelmed. I ordered the District 3- Classic Combo (Pork loaf, Pate, Mayo, cucumber, daikon and carrots, cilantro and jalapeños- I held off on the jalapeños, personally). The bread was fresh and crunchy, and probably the highlight of the sandwich. The “award winning pate”, however, tasted like a cross between liverwurst in the tube and canned deviled ham. Not very flavorful nor authentic tasting to my taste buds. The pork loaf was okay, but nothing to write home about, and there wasn’t very much of it on the sandwich. There were a lot more carrots than daikon in the shredded mix, but the cucumbers were crunchy and fresh, as was the cilantro. My barometer for delicious Banh Mi is based on the sandwiches at Banh Mi Ba Le, Cam Anh and Cam Huong in Oakland’s “Little Saigon” neighborhood. Considering these are all in the $4.50 range, with more and tastier ingredients (in my opinion), paying nearly double (Nom Nom is almost $8 per sandwich with tax) is hard to rationalize. Nom Nom IS on Telegraph, where I’m sure the rents are higher, but THAT much higher price per sandwich still feels like a lot. Not to mention, charging $2.50 for a can of soda, including La Croix which you can buy at the store for 30-40 cents per can, is pretty outrageous. I will say the space is clean and bright and obviously brand new, the service is very polite and relatively quick, and the location is convenient for those of us in the neighborhood (though parking in the area is pretty tough). But the absence of a roasted pork or BBQ pork Banh Mi option (my preferred faves at the competitive outlets listed above), the high prices especially considering size and quantity of ingredients, the absence of “serve yourself” sriracha (they will add it for you behind the counter if you ask for it…I kinda thought it was always added to Banh Mi to be honest), and “meh” pate and pork loaf, will all likely keep me from becoming a regular. I’ll probably give them another shot, as new businesses tend to “tweak” their offerings over time, and the menu DOES say it’s a “soft opening” (I’m praying this means the future may hold a roasted pork and/ or bbq pork option), but I think they need to work on their pate, offer more choices, lower their prices (especially on drinks) and leave that sriracha bottle out for customers to use, if they want to survive on a notoriously difficult block where appealing to students’ budgets AND palates is absolutely necessary to keep the doors open. I’m wishing them luck!

Ding Tea & H? Long Café – Menu with Prices – 281 Meeting St, Charleston

I was excited to find out that another boba tea/fast-casual Asian eatery had opened up in an underserved area in town that still has a ton of potential for growth when it comes to dining options. We came in around lunch time, so we decided to try food and drinks. I ordered the Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Pork Meatball), and dear husband ordered the Banh Mi Thit Nuong (Grilled Lemongrass Pork). We also shared the Signature Milk Tea (less/75% sweet, half/50% ice) with the traditional boba, per the recommendation of the cashier. My first impression of the food in one word: unimpressed. The xiu mai was just “ok” but certainly not the best I’ve had. The baguette/bread looked soggy and lacked the shiny, crispy appearance that I am accustomed to when it comes to banh mi. Was the baguette not fresh? Perhaps. There wasn’t even the sound of the crunch from breaking the bread/splitting the banh mi in half. The bottom of the banh mi was extremely soggy, as I had suspected. Because I had ordered the xiu mai, I made the assumption that the sauce of the xiu mai caused the sogginess to penetrate to the bottom of the bread. Unfortunately, my husband’s banh mi with the grilled lemongrass pork yielded the same results. The milk tea was decent, but we should have ordered it at 100% sweet. It was a bit more diluted and not as flavorful. In addition, at other boba tea spots, 75% is sufficient. However, I strongly would stick to the 100% level at this spot. The full level of sugar is equivalent to 50%/75% at other boba tea spots. Ice at 50% was the right amount of ice for us to actually enjoy the drink rather than to sip a few times before discovering that 75% of the cup was ice. We probably will not be ordering banh mi from here again but my return to try the other dishes. We hope our next dining experience here will be a bit more pleasant than our first visit.

Tan Hoang Huong – Menu with Prices – 5015 W Edinger Ave H, Santa Ana

This place has very good banh mi! They’re always pretty packed every time I come… Especially in the early morning and around lunch time. My favorite things to get here are the #3 banh mi nem nuong or grilled ground pork baguette and the #10 banh mi op la out sunny side up egg baguette, because everything with an egg added to it is good lol! The banh cuon is not impressive, and I would probably rate it at 2.5 stars. Tastes a little flat and flavorless. I really enjoy coming here for the sandwiches and sweet rice to-go plates. They have xoi dau phong or steamed peanut sweet rice, a simple but tasty item. My favorite is the XOI KHUC, a sweet rice pocket with green flour and rice on the outside, filled with savory mung bean and small pieces of ground pork… probably not very healthy but quite tasty! I also like their xoi ong dua, or coconut mung bean sweet rice with chopped peanut and sugar dip- 4.5 stars. In case you are curious, the spring rolls here are not good. They’re average, and I would only eat them in the event I was hungry and nothing else was around. Do not order any drinks here- they are watered down. Also, be sure to drop by in the morning if you can as a lot of the items, especially the to-go plates, are hot and fresh! Happy eating!

Wasabi Xpress Menu with Prices 2838 Washington Rd, Augusta

I had the banh cha gio thit nuong. Which is basically a rice noodle salad with vegetables, charbroiled pork chop, egg roll and fish sauce poured over it. I had this dish for over 40 years so I know it quite well. First I’ll say their cha gio are small, thin versions of what I’m used to having. So when my banh dish came with only 1 egg roll (and the cut up pork chop), I was surprised. It just didn’t seem like a lot. Their rice noodles are different than I am used to also. Theirs are softer and larger in diameter. Almost the size of Italian spaghetti. Rice noodles or vermicelli is typically thin threads. So I’m not going to order this fish again. I did have their goi cuon. Fortunately it remained tasty and freshly made like last time.

The Red Boat Asian Fusion Menu with Prices 8221 Glades Rd Suite 6, Boca Raton

Loved this place! And really like Vietnamese food. Although they’ve dubbed themselves an “Asian fusion” restaurant and they do have a number of selections from various cuisines. Based on their card, they have 4 other restaurants in Maryland and one in DC. This is the first in Florida. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you. Going there the first time, we had to stand a bit and read their menu on the wall. I actually missed seeing their specials written on the other wall (near the soda case) until after we had ordered. It’s pretty basic inside but no one is really looking at the decor — the food is the star attraction. We started with a shrimp roll which is their version of a summer roll. They also have one with chicken and shrimp and one with chicken only. (I’d never heard of a Korean roll or a tofu roll.) Other rolls include a fried one with pork and shrimp. The two rolls we got were freshly made, and tightly wrapped. The rice paper was soft in texture. There was a nice amount of shrimp too. The accompanying peanut sauce was quite good, as well. We each got lemongrass pork banh-mi sandwiches. I got mine without the jalapeños or the special sauce (that turned out to be a mix of mayo and sriracha sauce). The bread was crusty French bread — the real deal — the pork was marinated chunks in a light bbq type sauce, the veggies/salad were all fresh and crunchy. A very good sandwich. Other “six inch” banh-mi sandwiches are available with chicken or Korean beef bulgogi or even a fried tofu. There’s also Pho (soup) with a choice of 4 broths and a number of protein choices. Plus tacos (!!) with the same choices inside as the sandwiches. A build your own rice/salad/noodle bowl option. Fries with a variety of 8 toppings. Toasted seaweed anyone? And a few other things like dumplings and coconut shrimp. I thought about ordering their steamed pork bun, but I noticed it also had eggs and other things in it that didn’t appeal. The “dogs” were most intriguing … but I did not fully read their ingredients. Will have to go back again to find out what exactly a Saigon or k-town dog is…. and yes, we will be back to try more items on their menu.

Ngoc Suong 2 Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 960 Story Rd, San Jose

2.5 stars for the food, but service was decent so I rounded up. Located off Story Road. Ngoc Suong took over Phu Quy, which neighbors Banh Canh 3 Mien, Lucky Tea and Pho Ga Nha. We came here wanting to try out a new hue place as well as try their special BÃ? NÃ?. We arrived around 10:40am on a Saturday and were seated right away. Very spacious with only a few tables occupied. I was hit with a waft of delicious fried food and sizzling plates! lol. Everyone had a sizzling plate at their table. We ordered… BÃ? NÃ? $12.99 -beef steak served with egg, pate, side salad, chips (fries) and bread. My fiancé ordered this and he said it was decent. It came out sizzling. French fries were super crispy. Bread came out toasted but it was day old bread. Once the bread cooked down, it tasted even more old and stale. Barely any pate..:( The steak was thin and kinda chewy. There’s condiments available on the table for the bó né..A1 steak sauce, tabasco, ketchup, nuoc tuong/soy sauce or sriracha. BANH RAM IT (4) $5.99 -fried dumpling with shrimp and steamed dumpling. It was topped with ground shrimp and scallion oil. Pretty good. Small with bits of meat and shrimp. The fried part wasn’t fried all the way through like other places so it was still soft in the middle. So it was soft on soft from the steamed dumpling on the top..not enough texture contrast. The fish sauce was great though! BANH BEO CHEN (6) $5.99 -steamed rice flour cake with fresh ground shrimp. Topped with scallion oil and a few pork cracklings. The banh beo was a little thick, and kinda chewy. The ground shrimp had a dry/grainy consistency and it looked like Himalayan rock salt. Lol. The pork cracklings were small and stale. Fish sauce was a little on the sweeter side but I loved that! BANH BEO MIEN TRUNG $1.99 each -we got only 1 to try. Came out piping hot in a small bowl. Think of banh beo but thicker/gooier and topped with a ground meat sauce. It had thinly fried shallots and tons of ground peanuts which overpowered everything. It was also pretty salty from the ground meat sauce and adding the fish sauce that accompanied it didn’t really help. No bueno. Some other vietnamese dishes they offer include lau, goi, hu tieu/mí xao, com chien, pho, hu tieu, bún, mi quang, bo kho, banh xeo and nui xao bo/bo luc lac. That’s not even half..so a lot to choose from! Oh wee when we finished eating..we smelled like grease! Wasn’t really a fan of most of their Hue dishes..so my search for a new hue spot continues. Butttt.. to quote my fiancé, “who goes to a bó né spot and orders hue food?” *shrugs* I still can’t find a place better than Hue Restaurant off Silver Creek Road. Party trays available and extra $0.50 for TOGO orders.