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In light of recent coverage in the LA Times and NY Times, I really wanted some banh cuon. Banh Cuon is an art form. A thin and light rice batter is spread thin on a steamer and then steamed until set. These delicate sheets are pulled off and then layered and folded or filled and rolled. It takes a deft hand to make them perfect. The family running Banh Cuon Luu Luyen makes them perfect…every single time. They can be ordered plain with cha lua or filled with grilled beef, ground beef with wood ear mushrooms, or ground shrimp. Or you can order the mega-combo and have a little bit of everything. Each table comes with a jar of house made seasoned fish sauce (nuoc mam/nuoc cham) and house made chile sauce (sambal). Mix your own combination and use with your banh cuon. So long as it’s banh cuon, you can’t go wrong. It’s delightful and so very good. And it’s a steal at $8 per plate…I would gladly pay more because this is such a great meal. Front of the house is run by the second generation of the family and is very hospitable. Just a warning…CASH ONLY. I grew up eating banh cuon and this is by far one of the best!

KoKyu Na’Mean – Menu with Prices – 4823 Meadow Dr, Durham

Took my friend to grab some dank sandwiches from this awesome place! We ordered from the daily sandwiches posted to the right of the cash register. I got the Nuoc Cham Banh Mi, which is a crispy pork cutlet, sriracha butter, lettuce, Chiles, pickled veggies, Nuoc Cham and fresh mint. Impression: great, crispy bread. The cutlet was crispy, but didn’t have any flavor until combined with the Nuoc Cham and pickled veggies which made for a great succession of flavors. The mint was a nice touch Note: while the Nouc Cham is typically a watery sauce, it made the bread increasingly soggy and the sandwich fell apart. Maybe place on the side for those who wants to put it on the sandwich as they go? To those who don’t know: Nuoc Cham is a Vietnamese term for dipping sauce that is literally a combination of all tastes: sweet, sour, salty, savoury, and/or spicy. The other sandwich ordered was the Pimento Pollo, a sandwich with pimento cheese and Korean fried chicken, with iceberg lettuce, pickled hot cherry peppers and their own vinaigrette. Let. Me. Tell you. This sandwich was THE BOMB. Who knew KFC was good with cheese like that? Well… this biz did. Sides: potato salad and their garbanzo salad was pretty damn good. Bottom line: although both sandwiches are great, the Pimento Pollo triumphs the Nuoc Cham Banh Mi for its better flavor combination. This should honestly be on the menu!

Kim Land Food To Go – Menu with Prices – 3347 W Walnut St # 117, Garland

I’ve lived in Dallas for almost 10 years and have only found 2 places that make a proper banh xeo. Unfortunately the first place I found is now closed, but it was so delicious. It was called Lemongrass in Deep Ellum. So when my Vietnamese friend told me about the hole in the wall to-go restaurant next to Hiep Thai grocery store, I was super excited to check out the banh xeo. There’s no English anywhere inside, but don’t be scurred to check this place out. That’s how you know this place is authentic, right? Plus, I mostly spoke English to the cashier/waitress and maybe a smattering of my broken Vietglish, so you definitely can order food here without having to take your Vietnamese friend. There are only 3 tables inside as they mostly do take out orders, but we scored a table and ordered banh cuon and banh xeo. Each order of banh xeo comes with 2 big, crispy, hot, and delicious pork and shrimp and bean sprouts. Also comes with a side of lettuce and veggies. Totally worth it. One order could feed two people but you’d still be hungry. The yellow color comes from turmeric by the way, not eggs. There’s no egg in this dish. To eat banh xeo, cut like a palm sized amount of banh xeo off with the fixings inside and get some lettuce to wrap up the banh xeo like a taco and then dunk it in the nuoc mam fish sauce. Pretend it’s like French dip roast beef sammie. Anyway, they accept credit cards, too.

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.

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!

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.

Pho Kim Tuong – Menu with Prices – 856 Ellice Ave, Winnipeg

I found out about Pho Kim Tuong from a friend of mine. After seeing photos he posted on Facebook, I had brought my husband here on several occasions. The restaurant is kind of dark when you enter inside, except for the light fixtures they have on. There is barely any natural light going into the restaurant at all, except for the table that is in front of the counter where you pay. So for someone like me who likes to take photos of my food in natural light, that was a downer, but the food totally makes up for it. I’ve never had their pho before, but my husband seemed to think it was quite good. He always orders the pho tai, which is the one with just rare beef. It comes in small ($7.50), large ($8.50), and extra large ($11.50). The spring rolls were also quite good, and you can get them either with meat or vegetarian. They don’t ask you which kind you want, so make sure you let them know. It also comes in small ($3.50) or large ($5.95), and we usually order the large which comes with 6 spring rolls, and comes with a nuoc cham (fish sauce based) dipping sauce. One of my favourite things to order is their bun rieu, which is a tomato and crabmeat based broth, served with vermicelli, fried tofu puffs, cha lua (vietnamese sausage), sliced pork, and topped with fried shallots, scallion, and cilantro. There are also various herbs, bean sprouts, and lime provided for you to add into your bowl. Usually when my family makes this, we would add shrimp paste for additional flavour and enhancement to the broth. Shrimp paste is an acquired taste, so do be careful if you plan on trying it. Also, they don’t automatically provide you with the shrimp paste. I happen to ask the server if they have any, which they did, and brought some to me. So whenever I order this dish, I always ask for shrimp paste to go along with it. Another thing is, this is the only place in the city which seems to have this dish, because I haven’t seen it in any of the Vietnamese restaurants that I’ve been to. Also, like most Vietnamese restaurants, they don’t usually provide much table service. The only time they will come to your table is when you’re ready to order and when they bring food to your table. Otherwise, they don’t really check up on you, and if you want a drink/water refill, you’ll have to call them over.

Baguette Me – Menu with Prices – 401 E 17th St, Costa Mesa

Wow wow wow! This is a great banh mi place! It dedicates itself to and elevates the banh mi from reliable fast food to handcrafted thoughtful fast food. This place makes one of the best baguettes I’ve ever had with banh mi. They are fresh and airy with just enough thin crusty exterior to be satisfyingly crunchy without being sharp or dry. The reason for this is that the baguettes are made in house fresh every day. They have mastered and improved the Vietnamese style baguette, so much they are willing to give you a free small baguette just for checking in so you can taste the baguette by itself in all its glory. The menu options are not as vast as the traditional banh mi places but that is fine because their 4 specialties have been specially created. Based on the menu deacriptions, I assume they created their own recipes for each filling and make em in house: 1) Oven roasted chicken in honey lime sauce. 2) Bulgogi beef. 3) Caramelized pork in coconut reduction sauce. 4) Tempura eggplant with shredded mushroom “jerky” (aka vegetarian cha bom). They also offer build your own option. Each sandwich is a good size, close to a footlong I’d estimate, and though a bit pricier than typical in Little Saigon, the price is a steal for the quality and taste ($7ish). Plus, we love that the vegetarian option here is actually well thought out, rather than just seared tofu or processed vegetarian “ham.” The other pastries offered are a nice variety and you can tell are expertly done. The croissants have distinct beautiful layers, a nice crunch, and a beautiful golden sheen. The colored ones have a slight hint of their flavor and are filled with a generous amount of (diplomat?) cream without making it too heavy or sweet. Highly recommend to try. The price for the pastries are very competitive (hoity toity places elsewhere charge upwards of $6 for these). When you peek into the kitchen, you may notice a laminator machine. This tells you that they definitely make the croissants in house, which is ideal for the best most freshest vienoissierie. They also offer cafe sua da and matcha lattes and macarons but I didn’t try them this time. I loved this banh mi and hope to come back many times more!!! P.S. place is small but clean and staff friendly.

Banh Cuon Thang Long – Menu with Prices – 3347 Belt Line Rd, Garland

Ok… so I’ve waited a little bit to write this review because I wanted to be rational and fair. My experience of Banh Cuon Thang Long is nothing but poor. I honestly don’t know how this establishment is still in business when Texas has such a vast selection of delicious Vietnamese restaurants with proper service. So.. here’s the story: My husband and I were on our way home to Oklahoma from Austin, Texas. We stopped by the Saigon mall to do a little shopping and grab some food before heading back. We saw this place and decided to try it because it’s not everyday you eat banh cuon! Anyway you could say this is a mom and pop’s kind of place. It’s hidden, old, quiet, and small. The inside is nothing impressive. Just like any Vietnamese family business around. There was no one at the counter or eating in the restaurant so we approached the counter and looked at the picture menu above to see what we’d want. Then, an old gentleman comes out. In Vietnamese, I asked him if we need to sit down or order there at the counter. He said we can do either. So I asked a few more questions to narrow down my choices and finally we ordered two banh cuon and an order of egg rolls appetizer. We then go to sit down. Next, we waited and watched as people started coming in for take out and dine in orders. It was then I noticed that people were getting their foods whether dine in and take out before us! We thought well maybe they called ahead. Anyway, about half an hour has passed and I approached the counter and asked the gentleman if we can have drinks since no one has brought out our drinks. I then asked how long the food would be. He said, it’s almost done. Ok… we waited more. 20 minutes later I’m fed up. It’s been almost one hour since we got there. I asked again and once again he said almost done. We then told him to forget about it because we can’t wait anymore. It was then he said wait and let him check. Turns out our food has been done. He said because we ordered egg rolls the food didn’t come out because he wanted to bring it all out at once. When he brought out our food it was in a styrofoam containers in the plastic bag! I was livid. Of course by then I told him to forget about it. I mentioned that we were just visiting the area so there’s no way we could take the food to go.. where would we eat it?! Ever try eating something with fish sauce in the car? Gross! The car will smell for years! Anyway, he has the nerve to tell me that if we wanted to eat there we should have said so. Listen, I speak fluent Vietnamese and I did say so twice! Poor customer service and rudeness will not thrive in the business world. There’s a million restaurants in Texas, I’ll pick another one. Thanks.

La Colonial Tortilla factory – Menu with Prices – 212 N Copia St, El Paso

Outstanding burritos and tortillas! My mouth is watering from thinking about their freshly made burritos and tortillas. These burritos and tortillas are probably some of the best in town. Their tortillas are light and fluffy, straight up perfection! My favorite burrito is the picadillo. The ground beef has a great flavor. It tastes even better when you add some red or green chile in it. Watch out, their burritos are on the small side so you might be able to eat two or three at a time. I’d like to try their chile relleno burrito but I haven’t yet. I’m also interested in trying their tostada chips and chile con queso. I hear La Colonial sells out of their burritos fast so you have to go by 9 or 10 am. You can also call in your order. There’s nowhere to sit so you’ll have to eat in your car or destination. Take some cash too. Aside from burritos, they have tamales, tostadas, tacos and the prepared masa to make tamales at home. They close by 2 pm on weekdays and they aren’t open on weekends. Imagine if they closed later and opened on weekends?

Vallarta Mexican Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 2151 Fort Benning Rd, Columbus

Decided to give this place a shot since we are on the lookout for a new favorite Mexican restaurant in Columbus… I ordered a combo plate with a soft shredded beef taco, chile relleno and chicken chimichanga. Right away i noticed I received a hard ground beef taco instead of the soft shredded I ordered (honest mistake). The waitress quickly fixed it. The shredded beef, although flavorful, was tough. I had to open my taco and shred the meat myself just to be able to take a bite. My Chile Relleno was the worst I’ve ever had (I order them at every Mexican restaurant. Every single time). It was the smallest poblano pepper, maybe palm sized, with hardly any cheese inside. It was so tough I HAD to use my knife to cut it because my fork couldn’t do the job. The sauce wasn’t anything special. After the one bite and telling the waitress I didn’t like the Chile Relleno, she took it away from the table, but did not offer any type of replacement or discount. Then I realized I was given beans when I had asked for rice (No big deal. Honest mistake just like my taco). HOWEVER, I then realized my children’s orders were equally messed up. What was suppose to be a shredded beef enchilada and ground beef taco turned out to be ground beef enchilada and shredded taco (different orders for different children). I didn’t think it was worth making a fuss over since we were already so hungry. I didn’t want to have to send the kids food back as well. The only thing I ended up eating was the complimentary chips with salsa and the small chicken chimichanga from my combo plate. My husband liked his fajitas well enough and the Horchata was delicious. The staff was friendly, but not attentive. This just wasn’t the place for us. I guess we will keep looking for our new favorite spot.

Natalie’s Baguette | Banh Mi, Crepes and beignets | Vietnamese Sandwiches – Menu with Prices – 10407 Main St, Fairfax

I usually go to Eden when I’m craving for banh mi, but I didn’t have enough tome to drive out for my lunch today so I yelped looking for a closer place that serves banh mi. I work at GMU and we have a banh mi stand at the Johnson Center, but it isn’t authentic at all so I don’t bother to go there. I found this place and looked at the pictures, figured it would satisfy my craving but unfortunately I was left disappointed. In the picture of the “deconstructed banh mi” I was under the impression I would have pate on my sandwich, but I didn’t. That could be a simple misunderstanding, so no stars knocked off for that. However, they didn’t include that much of the hot green pepper and my sandwich was… soggy… it didn’t seem fresh at all. I want my banh mi to be crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside- this was just… meh. I’m also a little disappointed that they don’t serve goi cuon- I got one of the egg roll and spring roll with the pork and it just wasn’t good. Eggroll was also soggy, soft, and… dripping with oil while the spring roll was just left with more to be desired. I really wanted to like this place so I didn’t have to venture further out- but I think I’ll stick with falls church for my Vietnamese food fix. I’ve included a pic- it might look halfway decent but… the taste just wasn’t there.

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.