Ba Xuyen (On a Banh Mi Bender)
September 24, 2009 by Feisty Foodie
Filed under Brooklyn, Cheap Eats, Restaurants, Vietnamese
Yup, I took a trip to Brooklyn to sample another banh mi place. Well, I’d heard a lot about it in the past, and AWL asked me if I wanted to check it out with her, so I was game… even after I found out it’s really f*cking far by train from me. Oh well! I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was nice hot and sunny. There weren’t many people in Ba Xuyen, but people trickled in and out as we sat there, eating.
I lucked out because RC didn’t mind sharing two sandwiches with me, so, per usual, continuing the banh mi bender, I ordered a grilled pork and a regular/pate (here called the Combination). The above is the grilled pork. Hmm… it was REALLY wet. The insides were really wet with mayo? butter? (the menu says butter, but we all thought it was mayo), and squished out happily while we ate. I mean, the table in front of me was a MESS, littered with my sandwich bits. Gah. The flavor was alright, but I didn’t like how messy the sandwich was, and the bread was unremarkable.
Here is the combination: lots of good stuff inside, though for some reason, I had trouble eating this as it seemed really excessively spicy to me. Gack. Otherwise, the flavors and overall combination were good, but they’re also pretty standard. The bread being unremarkable is a big deal for this sandwich; because the innards tend to be the same (ham, head cheese, pork roll, cilantro, pickled veggies, etc.), the bread really makes a place’s banh mi stand out, suck, or fall to the back of your mind. This was the third one: unremarkable.
Yvo says: The sandwiches were good. And they have avocado shakes here! But honestly, it’s quite out of the way for most people unless they live in the area – it’s not even very close to the train station. I couldn’t comfortably call this destination dining – as in, don’t really go that far out of your way to eat here – although their banh mi do rank on the low end of price at $3.75 a piece. Yummy, but not OMG GO HERE NOW yummy… not like Robicelli’s (where I went after this banh mi, haha).
recommended, but don’t go too far out of your way for it, not worth a special trip
Banh Mi Bender, Part 1 of 4 – Paris
Banh Mi Bender, Part 2 of 4 – Banh Mi Saigon Bakery
Banh Mi Bender, Part 3 of 4 – Ba Xuyen
I got yelled at when I said Saigon Bakery was the best banh mi I've had by my coworkers last year, they actually insisted that this was the best NYC had to offer. I agree though, nothing overly special, just a good deal. To each their own I guess.
In contrast to you other posts the bread is almost non existent in these pics, so I see your point.
And head cheese? Should've never been created nor consumed by the common man. Or anyone for that matter. Just my opinion. Don't come after me for that.
::running away quickly:: [well before I click a gazillion times to get this posted. sigh.
Have you heard of Dhaba in Curry Hill? I just read about it on http://www.askmelissa.com and I'm really looking forward to trying it out–sounds delicious! Here's the link if you're interested in trying it out too…us Foodies can never have enough indian! http://www.askmelissa.com/index.php/features/dhaba_09-24-09
That's too bad it wasn't worth the trip, it's a lot of work for a mediocre sandwich.
go Robicelli's! I wish they weren't so damn far.
I love banh mi and have had some decent ones but not great ones here in Brooklyn. The transcendent viet hoagies I had were in Philly, at the now-closed “O” sandwich shop in the Italian Market, and at the sublime QT Sandwich shop in Chinatown. What sets them apart? The bread is baked on premises. Yesterday I stopped in to Ba Xuyen and inquired; they told me the bread is delivered to them. It was around 11 in the morning and the place was filled with Viet (or Chinese?) folks socializing and one redheaded lass eating a banh mi.
Hi Marty – thanks for stopping by! I agree that Ba Xuyen is only ok; if you’re looking for banh mi where the bread is baked on premises, you should try my favorite banh mi place. It’s Paris Sandwich in Chinatown; both locations bake their own bread fresh constantly, and I think the bread makes all the difference in the world. Let me know what you think!
Cheers!
I presume you mean Chinatown in Manhattan, not Philly? Going to the Village tomorrow, outside shot to hunt this down…
I definitely mean in Manhattan Chinatown: http://feistyfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/09/paris-sandwich-on-banh-mi-bender.html that’s just one of many posts I’ve written about Paris Sandwich. I’ve tried a ton of places (not just the ones listed in this post) and it is still my favorite. Has the best bread – I’ve bought just the bread before to either make my own banh mi or to make other sandwiches. Enjoy – let me know how you like it if you get there!