Banh Mi Bender: Final Thoughts

After trying banh mi from some of the top-rated places in New York (and some just thrown in there), I can honestly now say I feel comfortable giving an opinion about banh mi in general.  The bread is as important a part as the pate, the quality of what they’re putting inside your sandwich.  A good banh mi strikes the perfect balance: the bread doesn’t overwhelm nor take centerstage, but neither should any of the ingredients within; it truly is greater than the sum of all its parts, with each part being equally boosted by the others. 

Having said that, I find I cannot overlook the bread problems.  This isn’t to say that the bread is the most important, but it IS the first thing that touches your lips as you eat any sandwich, and in this case, it makes a huge difference. 

Therefore, here is my ranking of banh mi from the places I have thusfar tried (all on the low end of the price spectrum), for sandwich, price, experience, etc.:

1. Paris Sandwich – excellent bread, perfectly crisp baguettes that yield as you bite through the crust, ahhh.  Good insides, and lots of other offerings available as well (including desserts, cakes, appetizers, and other stuff, and all the fixin’s to make your own banh mi party at home).  Paris also gets extra points for having a brightly lit seating area with tables for customers.
2. Banh Mi cart – by proxy, since I believe that they are owned by Paris, or at the very least get all of their supplies from Paris, and they use the same bread + insides; they get points off for high price point, but get them back for proximity to my office.  (This is NOT a destination cart- I do not recommend anyone go out of their way to go to this cart, ie, making a special trip if they work in another part of the city, just go to Paris.) 
3. Banh Mi Saigon Bakery – excellent insides, but the bread just doesn’t work for me.  It’s too fluffy and flaky all at the same time – the outside flakes off, but the inside floomps in on itself.  Bonus points for price. 
4. Ba Xuyen – wasn’t bad, but its far location is ridiculous for someone as myself who lives in Queens, works and plays in Manhattan.  There’s not enough going for it to win a higher rank, despite having a seating area, lots of yummy goods scattered around for purchase & consumption, and the lower price. 
5. Sau Voi Corporation tied with Pho Bac in Elmhurst (which is the place I have no intention of reviewing for its banh mi) – Sau Voi’s completely flat, terrible banh mi coupled with its higher price was a total insult to my mouth.  Pho Bac is a decent restaurant that somehow just randomly offers a banh mi – though they don’t say take out only, it’s just scrawled on a scrap of paper and slapped to the wall.  They aren’t a banh mi place and seem to only offer it for the hell of it; it’s $3.25 and there are no other choices.  It was terrible.  I will unlikely ever go back to either place for a banh mi; it was hard to pick which was worse because of all the finer points.  I will just say that if you choose to go to Pho Bac solely for its banh mi, you’re a fool (the further you travel to do so, the more foolish); and if you go to Sau Voi, I would like to hear why – did I go on an off day and just happen to get a terrible sandwich???

I’m continuing my banh mi journey and eating my way slowly through the menus at both Paris & Saigon… perhaps another round up in a month!  🙂

Happy eating!