After my less than satisfying revisit to K Sandwiches, I decided to head on over to Cali Baguette Express, the City Heights location, not the Mira Mesa location, which I really haven't ever really enjoyed. Way back in May of 2008 when I did my first posts on Cali Baguette Express, my first thoughts was that this is what K Sandwiches could be. Eventually, the place expanded, with a location on Convoy, which eventually became Cali Banh Mi (I'm sure there's a story there). My visits to both the location on Garnet and the Convoy location have really not been satisfying.
Well, enough of that; it was time for a banh mi.
Over time, the menu at CBE sure has expanded, with everything from pho/bun, to plates of grilled pork and such. Of course, I was here for the banh mi.
I ordered my usual Banh Mi Pate Cha which is now $7.50, pretty much the going rate for banh mi these days. A quick check on my last visit in November of 2021 reveals a price of $5.
I could see that the bread was still being baked inhouse.
I placed my order with the very nice young lady and took a look around the shop while I waited. My goodness, all the tchotchkes!
Once ready, I got my sandwich and headed home.
I must have hit the lottery on this day, because the bread was still slightly warm. It was yeasty and somewhat "crackly". Maybe the best bread I've had here.
And the banh mi had that ever so elusive item these days, an actual slice of cucumber. Not as much pickled veggies as before, but acceptable. The cilantro featured mostly leaves, which I was pleased about, though it was piled in the center of the sandwich. I went and spread it out. One of the two slices of jalapeno was fairly potent.
There used to be four slices of cha lua across the sandwich, but on this day I counted three. Yes, I know, who the heck counts the slices of meat in a banh mi….I guess I do. Even though you can't really see it, there was a light smear of pate, which I could actually taste.
Overall, not a super stuffed sandwich, which I kind of enjoyed. While I think CBE has been surpassed by other banh mi shops in the past few years, it's still not a bad option in my mind
I've been having fun revisiting all these banh mi shops….I hope you're enjoying these posts!
Cali Baguette Express
5125 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Daily 6am – 8pm
This actually had two eggs, bacon, cheese, and a very mild chili. Basically a brushing of "beans", some bacon, mild cheese….if not for the two eggs, it might have been a bit too much bread for me. But this did fill me up.
First off, I actually thought the basic “wagyu” (heavy on the quotes) beef, while rather scarce was cut thinner, thus seemingly more tender. I liked the thin slices of oyster mushroom, which added a nice sweet-earthiness to the plate. To me, that egg is a must.
Which smelled heavenly. It came with a bowl of broth that had decent cilantro – white pepper tones, but was quite salty. And the dipping sauce, which did have a bit of spice was not my favorite as I prefer the Hainanese style white, ginger-garlic, pungent style sauce.
As for the chicken; well it was deboned, making it easy to eat, while being very moist and tender. It was a bit on the milder side in terms of flavor though. Again, if I had that ginger-garlic based sauce, I’d have been really happy. I ended up making sure I had some “chicken soul stealing” rice and chicken in each bite.
Even though K bakes their own baguette, I had never been a real fan of their bread which I'd found to be on "mealy" side. On this day, it was better than what I recalled, though still lacking in the yeasty end of the flavor spectrum and over baked and on the harder side.
Since I've 
This came with two poached eggs….I would have preferred sunny side up with nice crisp edges; but the eggs were fine, with the yolks still runny.
Of course I couldn't help but compare this to 
My egg didn't arrive until I was half way thru my noodles. I'll leave that to soft opening jitters. While a bit overcooked, it was nice and warm, great soy sauce flavor, a hint of cinnamon-anise. 
