Category: Banh Mi

Banh Mi Express Revisited

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

After my last, rather mediocre revisit to Banh Mi Hoi An, I was wondering how some of my “old favorites” were doing. A few days later I found my self driving on Clairemont Mesa near the I-15 and decided to grab something for lunch. It had been a while since I’d visited Banh Mi Express, so I decided to grab a Banh Mi.

Interesting thing about Banh Mi Express; much like Banh Mi Hoi An they’ve decided to forgo the Vietnamese names of the offerings. I guess it’s the customer base?

This had me wondering how the Pate “Meat Loaf” (aka Cha Lua), now priced at $8.49 (previously $7.75 in April) would be. The woman working was very mellow and sweet.

As for the Banh Mi?

The bread was yeasty, a bit denser than I recall, but enjoyably crusty.

Unlike my previous visit; there was a good amount of pickled veggies this time around. Unfortunately, like my previous visit; there’s still no cucumber. **** I stand corrected – the cucumber detective is correct; there is a thin slice right above the cha lua! Nice slice of jalapeno, which was kind of mellow and a decent amount of cilantro.

Unlike Banh Mi Hoi An, there was a generous amount of funky-earthy-savory pate, which really “drove” the sandwich. In fact, in this case it really got close to too much of a good thing!

Still, I’m not complaining! Still among my favorite Banh Mi in San Diego.

Banh Mi Express
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm
Saturday  8am – 3pm
Closed on Sundays

Banh Mi Hoi An Revisited

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

The series of posts on Banh Mi shops that I did this past summer had me wondering how places like Banh Mi Hoi An, which I last visited over 7 (!!!) years ago were doing. So, on my way back from Liberty Station I decided to stop by.

The place is starting to look a bit dated and the tables looked kinda dusty….good thing I was just getting a banh mi to go. The young lady working seemed a bit distracted by something, though I was the only customer.

I decided on getting the “Special”….which would probably be called the Dac Biet at traditional banh mi shops since they don’t have Banh Mi Pate Cha on their menu. Yes, I’ve always considered Hoi An to be a more “westernized” Vietnamese shop.

The dac biet Hoi An Special is now priced at $8.95, which is pretty much in line with places like Avian. Like I mentioned, I was the only person in the place, but it took over 30 minutes for my Banh Mi?

I would say that places like Avian, Banh Mi Express, and Saigon Sandwiches are a step above Hoi An. I’m sure location and demographics have something to do with things.

As for the sandwich, the bread was crusty, but strangely chewy. The proteins were sliced quite thin and the “pate”…well, there wasn’t much of it and the sandwich had too much mayo.

The pickled daikon and carrots were on the sweeter side and pretty much nullified the proteins; though I did appreciate the decent amount of cilantro and slices of Jalapenos.

Overall, a Banh Mi not to offend…kind of westernized, I felt that proportions of ingredients were off. ‘Nuff said.

As I noted in my previous post all those years ago: “The banh mi here isn’t bad. It just isn’t worth going out of your way for.” Well, at least in my opinion, they are consistent……

Banh Mi Hoi An
3145 Rosecrans St
San Diego, CA 92110

Saigon Sandwiches & Deli Revisited

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

Well, though it's been a while, I hadn't intended on revisiting Saigon Sandwiches & Deli….which kind of always slips my mind. I intended on checking out Da Nang Restaurant and Coffee which had replaced the longstanding Cafe Dore in the strip mall on the south corner of University and Marlborough. This was actually my second try as the first time went at the researched 830 am opening time and the place was closed. This time, I went at 930am in the morning and guess what….sigh…..the place was closed.

Since I was kinda hungry, I just decided to head into Saigon Sandwiches & Deli.

Saigon Sand Rev 01

It had been a while and the place looks like it's been renovated a bit.

Saigon Sand Rev 02

The Banh Mi Pate Cha is priced at $7.99 here; pretty much in the typical range for banh mi these days.

Took the banh mi home and unwrapped it.

Saigon Sand Rev 03

It looked pretty darn good. The bread here is always on the crusty side; but I'm not complaining. There's a butteriness to the bread as well. The generous amount pickled veggies were really thick and somewhat cumbersome. Lot's of cilantro…..mostly leaves, which I appreciated. Of course, no cucumber. The jalapenos on this banh mi was spicy!

Saigon Sand Rev 04

Good amount on nicely sliced cha lua and a nice smear of funky pate. 

I actually enjoyed this banh mi…..I'm not sure why I keep forgetting about this place. I need to visit more often.

And well, with the way my luck is going with regards to finding Da Nang Restaurant and Coffee open….at least I have a back-up option, right? I'll probably give the place another try…..but three strikes and I'm going to forget about it. Maybe "FOY" Elle knows what's up with Da Nang? As for Saigon Sandwiches….I need to make sure to have the place on my typical banh mi "rotation".

Saigon Sandwiches & Deli
4133 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Open Daily 7am – 8pm

Ba Le French Sandwich Shop (City Heights) 17 Years Later

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

As has happens several times over the last few years, a conversation I overheard keyed a revisit to a place I hadn't been to in years. In this case the discussion was on "Vietnamese Sandwiches" and wondering how those sandwiches were at "Bail"…..yes, that's the way they pronounced it "Bail". Which had me wondering where this was….and all of a sudden it hit me…no, the spirit of the late "King" Stahlman wasn't resurrected in the form of a sandwich shop (are you humming "that tune" now?)…nope, I'm certain they were talking about Ba Le. And in retrospect, it had been a while since I'd been to Ba Le, especially the "OG" City Heights location….17 years! Yikes!

So, 17 years later I set out to finally revisit the University Avenue location of Ba Le and the horrendous parking….well, it's not really a "lot", but a couple of designated, very tight spaces. I actually parked on Winona and walked over. 

Ba Le Rev 01

Upon entering, I noticed that not much has changed over the years….it does look quite worse for wear, but the "double sign" with the available banh mi in Vietnamese on one side and the English translation on the other is still in place. Along with the prices written in black marker.

Ba Le Rev 02

Ba Le Rev 02a

The Banh Mi Pate Cha is now $7.25, it was $2.75 the last time I visited. The older gentleman took my order, I paid (it's cash only) and I headed on back to my car and then homeward.

Ba Le Rev 03a  Ba Le Rev 04  The bread was much better than I recalled, crusty, though still a bit under toasted and on the chewy side. It used to be a lot worse before. 

Two crosswise slices of cucumber…well, at least there was cucumber in this, two long strands of cilantro, and some pickled carrots and daikon. And yes, the pickled veggies are still on the sweeter side for my taste. 

A bit too much mayo for my taste, thin slices of cha lua. But one of the main reasons for my returning was that the pate here was super earthy-funky-sweet. I recall "FOY" TFD telling me that it was made inhouse. Not sure if that's still true….but there was a certain bass line playing in my head after taking a few bites. I'm sure "FOY" and fellow food blogger/musician Denver would be most happy to translate it for you!

Bass Line Play That Funky Music

This was a pretty good Banh Mi overall…perhaps time and many Banh Mi has given me a bit more appreciation for it. Another thing is that Ba Le, the location that opened in Honolulu back in the early 80's in Chinatown was the first place I remember having a Banh Mi, so there's some history. I recall getting Banh Mi from the ever moving Ba Le locations in Linda Vista over the years, until they finally left for good. Though I've never had much luck at the Mira Mesa locations.

Ba Le Rev 00

Don't know if it would be my first choice for banh mi these days; but it was a nice little blast from the past!

Ba Le French Sandwich Shop
4879 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92105
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 5pm

Happy Monday everyone!

Cali Baguette Express (City Heights) Revisited

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

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.

Cali Bag Express Rev 01

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.

Cali Bag Express Rev 02

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.

Cali Bag Express Rev 04

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!

Cali Bag Express Rev 03

Once ready, I got my sandwich and headed home.

Cali Bag Express Rev 05  Cali Bag Express Rev 06  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.

Cali Bag Express Rev 00

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

Circling Back to K Sandwiches

Banh Mi, Vietnamese Restaurants

In my post on revisiting A-Chau and Avian, "FOY" Franklin asked if I'd be doing a post on K Sandwiches, or as he calls it "De-K Sandwiches". Funny thing, but I had just revisited a couple of days before. Funny thing, though Cathy has done a number of posts on K Sandwiches over the years. I've only posted on the place once, nearly 20 years ago! Yeeesh…. My reason being that I've found the product at K to be not to my liking. I've had banh mi from there several times since; mostly takeout when our offices were in Serra Mesa and Kearny Mesa, but still hadn't really enjoyed the banh mi. But I felt it was time to head on back. Especially since I had been doing my "rounds" of banh mi shops in recent months.

The parking lot was quite busy on this day and the shop bustling with customers.

K Sandwiches Rev 01

There was a short line to order….I quickly noted that other than the employees, I was the only Asian in the place? The folks manning the counter were quite cheerful. 

I ordered the Pate Cha Lua ($7.25). I got a chuckle thinking about RD's comment on my recent post on Paris Sandwiches recalling the price of a banh mi a K being $1.99. Those were the days!

K Sandwiches Rev 02  K Sandwiches Rev 03 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.

The fillings were done haphazardly. Thin slices of cha lua are fine with me; it's all about proportion. In this case the thin slices of cha lua are lining the top and bottom; except that slices are missing from the bottom third of the sandwich. As expected, no cucumber.  Hardly any pickled radish and carrots. Ditto the pate. There was one slice of jalapeno locted at one end of the banh mi. The cilantro was mostly stems.

K Sandwiches Rev 04

In my opinion, a very poorly made banh mi. Kind of sad, since this is a family run operation, though "FOY" Vi mentioned that the family learned how to make bread from the owners of Lee's and were going to open a franchise here. But decided to open their own shop instead.

Really not my top choice in the area when I want a banh mi; though they are super popular and bustling. And they've lasted nearly 20 years so they must be doing something right.

K Sandwiches
7604 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat  730am – 6pm
Sunday      8am – 6pm

Revisits to A-Chau and Avian Sandwiches

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

My revisits to the more "modern Banh Mi" at Banh Mi Express and Paris Sandwiches had me wondering how some of the more "traditional" banh mi shop were doing. So, it was time for a couple of revisits.

A-Chau:

Well, I decided to head on up to the place where I did my first post on Banh Mi in June of 2005! My how time flies! On this day I lucked out and the slightly psycho parking lot was only half full. It was just after 8am on a Sunday morning so Minh Ky  wasn't open yet.

A Chau Rev 01

It's pretty much "all business" here. You walk in, order, pay, get your sandwich and get the heck out of Dodge.

A Chau Rev 02

The Banh Mi Pate Cha here now runs you $7.25. It was $5.50 on my last visit and the end of 2021. OF course I had to get some Cha Gio as well.

A Chau Rev 03

I had been a bit critical of A-Chau over the last few years because the place seemed to have slipped a bit over the years.

This version was actually pretty good.

A Chau Rev 04

The exterior was crusty, the bread was light and yeasty. There was that "unicorn" of banh mi ingredients, a slice of cucumber present. The pickled veggies were thinly sliced and though there could have been a bit more, it was crisp and sour.

A Chau Rev 06

The ingredients was nicely distributed thru out the whole sandwich; the amount of funky pate was excellent, the cha lua nice and toothsome. Perhaps a bit too much mayo, but I think that's splitting hairs. There didn't seem to be a lot of jalapeno; but what those thin slices were pretty darn spicy.

Pretty good banh mi!

But while the banh mi seems to be "back"…the Cha Gio still seemed to be "stuck in a rut".

A Chau Rev 05
A Chau Rev 07

While it was improved on my last visit, this was much like what I had back in 2018.  While still nicely "stuffed" it is still lacking in crispness, very chewy, the filling cold and lacking in a good pork flavor.

Oh well, at least the Banh Mi is back on my "list" here. I need to return more often.

A Chau Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 7am – 4pm
Fri – Sun        7am – 5pm

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water:

In my post on Banh Mi Express, "FOY" ST asked if I'd be doing Avian Sandwiches. Well, considering that Avian is one of the closer Banh Mi shops to me, of course I was. In fact, Avian was one of the most recent Banh Mi shops I posted on before this last  spate of visits.

I will say, that this small shop can get kinda crazy, with all the old timers drinking coffee outside, the endless stream of folks playing the lottery or filling up water.

Avian Rev 01

The interior can get positively claustrophobic.

Avian Rev 02

Like now you can get some body wash, shampoo, and conditioner with your Cane Juice, Alkaline Water, Lottery Tickets, and Banh Mi if so desired.

Avian Rev 03

My drill here is to order my sandwich and find some crevice or corner to squeeze into until my number is called.

Like on my last visit; I got the Banh Mi Nem Nuong, which is now $8.95. It was $7.95 last May.

Avian Rev 04  Avian Rev 05 The bread was crusty, though on the drier end of the scale. It had a good amount of pickled veggies; crisp, sour, and refreshing. Huge slices of jalapeno, some of which was spicy, some not…time for some "chili roulette"? Nice, thick slice of cucumber.

Two thick slices of nem nuong, savory-sour, with a mild sweetness. A bit too much mayo, but acceptable. Good amount of fresh cilantro. All evenly distributed. 

Avian Rev 06

A good banh mi…probably why it's one of my first choices for banh mi these days. In spite of the almost nine dollar price!

Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 7pm

So, my "Banh Mi Brethren" ("BMBs"), where have you been getting your Banh Mi these days!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Paris Sandwiches Revisted

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

My revisit to Banh Mi Express had me wondering how Paris Sandwiches was doing, after all it had been almost a year since my last visit. So, I drove on over for an early lunch.

Paris Sandwiches Rev 01

What I quickly noticed as I walked toward the shop was that there weren't any "old timers" having coffee outside. This was when I first noticed the sign for Saigon Corner, which has seemed to taken over that duty in this strip mall, at least on a couple visits I made.

I kind of consider Paris Sandwiches to be like Banh Mi Express as a "tweener" banh mi shop; attempting to please a varied customer base. Looking at the posted menu; English descriptions, though the Vietnamese names are displayed below. The place was doing some steady business on this day.

Paris Sandwiches Rev 02

I got the Cha Lua (Pork Roll on the menu – $7.05). The two women working the line were super fast and my banh mi was ready in less than five minutes.

This is what it looked like unwrapped.

Paris Sandwiches Rev 03 Paris Sandwiches Rev 04  I've always enjoyed the bread from Paris Bakery and this is basically the same. Nice and light; "crackley", slightly yeasty. The Cha Lua was sliced fairly thin and layered nicely. Not much pate. Also light on the mayo which suited me well.

Not enough pickled veggies on this visit and of course the cucumber was MIA. I had to make some "adjustments" to the fillings as all the jalapenos were piled in the middle and a lot of the cilantro leaves were yellowed; which I removed. Kind of sloppy in my opinion.

Paris Sandwiches Rev 05

While this was an ok banh mi; I felt that the proportion was a bit off and it was kind of sloppily put together. On the good side; this led me to wonder about  couple of other banh mi shops that I hadn't been to in a while!

Paris Sandwiches
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 730am – 630pm
Closed on Sunday

Banh Mi Express Revisited

Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

Getting the rather "Americanized"  banh mi from Poppy Boba had me wondering how some of regular banh mi stops were doing. So, I set out to do some revisits. I decided to start with my most "recent-decent" banh mi, which was from Banh Mi Express, which provides one of the few pre-lunch options that is not fast food or premade bento's in the area on a Saturday morning.

Banh Mi Express Rev 01

The place was doing some pretty good business on this morning. Remember when this was Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe? Banh Mi Express is kind of interesting as I think of it being a bit of a "tweener" between the more traditional banh mi and more Westernized versions. For instance, the menu only features westernized names for the sandwiches.

Banh Mi Express Rev 02

For instance, I decided on the Cha Lua….which is on the menu as "Pate – Meat Loaf" ($7.75). It seems that the going price for banh mi seems to run in the 7-8 dollar range these days. I couldn't believe the version at Poppy was over ten bucks!

Once back home I unwrapped my Banh Mi.

Banh Mi Express Rev 03

I was glad to note that the house made bread was back to normal, not the rather strange version I got on my previous visit. There was a bit too much mayo for my taste, but a good amount of funky pate was provided. The cha lua were sliced thinly, which I kind of liked. The jalapenos were quite mild and I noticed that the cucumber slices were MIA. The cilantro had quite a bit of think stems.

The bread was crusty and yeasty. There were proportionally less pickled vegetables than I would have enjoyed. 

Banh Mi Express Rev 04

Not a bad banh mi; but it did fuel my curiosity even more. It was time to "make the banh mi rounds" as it were.

Banh Mi Express
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 7am – 4pm
Saturday  8am – 3pm
Closed on Sundays

Sunday Sandwiches – Poppy Boba Kitchen

Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Banh Mi, Sandwiches

**** Poppy Boba has closed

I was driving home from Nijiya the “back way”, via Stalmer, then Beagle Street when a shop caught my eye.

Poppy Boba 01

This is on the Beagle Street side of the mall that houses The Pad Thai Stand and Carnival Market. This seemed like a new shop as I didn’t recall seeing it before. Since I’m not much of a “boba” kinda guy I wouldn’t have given the place much attention; but I noticed the bottom of the sign said “banh mi”. Hmmmm………  I went ahead and added the place to my “list” to check out when the weather got warmer; which was just about a week later. So, I decided to drop by. Checking the hours I noticed that unlike many shops that do banh mi; Poppy opens at 11.

I walked on over and entered the elongated shop which was a counter and all kitchen.

Poppy Boba 02

A very nice young woman was working. I had a quick glance at the liquid refreshment based menu.

Poppy Boba 03

Basically baos and various snacks, alongside banh mi and rice bowls. Sadly, only three different “fillings” are available; Grilled Pork, Grilled Chicken, or Lemongrass Tofu. Obviously “Poppy” is more of a westernized “Asian” snack shop. As I looked over the menu, a woman walked in with two large bags of banh mi….so, I figured what the heck, at least my bread will be fresh, right?

I went and ordered the Grilled Pork Banh Mi ($10.50). It was fairly sizeable.

Poppy Boba 04a  Poppy Boba 00  The bread was very crusty…it was indeed quite fresh, though it didn’t hold up real well because there was a bit too much mayo. The menu said the banh mi has pate in it; but I could not find, nor taste any. There was a good amount of pork, in chunks, fairly chewy, but decently savory-sweet-salty.

It was kind of unevenly put together as the “chunk” of cucumber only covered half of the width of the sandwich. Not enough pickled carrots and daikon, nor cilantro. I’ve always stated when confronted by over-stuffed banh mi that I appreciate proportion when it comes to these type of sandwiches. The jalapeno was sliced fairly thick and it was fun playing “jalapeno roulette”.

Poppy Boba 06

It was an ok “Americanized” banh mi.

During my visit, I had seen something on the menu that caught my attention. There was something called “Japanese Egg Sandwich” on the menu. So, I decided to drop in on my way home from Nijiya a few days later. Same nice young lady working. Based on the price; $5.75, I didn’t expect this to be too large and it wasn’t. Which was a good thing since I wasn’t very hungry.

Poppy Boba 07

Here’s what it looked like scaled against a quarter.

Poppy Boba 08 Poppy Boba 09a I had noticed that it was toasted, which was a clue that the folks here weren’t using Shokupan, the classic Japanese Milk Bread; a must for a egg salad sando, which this was definitely not. I missed the light, fluffy texture and the slight sweetness that the proper bread brings to the sando.

Just making egg salad with Kewpie Mayonnaise does not make it a proper Japanese egg salad sandwich.

The dill added some refreshing anise tones, but was unevenly distributed. There was a nice layer of egg salad.

Poppy Boba 10

Not a terrible sandwich; but definitely not a Egg Salad Sando! Poppy Boba 11

Overall, the young lady working was very nice. The sandwiches ok, but not worth going out of your way for…it’s Americanized – Asian to me. Still, it’s interesting to see these businesses slowly making their way into the area. I’m interested to see what’s coming next as there seems to be some vacancies in this strip mall.

Poppy Boba Kitchen
3538 Ashford St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Tues – Sun 11am – 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Poppy Boba 12