Banh Mi – Page 10

K Sandwiches – What a Difference 2 Months Makes

November 2, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

Way back in July, I posted on the impending opening of K Sandwiches. On August 25th, this shop on the corner of Mesa College and Linda Vista road finally opened. Driving by, I could not believe the amount of people standing in line for Banh Mi. My Buddy Jack, mentioned something like a 30 minute wait, for Banh Mi!?! So we waited a week, and finally made our way there during the first week of September.

With it’s bright facade, and menu offerings, ‘K’ seems to have alot in common with the Lee’s Sandwiches chain that is slowly making it’s way all across the Western United States. Hmmm….

On this day, the front of the restaurant was packed. But even though there were many customers, there seemed to be even more Employees! Most of which were standing(leaning), giggling, and generally loafing teenagers. I even saw one of the Girls write down a telephone number on a napkin, and hand it to a Young Man buying a sandwich, with the words "Call Me" scrawled along the top. What was even more surprising, was that she immediately turned around, and without putting on gloves, started to make sandwiches…..

I placed our order, and we had time to check out everything while we waited. Along with the sandwich menu; K serves up Boba-type drinks/tea, bakes their own baquettes and croissants, and also has hot table dishes for purchase.

We ordered 3 sandwiches in total. The first we tried was the BBQ Chicken ($1.99):

The chicken in the sandwich was very tasty, though the rest of the sandwich disappointed me. The crust of the bread was slightly crusty, but not crusty enough for me. There was a very small amount of Ca-rot(pickled veggies), that consisted only of radish, and no carrots? The cilantro was mostly stems, which can be annoying when you eat it. The thin julienned slices of green chilies were nice and hot, though all crowded to the middle of the sandwich.

The Deluxe (Dac Biet-$2.45)

consisted of 3 meats; basically what looked like a sausage, ham, and the Viet "pate". Again the same monotonic "garnishes"(but there was one piece of carrot in there), but this time the cilantro was piled on one side of the sandwich. Ditto for the bread.

The third sandwich we ordered was the BBQ Pork ($1.99):

The pork was very tasty, both slightly sweet, salty, and teriyaki-ish in taste, though there were too many pieces of tough connective tissue, that were really inedible. Again, the "one-note" pickled vegetables. In the end, it seemed that though the sandwiches were a bargain; the result was mediocre. It didn’t help that both the Missus and I got somewhat ill after eating here. I attribute that to the lack of hygenic supervision, and inexperienced Teens putting together the sandwiches. If Lee’s/K are trying to be the McDonalds of Vietnamese Food, they sure are on their way….

One really great thing about ‘K’, is that they open at 6am in the morning. Banh Mi, for breakfast anyone? So this past week, I decided to drop by ‘K’, and grab a sandwich. Things were alot calmer then on my previous visit, and the cashier and the person making the sandwich were quite professional and competent.

I ordered the Vegetarian ($1.99):

The bread was nice and crusty, much better then on my previous visit. And look, you can make out some carrots, even! The shreds of fried tofu were fairly tasty, though everything was piled to one side of the sandwich. The cilantro was mostly leaves, and the peppers were nice and hot. Not bad for 2 bucks.

In fact, I visited ‘K’ again this week, and picked up "breakfast" for a couple of people, and again got the Dac Biet:

There seemed to be alot more meat then before, as well as alot more pickles. It was pretty good, though I enjoy, Bale and Cafe Dore’ more. But for the price, you can’t complain. Also, I just found out that extra "pickles" can be requested at no charge. I also measured the sandwich, and it came in at almost exactly 10 inches. That’s a pretty long sandwich! The service and food were much better during these last two visits. Two months sure can make a big difference!

K Sandwiches
7604 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
Mon-Sat 6am-9pm
Sun 8am-8pm

Linda Vista Food to Go:Crouching Restaurant, Hidden Banh Mi

July 19, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Update Linda Vista Food to Go has been replaced by Mi Ngoc So 1, you can read a post here.

02/13/2008 – Mi Ngoc So 1 is now gone as well….this location is now home to Thai by Tara.

Do you have a restaurant that you pass on a regular basis, that you know is there, that you glance at, but have never had any reason or desire to patronize? I’ve been glancing at this little hole in the wall for almost five years. It’s readily visible from the intersection of Linda Vista and Ulric St. For some strange reason I’d always thought that this was a Mexican restaurant, and had developed no real desire to check this place out.

But now, under the guise of Food Blogger, I actually have a (flimsy) reason to enter through those doors. And to my surprise, it’s a little Vietnamese take-out restaurant! Even better, there’s Banh Mi on the menu, though it seems that it’s not the main product that this little place is trying to sell. At 7 am on a Sunday morning there are 2 Vietnamese Women rolling spring rolls and loading them into trays, seems like there’s a major catering operation going on. So I step up and order the "Dac Biet" Banh Mi and a tray of spring rolls. The Banh Mi cost me $2.50, even though the sign said $2.25, I figure that the extra quarter was probably a penalty for my lack of patronage over the last 5 years, or more realistically, they probably had raised prices and not changed the signage. The spring rolls set me back 3 bucks.

This sandwich was on the smallish size, and had cross sliced cucumber and a green chili, the usual pickled carrot and daikon, and two sprigs of cilantro. The meat filling was ham, pate’, and sausage. The bread had a good crust and minimal bread filling, the pickled veggies were under marinated and quite tasteless, the cucumber was fine, but the green chili was not hot at all and had that "green" taste that under-ripe peppers have. The meat was sorely lacking and the sausage really brought nothing to this sandwich. And one of my pet peeves are the long "branches" of cilantro. All in all, the poorest Banh Mi I’ve had so far.

The spring rolls were pretty good – lot’s of "Bun", and the lettuce was folded around pork in the bottom of the roll. I thought these were pretty decent.

The verdict? I really didn’t miss anything by passing by this place for last few years, though I liked the spring rolls. Who know maybe the other dishes are pretty good, and I may try them in the future, but not the near future. Another funny thing, the hours listed on the business card are Mon-Sat 6am-5pm, closed on Sunday; but the day I visited was Sunday. Maybe that’s what the extra quarter was for….a convenience charge!

Linda Vista Food to Go
2405 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111
858-279-1491

Sorrento European Bakery – Some Banh Mi with your Chocolate Mousse?

July 15, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Sorrento European Bakery has closed

I had heard about a “Vietnamese Bakery” in Mira Mesa that made good Banh Mi. So with some rudimentary instructions we headed off. We came across a mall on Mira Mesa Blvd, that had an interesting Food Court and right next to the Food Court was Sorrento European Bakery. The little sign outside said Vietnamese Sandwiches.

We walked in and were met with a case of wonderful looking cakes and pastries like the mango mousse pictured on the right. I thought “no way can this be the place”. But the owners looked to be Vietnamese (and spoke some pretty good Mandarin too).

And there was a grease board with 10 sandwiches listed; the five on the left were stuff like roast beef and turkey. On the right it said “VN Sandwiches”, bingo! There were 5 sandwiches listed, all priced at $2.50, so I chose the #1 – Dac Biet. And while the poor Missus waited to pay and ogled the pastries and cakes, I wandered around the Food Court. We ended up doing a “Mini – Food Court Crawl”, which I’ll post later. The owner told my Wife that they bake their own bread for the sandwiches daily – so the bread is always fresh!

So how was the Banh Mi (please excuse the bad picture – I was over come by hunger) ? This was the “lightest” Banh Mi I’ve had by far. The bread was light and crusty, and a bit yeasty, with a really nice texture. The “ham” was very tasty, as were the veggies, but there was a spread (mayo??) that detracted from the taste a bit. The rest of the meat was good as well – no roasted pork this time, but the pork in the roll was good – I tasted all the meat separately. Not enough cilantro and the green chili’s on the sandwich were really mild. Rich, but light, good enough for a return visit. I’d order at least 2 sandwiches for me the next time though. The sandwich was good but there is something missing, I need to re-evaluate (poor me…) whether it’s a lack of filling, or a taste component was missing, I just can’t put my finger on it, so I’ll try again. Maybe someone else should try and let me know if I’m missing something?

Very nice and friendly service – the pastries looked very tempting, but I was focused on the Banh Mi. I think another visit is in order, the jury’s out!

Sorrento European Bakery
6755 Mira Mesa Blvd #117 – in the Sorrento Plaza Shopping Center
San Diego, CA 92121
858-909-0599

Bale Linda Vista – Completing the Banh Mi Tri-fecta

June 29, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Ba Le Linda Vista has closed.

To complete the Banh Mi "tri-fecta" I stopped by the old dependable Ba-Le Sandwich shop in Linda Vista. I say dependable mainly for the simple reason that I had been a regular customer of Ba-le back "home" in Honolulu. As a matter of fact, the first Banh Mi I had ever had was from Ba-Le.

This franchise of Ba-Le had changed hands over the last year or so, and the new owners have made alot of improvements, including an upgrade of the menu, and a renovation of both the storefront as well as interior. Of course to pay for this prices have risen, though a 25-50 cent increase on something that costs two-bucks isn't really that bad. The one thing that I do lament is that I'm unable to order extra veggies or meat anymore. Today I purchased the Banh Mi Dac Biet – or Deluxe Sandwich as well as some spring rolls. The damage all told – $5.25.

The interesting thing about Banh Mi is that I've found, no two are the same. This version's roll was basically "all crust", almost as if the bread portion had been torn out, "po' boy style". The roll was decently crusty, the meat was very thinly sliced, tasty, but a bit dry. The "veggies" were flavored well, but the cilantro was a bit of a problem. In this case the stems of cilantro were included, and you'd basically have all the cilantro pulled out by the fibrous stems during the first two bites. The peppers included in the sandwich were not very spicy, but the sandwich was still a bargain at $2.75! All other sandwiches, including an "egg" sandwich are priced right at $2.25. If I read the sign right; you buy 9 you get the tenth free. So far no really bad Banh Mi, and there are a few more to try! I think in the end I'll do a comparison chart for the Banh Mi in San Diego, as they vary so much in size, taste, and even bread! I'm looking for recommendations…..BTW the spring rolls were OK, the ones in Viet Dong are better IMHO, but that's another story!

The Other Two: Cafe Dore' and A' Chau.

Bale French Sandwich Shop
6937 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
858) 565-8057

Cafe Dore’ – Banh Mi Amore’

June 28, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Caffeine Fix, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

***** Cafe Dore has closed

Since my Wor Won Ton Mein quest had pretty much been a wash-out, I focused my attention on my Banh Mi craving that had been hovering in the background waiting for a chance to break-out.

I decided to ask the Gal at the Dry Cleaners for a recommendation, and I listed off the Banh Mi places I've been to, all of which met with a slight negative nod, after which She told me to try Cafe Dore', saying "they are kind of slow, but do a good job". Which means, you might wait a while but it's worth it. She gave me instructions, and I found Cafe Dore', in (another) strip mall in City Heights, located next to a Vietnamese "Deli" and coin laundry.

There was a group of Vietnamese men having coffee and chatting. I drew alot of stares as I passed them. I entered the cafe and there were 4 tough looking Vietnamese guys sitting around watching the television. One of them stood up and simply said "yes?", they obviously thought that I took a "wrong turn" somewhere. I mentioned that I had been told that they make a really good Banh Mi; there were instant smiles all around….and the Gentleman pointed to a small flyer listing 5 sandwiches all ranging from $2.00-$2.50 under a piece of glass on the counter – this was the only "menu" in the whole place! I finally figured that this was actually a Vietnamese Coffee Shop, not really a restaurant.

After a short wait he handed me a package with my sandwich ($2.50) in it.

To say that this was a heck-of-a-sandwich is an understatement. The baguette was crunchy and fresh, the pate, BBQ pork, and "ham" combined with the veggies to create a very tasty and balanced flavor. The cilantro and cucumber was palate cleansing. My only (small) gripe is that they went easy on the hot green peppers – maybe going a little bit "easy" on me. This was easily the best Banh Mi I've had in San Diego so far!

The location is on the corner of Marlborough Ave and University Ave. Cafe Dore' has no English signs in it, no menu, except for the sandwich list under the glass counter, so I don't know what else they serve, but will find out. The strip mall also has a Vietnamese BBQ, a Seafood Shop, a Market, among other things. Might be a nice place for the adventurous to explore! This was one heck of a Banh Mi!

Cafe Dore
4135 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105
(619) 563-3525

Between Marlborough Ave and 41st St

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A-Chau Vietnamese

June 13, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

A-Chau a little Vietnamese “deli” located on the corner of El Cajon Blvd and Menlo Ave, has a very unique distinction.

A-Chau sells the only Banh Mi that can fill me up! And even though I know this I keep on buying spring rolls, egg rolls, or something else to complete the meal.

I guess I’m unable to deal with the reality that an “oinker” like me can fill up with a sandwich that costs $2.50! I’ve had many a Banh Mi in my time, but this unassuming sandwich can, for some reason make me feel stuffed. Trying to deal with emasculation via a char-broiled pork sandwich is not an easy thing. I usually end up giving the spring rolls or egg rolls away….to this day I haven’t tasted the spring rolls. I’ve tried to understand how this happens. What I have noticed is that the bread that A-Chau uses is not as crusty as the usual roll, being a bit softer and doughy, so those who believe that it’s the baguette that makes the Banh Mi may not enjoy this sandwich. In addition the pork is a bit richer than in most Banh Mi’s I’ve had, so I definitely couldn’t eat this every day. There is a very liberal amount of hot green chili’s in these sandwiches, those who are sensitive to this should probably ask to not have them. As far as the Banh Mi is concerned it’s pretty good, not the best I’ve had, mainly because the veggies are a bit tasteless and the bread somewhat doughy, but the pork makes up for that.

There are quite a few dishes available, hot table and vermicelli dishes, as well as pre-packaged snacks. 3-4 tables adorn the interior of the restaurant, though it’s very apparent that most of the business is a very brisk take-out. The parking lot can be an adventure due to the fact that there are just a few spaces that two restaurants and a Vietnamese Market share. The clientele is varied and the menu English friendly, and the service is efficient and fast. Most sandwiches range from $2.25 – $2.75. As for me I still haven’t made it past the Char-Broiled Pork sandwich (Thit Nuong) , though I’ll keep trying!

A-Chau
4644 El Cajon Blvd Ste 111
San Diego, CA 92115