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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Seeing that the ridges were falling off the viennoiserie made me somewhat concerned, but the pastry did not shatter into crumbs upon consuming. The exterior was light and crisp, the interior fairly fluffy and "honeycombed". It was sorely lacking in butter and even salt for that matter. Quite bland overall.
I prefer my cheesesteak to have thinly sliced beef, not chopped too finely like this was. One could not complain about the portion size nor price. Looks like a great neighborhood place to take the family for some slices and maybe enjoy the art, but perhaps not for a cheesesteak. Looks like I'll be headed to Evans or Wise Ox soon…..boy do I miss 
Soon enough my lomo saltado arrived. Quite a bit of onions and papas frita in this. The rice was fairly dry and chewy, but edible, and seemed to have been seasoned a bit.
The presentation was lovely; though the boiled egg was overcooked. The chicken was fairly bland, stringy, and there was a bit too much mayo. The potatoes were nicely done though.
Loved the crust of the empanadas. Even though it wasn't slightly flakey, it had a nice crunchy texture. I didn't care much for the dusting of sugar as I think it detracted from the overall flavor. Like I mentioned earlier, the sauce did well with the pastry, deflecting some of the sweetness and helping with the texture of the beef which was pretty chewy.
This was a lot less stuffed than the version at The Peruvian Spot. It had a drizzle of Mama G's sauce which did a pretty nice job of adding a creamy, mild spice to things. The ratio of camote and salsa criolla to meat was quite balanced.
The young lady working asked me if I wanted to try the spicy versions of Mama G's sauces and brought some over when I said yes. The verde was quite nice, not overly spicy to me. I added a tad more to the sandwich and used it to dip the very dry and limp fries.
 
 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.
 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.
Though I really couldn't make out truffle. This was bit too much for me in terms of cheese….yes, I know, it's a grilled cheese, but this really needed more than rich-milkiness. The tomatoes weren't ripe enough to add the sweet acidity to help cut the richness and there wasn't enough onion to add pungency. If you just want gooey cheese-land, this might work for you.
This was a pretty good sandwich; nothing fancy mind you, the turkey was totally Sysco stuff; but the bread was nicely toasted and held out well. The herbaceous-savory-nutty pesto, the sweetness of the roasted red peppers, the bitterness of the greens, the creamy, slightly sweet avocado all worked well together. And this was enough for both the Missus and I for a light brunch. I think we'll go ahead and add the bacon for an upcharge next time.
Some Aji Verde was provided, which was much better than the other two I tried on my previous visit; somewhat creamy, tangy, some decent spice.
Speaking of acidity; man, this version was on the sour side. At least it wasn't overly salty. I think it could have used more onions for an added sweet-pungency.