Well, I'm going thru a bit of sticker shock…..I recently paid $23 for a bowl of ramen, yikes! And then I dined at a kind of hipster sushi place for lunch and the menu prices really got my attention; though I did eventually get the sashimi lunch combo which was priced at……yep $23, same as the ramen? What is going on here?
To calm down, I decided to get a Banh Mi wondering what prices were going to be like. Here's what I found.
Avian Sandwiches:
During my shopping rounds I wanted some breakfast and strangely enough there's a real shortage of places that open early in the Kearny Mesa area, though I understand that Banh Mi Express now opens at 8am. Still, it had been a while since I last visited Avian Sandwiches (remember when they were just a water and fro-yo shop?) I stopped by on my way to Nijiya which opens at 9, getting there around 845 on a Saturday.
There seems to be several groups of "coffee old-timers" who hang out in this strip mall; the group who hang in front of Avian and those who do Pho Hoa Huong. Anyway, the interior of the shop still seems packed to the gills with snacks, lottery stuffs, water, and various knick-knacks.
I decided on the Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($7.95). I believe this has gone up $1 since my last visit. I found a corner to hide in while I waited for my sandwich which was ready quite quickly.
Once at home, I opened up my sandwich.
This seemed fairly hefty.
Splitting the halves, I was shocked at the amount of pickled veggies!
Also, the position of the nem nuong…perhaps my mouth isn't big enough, but it was impossible to get everything in one bite at the middle of the sandwich, you'd get the pickled veggies and the really potent jalapeno, but no pork. Things got better as you worked your way to the ends. Glad to actually have cucumber in my banh mi which seems to be a rarity these days.
The bread was on the dry and crusty side, but better than what I'd had last time. Too many stems from the cilantro, I prefer mostly leaves. A bit heavy handed on the aioli, but at least it was spread evenly and helped when getting a mouth of pickled veggies, cucumber, and jalapeno. The nem nuong seemed to have been seared, enhancing the sweet-porkiness.
To me a certain proportion of protein to veggies to bread is important and this was a bit off.
Avian Sandwiches & Fresh Drinking Water
6937 Linda Vista Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 8am – 7pm
This sandwich had me kind of wondering what was going on in terms of banh mi, so I decided to head on over to one of my newer favorites, Paris Sandwiches, which just opened in Mira Mesa a little over a year ago. So, I decided to head on over and grab a Banh Mi Nem Nuong here as well.
Paris Sandwiches:
Like Avian, there are a bunch of guys hanging out on the tables to the side of the shop.
The Banh Mi Nem Nuong is now $7.05, it was $6.75 last July. I walked up to the counter and placed my order, then retreated to the counter to wait.
On a funny note, the gal who brought the sandwich to the counter called out my number….in Vietnamese! After trying a couple of times, she called out "39", I cracked up and walked on over to pick my sandwich up. She also had a nice laugh as well. As did the woman standing next to me, who laughingly said; "no, you don't look Vietnamese!"
I know where the bread is baked, thus know what to expect in that category.
The bread this time around was really light and crackly….like so flakey it exploded upon my first bite! I actually found "baguette shrapnel" in the pocket of my shirt later that evening!
This sandwich was more balanced in terms of ingredients, though I missed the cucumber and the jalapeno was not nearly as hot as Avian's version. It was also put together so you could get all of the ingredients in each bite,
I did like the nem nuong from Avian better and the cucumber, but in terms of bread and proportion of ingredients, I though Paris won out.
Paris Sandwiches
10606 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 730am – 630pm
Saturday 730am – 6pm
Closed on Sundays
This was fun little comparison. I should do them a bit more often. This brought back some fond memories if doing a Mira Mesa banh mi comparison over a decade ago and that when I did my very first Banh Mi post back in 2005, the Banh Mi Thit Nuong cost $2.50! Yikes…..
These seem a little smaller than I recall, but the sausage was nicely grilled and the proportion of ingredients seemed right, so one could enjoy the salty-sweet-savory flavors of the "bouncy" nem nuong and the crunch of the crisp egg roll wrapper. The wrapping was done perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight which would make the rolls tougher, creating what I'd call "bad botox spring rolls". The sauce was as before slightly sweet-sour, with garlic and umami tones. I does seem a bit more watered down than I recalled.
I did notice that one of the shrimp was "MIA". Still, the Missus enjoys the crisp rice flour cup/shell, which has a hint of coconut. The shrimp were plump and tender, nicely cooked. These are quite a treat with the mung beans, pickled veggies, the anise-citrusy tiet to (perilla), and the slightly sweet-chili-fish sauce concoction.
It was loaded with meat. The beef rib, their version of Xí Quách Suon Bò had also been seared a bit before service. The sliced "short rib" (as defined in the menu) was cut too thick, super tough, and lacked flavor. Strangely, what is usually not my favorite item in a bowl of pho, the squeaky meatballs was the item I enjoyed the most. Of course, there was no option for tendon or tripe. The rib meat came off the bone cleanly, was decently tender, but seemed to have had all the beefiness cooked out of it. Yes, it was a large portion of meat.
The huge clump of noodles were mushy and over cooked. The broth was super bland….I do complain a bit about how pho broth in San Diego seems to be on the sweeter side of the scale….well, you know what, I would have gladly accepted that here! Much like the Niu Rou Mian broth at 
Since I arrived before 11, I took a stroll around the strip mall. It was quite interesting. Back in 
Geez who'd have thought we would see prices at 2 bucks per chicken wings all those year ago! The wings were nicely battered, more crunchy than crisp, the texture was not bad at all. There was a sticky glaze, which was more toward the sweet than savory, though you could make out the fish sauce. The wings were on the larger side and was decently cared for with a minimum of bitter black portions around the bones. This was not bad at all and had me wishing I had ordered the salt and pepper version.
I was able to try the rib bone. The meat was on the chewier side but came off the bone nicely and was actually the beefiest cut provided. Because the broth was super hot, the rare steak was over cooked by the time of consumption. The rest of meats were bland and tasteless as well. 
But at least I didn't have to worry about my rare steak being overcooked. Based on my last visit, I decided to time how long it took before I could safely partake of my pho. Cautiously taking sips things timed out at twelve minutes and seventeen seconds. As you can see; the soup was very clear, though it wasn't as sweet-salty this time around. It did have a nice beefy "nose" with hints of star anise. 
Well, this is about the same as Phuong Nga. The bread is very crusty which I like, though a bit more chewy than I prefer. These days, many banh mi shops don't even include cucumber in their sandwiches; but it's present here. The jalapeno was pretty mellow on this sandwich. Of course, one of my pet peeves; the cilantro was mostly stems….I already floss daily; I don't need to have my sandwich doing it as well. The proteins are sliced on the thicker side and there are less pickled veggies than before. What I really liked about this sandwich was the amount of pate. Upon biting, the pate basically oozed out…a funky, earthy, creamy, savory "puss" of the most delicious sort.
I was interested to see if things had changed much. So, like before, the Hu Tieu was in the bottom of the dish, where the savory-mildly salty and sweet sauce resides. There have been times when the hu tieu was over cooked and mushy. But gladly, this was not one of those days has the noodles had some good al dente pull to them.