**** Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe is now Banh Mi Express
My recent visits to Paris Sandwiches had me wondering about Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe. I've actually thought the Banh Mi at Phuong Nga to be pretty good when compared to all those pho (faux) banh mi places these days. I do wish the shop had weekend hours as it would be a decent breakfast stop when doing my "Saturday rounds", but as is, they are only open from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday. I made some time to visit during a weekday morning to see what was going on here.
I strolled on in and ordered the Dac Biet – #1, $6.99 which is par for banh mi these days. Within minutes, my sandwich was ready and I sauntered on back to the office. It did feel a bit hefty.
And yes, it was quite full of Cha Lua, Thit Nguoi…… What I think banh mi purists' will appreciate, I'm looking at you "Billy" is that Phoung Nga still includes cucumbers in their banh mi, a rarity these days. The bread, as usual is a bit heavily baked (onsite), making it more hard and crusty than having a nice balance of light, crusty-flaky. But these days, this is almost a blessing, as much of what I've had is soft and doughy. There's a good amount of pickled veggies, the jalapenos were present, but not overly spicy on this visit. This was a nice lunch for me.
It is my favorite banh mi in the area.
If you know of something you think is better, and no, it ain't Cali Banh Mi, please let me know!
Phuong Nga Bakery and Cafe
9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 8am – 3pm
Closed on Saturday and Sundays
The pig tongue was as expected, fairly chewy and very porky. Quite typical.
We quickly noticed that on this visit, the dumpling wrappers were very soft, lacking in the slight "pull" that we enjoy in jiaozi wrappers. The filling of the shrimp, pork, and leek was very moist and actually had a good amount of "soup" in them…very nicely flavored, though a bit short in the shrimp department.
But man, that filling was so gamy, moist, juice just poured out of it when I took a bite.
We did notice that the dish has changed since our last visit. The shrimp shells and the shrimp seems to have some coating; like the tofu skin, the portion size is smaller. The shrimp is not quite as delicate as it used to be. But the flavor is still there and the shells and tail are a pleasure to eat.
Soon enough the large plate of bun, herbs, and veggies. And of course the Missus enjoys the Banh Trang Me dipping it into the mam nem. As for the Mam Nem, we noticed that it's not quite as potent as it used to be.
I enjoyed that the bread was airy, crusty, and slightly yeasty. The bright and acidic pickled veggies pared well with the good amount of cilantro which was mostly leaves…having a banh mi full of cilantro stems is a pet peeve of mine. There were two slices of sinus clearing jalapenos in the sandwich. I enjoyed the savory, slightly sour, nem nuong, which also had a nice slightly chewy-meaty texture.
This was actually not bad. The large salad did have some brown leaves, but while the rice looked dry, it wasn't.
A generous plate of fresh-looking bun, basil, mint, et al was provided. The nuoc mam cham was on the sweeter side of things. The sauce for the Bun Cha was on the sweeter end of things but wasn't too bad. Loved the pickled veggies, which helped to cut the sweet and saltiness. There were two good size pork patties, which were on the chewier end of things. The actual pork slices were much more flavorful in my opinion.
While it arrived on the typical sizzling plate….well, it wasn't sizzling. The dill and onions were soggy and wilted, and the fish cold. This was quite strange. Totally a far cry from 
I was surprised to see construction going on and the note to the right. Well, I just 
First off, the bread was as I recalled from the "old school" location, crusty and fairly dense, with some yeastiness.
I did find the ratio of Bi (pork skin) to be kind of small compared to the amount of pickled veggies and even cilantro. And of course, I think that it's all about ratios when it comes to these sandwiches. Strangely, I found that the Bi had an almost sweet-sour flavor? Though those jalapenos did a good job of clearing my sinuses.
Much like the Dac Biet, this version had quite a bit more meat than what I've had from Paris Bakery. In terms of consistency, Paris scored well as the bread was crusty and yeasty, those jalapenos nice and spicy, and the pickled veggies nice and refreshing.
The broth looked very light, yet cloudy, and had what I call the "San Diego sweet" pho broth flavor. At least it wasn't overly salty, but it also lacked beefiness.
There were two strips with nicely done tripe and some very thinly sliced tendon which also wasn't bad. And of course there was that beef rib. The meat on the rib was quite tough and as you can see trying to get it off the bone resulted in the meat peeling off in one large piece. It did have a decent flavor, but was quite chewy. It definitely wasn't like 
