Andrea Nguyen
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« Pan-fried Tet Sticky Rice Cake Recipe (Banh Chung Chien) |Main
February 08, 2011Best Banh Mi in America? Is Cheap Banh Mi Good?
I’m sure you have an answer for those questions! Yesterday, Jordan Michelman’s blog post on the New York Times magazine site, declared that the best banh mi sandwich was in Seattle at Saigon Deli in the very Asian ID (International District). Along with that one, he also gave shout outs to these banh mi hotspots in the nation:
Do note that on HuffingtonPost.com, the drunken chicken banh mi from Seattle’s Baguette Box was given the #8 spot for the top 10 best new sandwiches in the United States. We all have opinions like we all have belly buttons, right?
Does banh mi have to be cheap food?
There were many things that stood out to me in Michelman’s story, but one popped the most. It’s something that grates on me because I hear it so much when Asian and non-Asian people talk about Asian food: Good Asian food has to be cheap Asian food. Michelman echoed that sentiment in this sentence:
Regardless of quality, there is a lot of labor that goes into making banh mi, just like with pho and other traditional street foods. Often times, the people who do make banh mi are underpaid and overworked.
I’d love to savor good ingredients assembled by well-paid workers to create excellent banh mi. That banh mi will cost over $6 but it’ll be worth it. I also pray for the day when “cheap” is not so easily attached to tasty Asian food.
We are willing to pay dearly for Italian, French and Cal-Med food. Why don’t we want to pay more money for Asian food?
Your Best Banh Mi in America?
As for the finding the best banh mi in America, there have been more than 150 comments since “The Vietnamese Sandwich: Banh Mi in America” was published yesterday. A few highlights from uppity banh mi lovers:Any article about banh mi in America without a mention of banh mi culture in Houston is an article that is half baked.Although Saigon Deli in Seattle is a solid choice for this list, the newer Q Bakery in South Seattle on MLK Way is much better in my opinion. They put out a high quality banh mi on much better bread that they bake in house, unlike Saigon Deli where the bread is from another vendor.Lee's Sandwich is like the McDonald's of banh mi.This article is missing any mention of Orange Country, CA -- home to the largest Vietnamese population in the United States.Calgary, Alberta, Canada likely has the most Banh Mi shops per square km in North America and also most delicious!Banh Mi Che Cali in Westminster, Ca is hands down the BEST Vietnamese Sandwich in America. [This has been a Little Saigon locals’ favorite for years.]The Hanoi and Saigon versions are certainly tasty but also monotonous; ironically, they are being crowded out by the 'doner kebab.' The invading species first appeared in Vietnam's cities five or six years ago, reportedly the invention of a Vietnamese 'guest worker' returned from Germany.
What’s your favorite place to grab banh mi? What makes the sandwich good to you? Got a report on the doner kebab in Hanoi? (I only saw one stall last June but wasn’t looking hard.)
What’s the least and most that you’ve paid for banh mi?
Related information:
Recipes:Master Banh Mi sandwich
Homemade Vietnamese baguette (banh mi)
Easy mayonnaise (sot mayonnaise)
Daikon and Carrot Pickle (do chua)
Grilled lemongrass pork (thit heo nuong xa)
Meatball banh mi sandwich (banh mi xa xiu)
Quick Char Siu Pork (on Asiandumplingtips.com, my other site)
Roasted Pork Belly sandwich (thit heo quay)
Check the recipe index for more filling ideas!
Posts on banh mi innovations
Banh mi incarnations from all over the world
Banh mi craze in New York CityPosted in Asian Food Culture, Asian Restaurants, Recipes: Banh Mi Sandwich, Viet Food in Media, Vietnamese Restaurants | PermalinkDigg This | Save to del.icio.us | Comments
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Lee's are not my favorite: this seems to be much about personal taste and one man's meat is another man's poison, so to speak.
Posted by:john |February 08, 2011 at 01:27 PMSomehow, Vietnamese food hasn't acquired the same cachet as Italian or French. The only Asian cuisine with the sort of cachet needed to command high prices in the West is Japanese, and arguably Indian.
Also, I'm sad that there's no mention of Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich in Philly!
Posted by:Calvin |February 08, 2011 at 01:36 PMQ.T. in Philadelphia is good, but Ba Le is better. In my opinion, its not that a good banh mi isn't worth more, but that the cheaper ones tend to be more traditional and more reliably good, as opposed to a trendy facsimile, like faux pho.
Posted by:Philadelphia Lawyer |February 08, 2011 at 01:49 PMHaha, thanks for including my comment about Q Bakery :) Although, I wouldn't consider myself an uppity banh mi lover, and certainly wasn't trying to sound like one. There are so many banh mi places nowadays, with different variations, price points, ingredients, that the "best" one is probably in the eye of the banh mi eater... Articles like these do facilitate conversation and bring up recommendations for places that people may not have heard of, which is always a good thing. Well, as long as people are civil about it.
Posted by:Kimberlea |February 08, 2011 at 02:11 PMI totally agree with the SF suggestion. When I lived in the city I went there every week. Now, whenever I have a work meeting in town, I make a special stop to go there. This despite the fact that Oakland/Berkeley/El Cerrito have some damn fine banh mi as competition!
Sandwiches there used to go for a cool $2 (except chicken) but prices have raised to a whopping $3, or even $3.50 for the super-special, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version. Worth it at any price, but I have to admit the frugalista in me appreciates getting great food at dirt cheap prices. I used to be gobsmacked at how cheap it was. Now that it is up by 30% I am merely totally amazed. True, the place has no overhead, but still...it's unbelievable.
Posted by:Diane |February 08, 2011 at 02:46 PMArticles like that are absolutely stupid...and pretty useless except, I guess, for white people. I am from LA but have been living for almost 2 years in Seattle. Saigon Deli is my go-to place in Seattle. But is just ho-hum compared to anything you could find in LA, especially in Little Saigon.
I seriously doubt that the author sampled very much in LA. So, the shameless plug for a stupid food cart is transparent marketing. I personally feel that Mr. Baguette in Rosemead is quite amazing, as they make their own French bread and charcuterie. And the French consulate buys their bread from the store (there's a letter proudly displayed certifying this).
If you want to read a blog about the dreadful Lee's Sandwiches, follow the link:
http://diacritics.org/2010/07/21/upon-first-seeing-lee’s-sandwiches-2/
Posted by:khanh |February 08, 2011 at 03:42 PMI live in New York and I will not claim to know who has the best banh mi in the city let alone the country, but Michelman's post proves that he knows neither. FWIW, the best banh mi I have eaten in the States (this includes a lot of places in the Bay Area, some in Seattle but, sadly, very few in OC) is the house special/dac biêt from Viet-Nam Banh Mi So 1 (aka Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli at 369 Broome, http://www.vietnamese-sandwich.com/—do not confuse with Banh Mi Saigon on Grand).
Tazza
Posted by:Tazza Lenghe |February 08, 2011 at 04:20 PMAndrea, the author's comment that Banh Mi "should always be inexpensive — beware the banh mi over $6," sounds like some fatuous throw-away line. I hope the author would not, after reflection, stand by that comment.
We all get what we pay for. Banh Mi from shops on Washington Avenue in Philadelphia are cheap, partly because it's comparatively low-value real estate and costs there are cheap. If we want to be able to get comparable Banh Mi in pricey Chestnut Hill or Rittenhouse Square, we need to pay more. If you want Banh Mi in a much nicer-looking shop, we have to pay more. If we want Banh Mi shops that thrive in other communities, OUTSIDE of their traditional Little Saigons and Little Bien Hoas, we need to pay more.
Banh Mi from some places can be inexpensive because labor costs are kept to a minimum through a combination of unattractive practices we should be ashamed of supporting. It's all the usual nonsense of the restaurant and food industries, but a bit worse than usual. Shop employees are paid under the table, incomes aren't reported, taxes aren't paid, minimum wage laws are ignored. We should gladly pay more for a hoagie from a proper shop that pays employees a reasonable wage.
And we shouldn't hesitate to pay more for a Banh Mi that's featuring different and more expensive ingredients than the 3 dollar hoagie. There's nothing deeply traditional about a Vietnamese hoagie, so we shouldn't pretend that the 10 usual varieties offered at every version of Cafe Saigon are the Alpha & the Omega, the beginning and end and sum total of Banh Mi-ness. Banh Mi should keep evolving, keep developing, keep bringing new flavors and new textures. And when that costs more, that's fine.
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 08, 2011 at 06:35 PMAndrea, what would the NY Times blogger, think if some Viet writer espoused the notion that one should beware of American sandwiches over $6.
Good luck getting a sandwich under $6 at Katz's Deli on the Lower East Side. http://www.katzdeli.com/menu_download.pdf
If a Pastrami on the Lower East Side can cost $14.95, and Chopped Liver is $10.60, why does a Banh Mi have to ring in at under $6?
(Try the tongue instead. It's $15.55 but it's worth it. It's the sandwich meat that tastes you back!)
Posted by:Simon Bao |February 08, 2011 at 06:51 PMI've only had Banh Mi at a couple of places here in San Diego, CA and I thought it was good but I do not have much to compare to so far. I would be interested to hear opinions about "best" Bahn Mi in San Diego.
Posted by:Dennis Reed |February 08, 2011 at 09:12 PM"We are willing to pay dearly for Italian, French and Cal-Med food. Why don’t we want to pay more money for Asian food?"
While I do agree with part of your argument- I feel that Asian food; that is, good homey Asian food that we go back to again and again- is not about pricey ingredients. It's about making the best out of the lesser cuts, the leftovers.
And quite honestly, unless some ingredients are rarer to obtain, I don't think any kind of food (regardless of country of origin) should be so costly to begin with. It's food that can and may be amazing and can blow your mind, but at the end of the day- it's food. It goes in one end and out the other, same as any other food.
Posted by:amy k |February 08, 2011 at 09:43 PMI just bought Lee's Sandwiches when visiting my aunt's family fir Tet. If was the most aweful thing I've ever stuck in my mouth. I bought 6 (buy 5- get one free) on Saturday and we still have one leftover in the fridge. My family usually scarfs down Banh Mi Thit, but these were so awful we had to pace ourselves. The bread was skinny, hard, and not fragrant at all. The meat was chopped mush. The Chinese BBQ was too pink. And there was too much mayo, no soy sauce, and scarce pate. Banh Mi in Houston is the best.... But since I live 4 hours away from Houston in a non-Asian neighborhood, I made my own using Bollio bread, Braunschweiger, Walmart Rotisserie chicken, and homemade pickled veggies. So much better than Lee's Sandwiches.
Posted by:Viet Mom of 3 |February 09, 2011 at 02:09 AM@Dennis Reed - San Diego has many banh mi options. My favorite is Saigon Sandwiches in City Heights for their pate, pickles, and deli meat. My only complaint is that they don't bake their own bread. My second favorite is Cali Baguette Express on El Cajon Blvd. for their bread not fillings. I think selecting a favorite depends on personal taste preferences and convenience. Express Deli inside Lucky's Seafood makes pretty sandwiches with a good bread to filling ratio. K Sandwiches is great for everything except their sandwiches, but they are very popular and inexpensive.
The best banh mi I've ever had would be from San Francisco's Saigon Sandwich on Larkin.
Posted by:mscinda |February 09, 2011 at 08:55 AM Verify your Comment Previewing your CommentPosted by: |This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
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