Thread: Bánh Mì Sandwiches

Originally Posted by kingofdodgers

the Pho in riverside sucks!

you're right about making the trip to the SGV for these lunchbox.


I was also wondering if anyone had tried bun cha? (sp?) I saw it on No Reservations and it looked great. It was just rice noodles and grilled pork.

bun cha is, i think, a north vietnamese dish. i saw that episode of no reservations... he ate "sqweezil"... HAHAHA... it turned out to be porcupine... HAHAHA... sorry, you made me think of it and it was so funny.

anyway, i don't know of any north vietnamese fare around here, but i think the closest version of that dish is called bun thit nuong. you can get it with cut egg rolls in it which would be something like bun thit nuong cha gio. sooooo good.

Originally Posted by lunchbox

bun cha is, i think, a north vietnamese dish. i saw that episode of no reservations... he ate "sqweezil"... HAHAHA... it turned out to be porcupine... HAHAHA... sorry, you made me think of it and it was so funny.

anyway, i don't know of any north vietnamese fare around here, but i think the closest version of that dish is called bun thit nuong. you can get it with cut egg rolls in it which would be something like bun thit nuong cha gio. sooooo good.

lol, he didnt even know it was porcupine till they busted out the quills.

and he drank whiskey fermented with chickens.

Originally Posted by AlexSeren

Going to Westminster tomorrow with my wife on a Bánh Mì crawl. I've been having a craving for these cheap but incredible delicious sandwiches. Do any of you like these as well? and if so, any favorite places where you get them from? Tomorrow we are definitely going to Lee's, Top Baguette and Banh Mi Che Cali. Anyways, good times!

so on friday my wife and i visited Banh Mi Che Cali and had the chicken and BBQ pork samiches. the chicken was alright but the BBQ was excellent and the bread was really fresh as it probably came from the oven 15 minutes before i ordered. Top Baguette was closed so we went across the street and tries Lee's Sandwiches. All i can say is they were decent but not Che Cali good. Plus it reminded me too much of a franchised run restaurant. My wife told me that Lee's is like the Mcdonalds of Banh mi and Che Cali is the Apple Pan. Anyways, had a good time in Westminster. you guys should try it out.

Originally Posted by AlexSeren

Lee's is like the Mcdonalds of Banh mi

precisely why i don't go there, politics aside.

Well, since we're on the topic of Vietnamese food and me, being half Vietnamese, I'd figure I should give a couple recommendations. I live in the SGV and there's an abundance of Vietnamese restaurants.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/saigon-flavor-san-gabriel

This place is owned by the same owner as Golden Deli, on Las Tunas Blvd.
Price is reasonable, and food is pretty good. The basic recommendations:

Pho (Not bad, but Portions could be a bit bigger)

bun cha gio thit nuong (vermicelli, egg rolls, charbroiled pork, along with some veggies: bean sprouts, carrots, daikon, mint, basil)

Com Xuong Nuong (broken rice, with a choice of either charbroiled pork or beef, vietnamese-styled meatloaf, shrimp, Lap xuong (chinese sausage), or a sunny side-up egg)


Next place I used to frequent is a restaurant on Valley Blvd in Alhambra. It's located about 30 feet away from the CVS, right next to 168 Market.
Restaurant is called Dong Nguyen. Couple recommendations:

1.) Hainam chicken. This is what they're known for. It's basically boiled chicken over rice. I think they boil the chicken and then use the broth to cook the rice, so the flavor from the chicken is incorporated into the rice. There's a strong presence of ginger and garlic in this dish. Chicken is juicy and rice is fluffy enough to make your mouth water.

2.) Cubed Steak w/ tomato paste fried rice (rice is fried with eggs). See below. The chicken feet soup is good too...for those who don't mind chicken feet.

http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/CA/alhamb...ied-Rice-32441

3.) Half of a fried cornish game hen w/ tomato paste fried rice. They deep fry the sucker, but it comes out juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. (This dish is my favorite.)


Next recommendation I have is a restaurant called Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa. This place is located on Rosemead Blvd and Mission, and is right across the street from Rosemead High School, next to the In n Out on the corner. My family LOVES this place! I've put some links below for reference, since I'm too lazy to type up my experiences.

http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/9...,7927680.venue

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/32512115/


and BTW: Lee's Sandwiches blows. Mr. Baguette is pretty good, but they're waaaaay overpriced.

If you don't mind hole in the wall places, I'd say give this place a shot.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bale-banh-m-...op-san-gabriel

One of THE best sandwich places in SGV. They certainly DO NOT skimp on the meat, liver pate, and butter. Not too heart-friendly, but it's so good you won't mind. Plus, they have a buy 6 get 1 free deal, so 10-12 bucks can feed a whole family. I highly recommend the Bale Dac biet with a sunny side egg.


If the thought of a hole in the wall place isn't too appealing, I'd say head on over to this other Banh Mi place.

http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/CA/San-Ga...Sandwich-30974

Hope these recommendations help out!

Originally Posted by soyokaze

...
Next place I used to frequent is a restaurant on Valley Blvd in Alhambra. It's located about 30 feet away from the CVS, right next to 168 Market.
Restaurant is called Dong Nguyen. Couple recommendations:

1.) Hainam chicken. This is what they're known for. It's basically boiled chicken over rice. I think they boil the chicken and then use the broth to cook the rice, so the flavor from the chicken is incorporated into the rice. There's a strong presence of ginger and garlic in this dish. Chicken is juicy and rice is fluffy enough to make your mouth water.

...

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bale-banh-m-...op-san-gabriel

One of THE best sandwich places in SGV. They certainly DO NOT skimp on the meat, liver pate, and butter. Not too heart-friendly, but it's so good you won't mind. Plus, they have a buy 6 get 1 free deal, so 10-12 bucks can feed a whole family. I highly recommend the Bale Dac biet with a sunny side egg.

Excellent. The Hainam chicken kinda sounds like the "chicken rice" described in the new episode of No Reservations (in Singapore) from last night. Somehow you knew I'd be in Alhambra tonight, didn't you?

And thanks for the bahn mi recommendations in the SGV. Guess I know where I'll be going this weekend.

Originally Posted by soyokaze

Next recommendation I have is a restaurant called Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa. This place is located on Rosemead Blvd and Mission, and is right across the street from Rosemead High School, next to the In n Out on the corner. My family LOVES this place! I've put some links below for reference, since I'm too lazy to type up my experiences.

i this place. my parents go there often. occasionally, i get to tag along.

If you don't mind hole in the wall places...

it's all about the hole in the wall places!!!

thanks for the recommendations. i'll pass this on to my parents in case they haven't tried some of the other places you listed. they always like to try new vietnamese restaurants out and the SGV is closer to them than little saigon is.

I always get Bun over Pho....bbqed pork with egg rolls is amazing.

Will have to record the No Reservation Singapore. I visited there in 2002 and loved it. One restaurant we visited had the best black pepper crab Ive ever had. Seriously it was so good I was pulling guts out of the crab and dipping it in the sauce-amazingly good. Also had some great indian food there as well...one place in particular had a velvet painting of an Indian Prince but what cracked me up was he looked just like John Lovitz. Also noticed on the Bourdain website he's drinking Tiger Beer...from the tap this beer is very very good.

Glad to be of help. The thing is, I eat Chinese and Vietnamese food most of the time that I'm kinda sick of it. Whenever I get a chance to pig out on Italian, American, or Mexican food...I jump at the opportunity.

No Reservations is such a great show. I was watching the episode where he went to Hong Kong and the fat lady street vendor was talking a load of ***** to Bourdain's tourguide and him. She was being rude and disrespectful, so I was surprised to see them actually buy the pig intestines on the stick. I woulda cussed her out for her attitude, but that's just me =P