banh mi | BicoastalBitchin's Weblog

I know! He's HOT, right?!

Love or hate the Kogi Korean taco truck in LA, but the business has not only transformed the way restaurateurs do business (Tweets? Pit stops on the westside and in Echo Park?) and the way people eat their food (on a sidewalk with sauce dripping down their leg). It has also spawned copycats likeminded small business operators that see the initial cost of entry as low (truck + staff + food). See the newest edition to the LA food truck landscape: Nom Nom Truck, selling banh mi straight from OC to your Westwood door step. It was created by a threesome of Vietnamese and Chinese folks who wanted Westminster-style Vietnamese sandwiches without having to deal with the I-405/I-22/Johnny Tran bike gang nightmare that is Bolsa.

Peep their website or the Twitter for updates on their whereabouts.

So I’m doing it. Moving from the Yay Area to the Big Apple. Although everyone is concerned for me because of the weather, crime or the “urban” living. I am most concerned with my habitual consumption of Vietnamese food. I need my Banh Mi Cha Lua + Pâté and toothbrush/dental floss/mouthwash afterwards.

My favorite is Cha Lua (steamed pork sausage) and Pâté

NY has historically been one of the worst places for Vietnamese food (in relation to the Vietnamese population) versus VA, Houston, San Jose, SF, the OC, and Seattle, which have always been good to me. So when the NY Times has to dedicate an entire article to Banh Mi, I get a little concerned. Cause in San Jose, everyone (including the My Trang, and My Den for that matter) knows where to go already. You don’t need the San Jose Mercury News to tell you where to get Banh Mi. The fact that the article mentions fusion Banh Mi annoys me, why don’t they f’n learn how to make a good authentic one first before they stuff Pho ingredients in?

And I like how one of the sandwichmakers calls out San Jose as being too backwards to accept a fusion Banh Mi. Well then Mr. Fred Hua, have you thought that maybe San Joseans can’t accept your fabulous creation cause you’re a Chinese dude with the first name Fred? And that the classy New Yorkers can because Manhattanites have never tried a real Banh Mi before cause they’ve never ventured that far into Brooklyn?

And everyone should totally read the comments in the NYTimes article for gems like these:

A couple of weeks ago I made a prediction to my husband, “The Vietnamese Sandwich is the New Cubano.” The Banh Mi’s at Anh Choi are SOOOOOO gooood! My old Vietnamese sandwich spot on Mulberry just closed, sorry to see it go!— rinky, NYC

Thanks so much for this. Sounds like a perfect Passover treat!— Alan J. Weisbard, Madison, WI

I remember having one while in Viet Nam in the mid -60’s .
It was dog as I later found out . Sad but true .Not saying
that’ s true in the U.S.— dr.martin, new york,ny