Anger Burger

When I am in charge of reorganizing Los Angeles, I’m going to put a great deal of effort into making various Asian-Towns radiating out from a central point so that any any given time you can be a 10-minute walk away from the Asian restaurant of your deepest desire.  Until then I rely on trucks like Phamish to feed me.

I think we can all be adults here and agree that there are better banh mi in Los Angeles – but not better by much, and certainly not easier to get to.  In this, Phamish kicks ass.

Today’s bread was a lot crustier than it has been on previous visits, and I think I need to request extra vegetables from now on because there were only a few lonely slivers of pickled carrot and radish, but otherwise I can’t be made happier for $6.  Don’t mess around with any of that grilled meat, either; kids who know go for the “Vietnamese Deli” sandwich with slices of ham and pork loaf.

It’s a little messy.  You might want to eat it outside.

Phamish should also win an award for doing iced coffee right.  Too many times I order ca phe sua da and am handed a giant cup of lightly sweetened coffee.  Oh no you di’int.  This shit should hurt when you drink it, too strong in both coffee and sweetness to be thirst-quenching, but deliciously potent enough that you can’t stop drinking no matter how bad the chest pains get.    Phamish’s came halfway up a 16oz cold cup full of ice and tasted like murder, and it was worth every slightly overpriced penny.

I forgot to take a photo until I was nearly done.

It was my luck that Get Shaved was parked nearby as well, easily second only to the best shave ice on Earth.  Azuki beans with guava and passionfruit for me, please, though afterward I wished I’d added Tiger’s Blood¹ as well.  I can’t express enough how incredible it is to find someone doing shave ice correctly – I’m terribly sorry if you’ve only ever had the granular, sickly-sweet crap that gets dense and hard by the time you get halfway through.  This stuff is the texture of actual, fluffy, you’re-eight-years-old-again snow.  Let’s close our eyes together and think about it for a moment.    Man.  Now you want one and I want another one.  We’re a sad pair you and I.

¹ Tiger’s Blood is strawberry-orange with a faint whiff of coconut.