You’re Doing It Wrong
My poor dad. So, we’re driving around Olympia and he says to me, “I want banh mi,” and lo, there is a giant sign off 4th Ave. at Little Danang that reads something like “Vietnamese Sandwich $3.99″ or some such business, and I tell him: “The pho is pretty good there, let’s try their banh mi.”
I’m gonna tell you right now: keep driving.
I was about to call the above photo Warning Sign #1, but then I remembered the part where we sat for 20 minutes while our sandwiches sat on a counter top while the guy working talked on a telephone and wouldn’t take our money. So then Warning Sign #2 would be the above. A cornmeal-rolled hoagie roll is not a baguette. And can we all just give a collective indignant gasp at, is that motherfucking lettuce?!
Well at least it has cilantro — WHAT THE FUUUUUCK. Where’s the cilantro? Where’s the pickled veg? THE CUCUMBER?
Okay. Deep breath.
Okay, no, screw that noise. These guys robbed us for $8 and then kicked us in the necks and then stole our money and then gave us rabies and painted “ANGER BURGER SUCKS” on the moon.
March 3rd, 2010 | Eatin' Fancy
You forgot to mention the part about me having to literally squeeze out the pint of excess peanut sauce that they hosed into my sammich. Sauce should be a subtle accompaniment, not the second most abundant ingredient.
If you are looking for even mediocre banh mi, haul-ass PAST this joint kids.
I still want bahn mi … guess I’ll have to come down to L.A. Sunday.
I’ve had a lot of good sandwiches there. No pickled veg, but cilantro, cucumber, a thin swipe of peanut sauce, a delicately crisp roll. And they’ve always been prompt. You might have hit them at a bad moment, or maybe their ownership or staff has changed. Anyway, it’s a $4 sandwich. That’s about the same price as a Big Mac.
Then yeah, we definitely had a spectacularly awful moment. If I had eaten it anywhere near the restaurant I would have asked for my money back, it was that bad. But also, 90% of that was having expectations for something totally, entirely different than what you get.
Best new restaurant this year in Olympia, Nammy’s, in the old B&B / Boston Harbor Pie location on Capitol. $3 gets you your choice of 6 different Bahn Mi made by sweet old Vietnamese ladies who bake their bread in the store. My new favorite!