Philadelphia bahn mi

[Andrew Fenton]

Bahn mi are one of those awesome foods that I just don't eat enough of. And while I have eaten lots of other Vietnamese foods in Philly, I only rarely go for a sandwich. Well, that ends today.

Where's your favorite Vietnamese hoagie in Philadelphia?

[KatieLoeb]

Ba Le Bakery on Washington makes pretty good Vietnamese Hoagies. The pate they use is very tasty and there's LOTS of cliantro, which I really like in bahn mi.

There used to be a divey little shop at 8th & Christian that had them too, and those were the first ones I'd ever had. It was an epiphany, but now I stick to the more hygienic looking bakeries and such.

[mrbigjas]

used to be? that place is the best. it's at like 802 christian, maybe? a little tiny tiny place. takes forever though. part of the reason is that he puts the bread back into the oven for a couple minutes so the crust on it is real crusty, and gets crumbs all over your shirt when you eat it... and he's so nice.

i do like ba le too. and they have all that other stuff in there as well...

[KatieLoeb]

used to be?  that place is the best.  it's at like 802 christian, maybe?  a little tiny tiny place.  takes forever though.  part of the reason is that he puts the bread back into the oven for a couple minutes so the crust on it is real crusty, and gets crumbs all over your shirt when you eat it...  and he's so nice.

i do like ba le too.  and they have all that other stuff in there as well...

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Yup - that's the place! It's like at 802 or 804 Christian just a couple of doors up from the corner on the south side of the street. There was also another small place that was actually on 9th Street, just north of Christian Street that was also pretty good for "down and dirty".

I like Ba Le both because it's a bit cleaner and more professional, and because they have that HUGE menu of other stuff too. The soups there are really good too.

[SG-]

Used to get my fix at the various places around Washington Ave but have since decided that the best I've come across in the area is the one at Saigon Cafe in NE Philly. Here's the addy:

823 Adams Ave

Philadephia.

This is Pho 75's address by the way Saigon is right next to it. Good Luck, they're tasty and cheap buggers, very satisfying.

[MarketStEl]

This is Pho 75's address by the way Saigon is right next to it. Good Luck, they're tasty and cheap buggers, very satisfying.

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So there's more than one Pho 75, then?

The one I'm familiar with is at 1132 Washington Ave.

[stephenc]

This is Pho 75's address by the way Saigon is right next to it. Good Luck, they're tasty and cheap buggers, very satisfying.

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So there's more than one Pho 75, then?

The one I'm familiar with is at 1132 Washington Ave.

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Yeah, it's a chain that started in the Washington DC area. They have about 3-4 in Washington, and 2 in Philly.

[Andrew Fenton]

I stopped by Ba Le for lunch today and got a couple of bahn mi. I'd intended to take some pictures with my new digital camera, but had eaten my way halfway through 'em before I remembered about that. Damn you, belly!

Anyway, the sandwiches were good. I wound up picking out a couple at semi-random: the menu is only in Vietnamese, and the women working there were clearly not psyched about explaining what was what. So I got a "bahn mi pate ga", and a "bahn mi xiu mai". I figured that the former would be, well, pate: it turned out to be shredded chicken. Or maybe pork. It was white, anyway, and pretty good. But no pate that I could see, alas.

Xiu mai? Is evidently Vietnamese for "meatball". These were served hot, with an extra dose of peppers: as the Italian chef on the Simpsons would say, "thatsa spicy meat-ball!" Good stuff.

Both hoagies were made on feather-light baguettes, with lots of the requisite toppings: cucumber, cilantro, etc. And both of them were only $5.50; can't argue with that.

[philadining]

O Sandwiches (there's actually a circumflex over the O, but I don't know how to code that...) is the new bahn mi joint located right between Geno's and La Lupe on 9th street.

Their gimmick is that they bake their baguettes fresh right in the shop, which should make them extra good. They have a few more things on the menu, like croissant sandwiches, vermicelli-based "bun" and soft ricepaper-wrapped summer rolls.

We got an order of grilled chicken summer rolls, which were huge and made-to-order, and pretty good, although I've had herbier ones.

We had a special bahn mi, which had a healthy slice of pate, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, jalepenos and a little mayo. The pate had a nice assertive black-pepper kick and the jalepeno was not shy about announcing its presence. I was there pretty late at night, so I don't think they were baking bread right then. As a result, the baguette itself was good, but not outstanding, this is likely different mid-day. But overall it was a very good sandwich, in a good location, with an un-intimidating menu, at a good price (about $3.)

It was pretty similar to others I've had, it might take a side-by-side comparison to say anything substantive about who's better or worse... I look forward to giving that a try soon!

It took a bit longer than I would have expected to get the food, given that they weren't too busy, but I can live with that, given that they are making the sandwiches, and rolling the summer rolls, to order. Still seems like it should be faster food. Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the 4-and-a-half seconds it takes to get a cheesesteak next door.

Edited September 5, 2005 by philadining (log)

[rlibkind]

After reading philadining's message, I reminded myself that I have yet to try a Vietnamese hoagie, so en route to various errands in South Philly this afternoon I rectified that omission. Here's the "special" sandwich I ordered, with pate, ham and all the regular fixings, at Ô Sandwich:

The sandwich itself was quite yummy, as philadining describes. My baguette was suitably crispy, helped along by what appeared to be a light wash prior to baking. The jalapeno just happened to fall out of the sandwich but, rest assured, I reinserted the slices to their proper positions prior to consumption. A most attractive sandwich, especially at $2.75.

PS to philadining: To get the circumflex (at least on my Mac G-5), press Option + i, then the letter O (including shift key).

[mrbigjas]

whaddya know, since philadining reminded me of its existence, we also stopped by Ô' yesterday as part of our traveling around town. nice place, good sandwiches. good shrimp summer roll--a ground shrimp version, with a fried noodle in the middle of it providing a slightly surprising but not offputting crunch. tofu sandwich wasn't half as good as the special--it's really the combination of the pate and the meats, offsetting the sharpness of the pickled vegetables and peppers that is the basis for the greatness of banh mi (to me). the marinated fried tofu is fine, but it's really kinda missing something. i dont know that it's their fault.

as an aside, today i found out what happens when you save a summer roll overnight--the wrapper starts to go back to its dried state. mmmm plasticky.

[philadining]

PS to philadining: To get the circumflex (at least on my Mac G-5), press Option + i, then the letter O (including shift key).

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Ôh, I get it now.... I really thought I had tried all of those combinations! Big thanks for the secret code.

And glad both you guys liked the sandwiches. How do you think they compare to Ba Le et al? it's been too long since i had one of the others to make a valid comparison....

[mrbigjas]

i like ba le a little better, but that may just be habit. really O's bread is better because it's just a little fresher.

the real question to me is how they compare to cafe nhu y at 8th & christian--the tiny place that makes what has always been my standby. and to tell the truth, i have a good impression of them compared to that place, because the last time i got one from nhu y, i got the chunk of head cheese from the end of the loaf or something and it had gristley chewy bits in it and stuff. i like that sometimes, and it's part of the nature of the ingredient, but i wasn't in the mood for it. again--like the tofu sandwich at O--not really his fault, but still.

ordering a sandwich at nhu y, and then sitting around for 10 minutes while he re-crisps your bread while watching vietnamese soap operas on the TVs in the 10 square feet of waiting space is, in its own way, kind of superior to sitting at a real table listening to ricky martin...

a friend recently told us that the banh mi at cafe viet huong (which i've posted about on its own thread) are his favorite in town--and as i've posted, they make their own bread there as well. but i haven't tried them yet. viet huong's bread is really really good, if specifically vietnamese, to my senses. it's got that rice flour kinda super crispy crust, very light soft interior; like sarcone's but more delicate.

i think checking them out, and soon, is still in order.

O's sandwiches are really tasty, though.

[MarketStEl]

Ô, by the way:

On a PC, hold down the Alt key while typing 0212 on your numeric keypad.

I thought that the special sandwich at Ô' was a nice blend of savory, tangy and spicy, and that the bread was really good. I'm surprised they can sell them for so little money.

[philadining]

... with a fried noodle in the middle of it providing a slightly surprising but not offputting crunch.

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That actually did freak me out for a second... I guess it is a fried noodle, but it almost has the texture of a cookie, like a tightly-rolled tuile or something. Once I figured out what it was, it was actually kind of nice, but that first crunch was kind-of alarming. I don't remember finding that in other summer rolls I've had.

I really liked the Summer Rolls at "Le Cyclo Bizarro" (as I will always remember it now, thanks Katie) I hope they're still the same now that it's part of Ba Le. I'll have to investigate....

[gabe]

We went to Ô' Sandwiches last night, too -- we had the place virtually to ourselves. I got a shredded chicken banh mi instead of the shredded pork one I ordered (the cashier seemed very flummoxed by the cash register), but when the food came out, it was too tasty and cheap for that to be grounds for complaint. The baguette was tasty and the filling was great -- wonderfully light and fresh-tasting. What a difference from the gutbombs you can get next door at Geno's (not that there isn't a time for that)... My wife had an order of the shrimp summer rolls, which are quite a meal in themselves. Very delightful. We'll be back... I hope they can stay afloat with prices so low -- I hope it's busier most of the time than when we went (7:00 on a Tuesday).

[philadining]

The official Ô' Website:

http://www.osandwiches.com/

With a link to the full menu as a (large) pdf.

[Alec Hart]

Hi all. I'm new here and I went to O Sandwiches on the recommendation of this thread and I loved it. I had one shrimp and one pork. It was just the right spiciness without overdoing the jalapeno peppers.

In taste, it was definitely superior to the shop at 8th and Christian and slightly better than Ba Le.

But what was truly wonderful about O was how helpful the gentleman behind the counter was. I don't speak Vietnamese and I occasionally end up with the wrong item from Ba Le. I realize that my inability to communicate is not the fault of the restaurant, but I was delighted at O Sandwiches to find them so helpful.

And I feel that the selection is superior to most Vietnamese bakeries as well.

--Alec

[KatieLoeb]

Welcome Alec! Glad to see you posting. I look forward to your insights.

Your post about Haru has changed my mind about where to have dinner tomorrow night! Thanks for the warning!

[rlibkind]

I realize that my inability to communicate is not the fault of the restaurant, but I was delighted at O Sandwiches to find them so helpful.

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If a business is located in the midst of an single-language ethnic enclave, then there is at least a tiny reason for the customer to make an effort to communicate in the business operator's tongue. But when a business, by virtue of its location, is clearly going after a broader demograhic of customers (as Ô has by purposely locating right next to one of the busiest food corners in the city), the obligation falls exclusively on the business operator. At least if the operator wants a profitable operation.

[katbert]

I realize that my inability to communicate is not the fault of the restaurant, but I was delighted at O Sandwiches to find them so helpful.

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If a business is located in the midst of an single-language ethnic enclave, then there is at least a tiny reason for the customer to make an effort to communicate in the business operator's tongue. But when a business, by virtue of its location, is clearly going after a broader demograhic of customers (as Ô has by purposely locating right next to one of the busiest food corners in the city), the obligation falls exclusively on the business operator. At least if the operator wants a profitable operation.

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Also Ô is run by a set of late 20somethings-early30somethings (borderline GenX-Y), I think most of whom have spent a lot if not all their lives in the US, so think second generation rather than first gen family run business. (disclosure: One of the partners is an ex's girlfriend).

[serpentine]

Regarding the cheapness of the sandwiches, I don't see how they could get away with charging much more than the 2-3 dollar range charged by the ten or so bahn mi shops in the neighborhood. Sure, people unfamiliar with banh mi or the area would pay 5 bucks for the sandwich, but then Ô would lose credibility with the locals.

[serpentine]

Had a tasty 'special combination' banh mi at Ô last night. Very good , looking forward to trying therest of the menu, and it'll be a cute place to stop for coffee as it gets colder, too. I still think Cafe Nyuh's banh mi are better...their pate is more pate-y and their mayo mixture more flavorful. I do think that Ô beats out Ba Le, though. (Especially as I was a bit disappointed with the last bahn mi I got at Ba Le, which was carelessly made and therefore lacked ingredient balance.)

[SG-]

Tried O several weeks ago while I was picking up some tacos for breakfast which incidentally were terrible compared to the ones I got the last time. Back to O, did not enjoy it personally, could not put my finger on it but somehow the ingredients and bread just did not seem at harmony.

My vote still goes to Saigon Cafe out on Adams ave in the NE.

[KitchenMom]

I was just signing on to say that Saigon Cafe is my favorite spot for bahn mi, and I see that SG has done it for me. We live not too far from there, and frequently run over for a quick lunch. A bahn mi and mango bubble tea sets me back only $5 (the tea is more than the sandwich) and keeps me going all afternoon. Their other food is decent too.