Friday afternoon in New York, I stopped at a banh mi place at 367 Broome Street, named Saigon Vietnamese Deli. At least, that's what the sign said, though the shop also seems to go by the name VietNam Banh Mi So 1. Who knows? In any case, it was the perfect hole-in-the-wall, with one entrance to the banh mi deli and another next door to its juice bar. The people working there were wonderful. I ordered a sardine sandwich and staked out a stool (there are just four) at the window counter, watching customers come and go as the vuvuzelas droned at the Uruguay-France match playing on the corner TV. The woman staffing the juice bar came through offering free cups of flavored ice to waiting customers. Mine was mango topped with something crunchy and piquant, maybe basil. I wanted to save it for dessert but it was too good to resist on a suddenly warm afternoon. The sandwich, when it came, was delicious. I had ordered it hot, and the 'heat' turned out to be undertated, melding subtly with the pickled carrots and daikon, giant stalks of fresh cukes, and cilantro. The sandwiches here are not cut in half, which means that the taste unfolds slowly as you get past the heel of the crisp baguette. It was a perfect late lunch that carried me through the day. I loved this place.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
saigon vietnamese deli
Friday afternoon in New York, I stopped at a banh mi place at 367 Broome Street, named Saigon Vietnamese Deli. At least, that's what the sign said, though the shop also seems to go by the name VietNam Banh Mi So 1. Who knows? In any case, it was the perfect hole-in-the-wall, with one entrance to the banh mi deli and another next door to its juice bar. The people working there were wonderful. I ordered a sardine sandwich and staked out a stool (there are just four) at the window counter, watching customers come and go as the vuvuzelas droned at the Uruguay-France match playing on the corner TV. The woman staffing the juice bar came through offering free cups of flavored ice to waiting customers. Mine was mango topped with something crunchy and piquant, maybe basil. I wanted to save it for dessert but it was too good to resist on a suddenly warm afternoon. The sandwich, when it came, was delicious. I had ordered it hot, and the 'heat' turned out to be undertated, melding subtly with the pickled carrots and daikon, giant stalks of fresh cukes, and cilantro. The sandwiches here are not cut in half, which means that the taste unfolds slowly as you get past the heel of the crisp baguette. It was a perfect late lunch that carried me through the day. I loved this place.
