See ya later reuben! Au revoir croque monsieur! Adios torta! Writer Tamara Hinson has eaten more than her fair share of sandwiches around the world, but according to her tastebuds, the gold trophy goes to a crunchy Vietnamese baguette. Controversial, we know. But read on…
Franklin’s favorite local spot is a stall outside his Ho Chi Minh restaurant manned by an elderly lady selling 60-cent baguettes made with fish, instead of pork. He takes me there to compare. “See? Who’s to say her bánh mìs aren’t authentic just because they contain fish?” he asks. We tuck in.
So, when in Vietnam, where should you go for a bánh mì fix? Like most local foods, I’d suggest anywhere with a queue. But my favorite joint is Ho Chi Minh’s Bánh Mì Huynh Hoa, which isn’t a restaurant or a stall, just a street-facing kitchen filled with an army of workers buttering baguettes, perched on stools between mountains of pork.
It’s somewhat chaotic—a long queue always snakes out the door, and every few minutes, moped riders drop off burlap sacks filled with fresh baguettes. My first visit was in 2015, when, after handing over 25,000 Vietnamese Dong (USD$1), I was given the freshest, most delicious bánh mì of my life.
Don’t get me wrong. Truffle mayonnaise and caviar have a time and a place, but not on my bánh mì, thanks. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
