Tip off: Is this the best sandwich in Saigon?

I've ummed and arrggghhhhed about this award. 2006 was going to be HP Sauce year, Irn Bru or my favourite Scottish fish n chip shop. Toss as I might, I couldn't quite settle on a single winner. Being the decisive so and so I am, I decided to stick the award somewhere nearer home instead. The 2006 TasteEverything award goes to The Best Sandwich in Saigon and the stallholder at 37 Nguyen Trai street in District 1, Saigon, Vietnam. She serves weekdays only, from 5pm until the stall runs dry. I've tried many a sarnie in this mad megalopolis, but this particular specimen is undeniably the bread's bollocks. Enjoy. I did. Burp.

I received this in the comments some two months ago. "Another sarnie tip-off. A woman sets up (after 5:30pm) a "banh mi thit nuong" stand. The thit nuong are like little grilled sausages. Plus, she throws on some bbq sauce. Best sandwiches I've had in Saigon. A real gem of a find." Upon reading the suggestion I grabbed a camera, snatched the nearest notebook, powered out of fortress pie, hailed a passing chariot and headed out in search of this "gem". A mere 64 days later I alight at this pavement stall at 37 Nguyen Trai street in District 1. I'm hungry, but zen. I've arrived. I grab the plushest, fur lined, plastic stool I can find and order.

And here it is. Banh mi thit nuong translates vaguely as a meatball sub (kinda). It's 5,000VD. I'm a sucker for an electricity bill wrapped sarnie. Is it a internationally common cultural thing? Between the ages of 8 and 16 I was raised by bedouin tribes people who insisted on a strict intake of roughly 10% Fish n chips from the Hillmorton Fish Saloon on Featherbed Lane, Rugby in the UK. Used to have to queue down the street to get in there at dinner time. Fish n chips, like banh mi, come wrapped in paper. Normally newspaper; The Sun, The Mirror, maybe the local rag. Never The Telegraph, Times or Guardian. Why? It's an interesting intercultural phenomenon - this paper wrap business - what paper is used, where, is the crossword already completed? or soaked in vinegar?



One banh mi thit nuong takes less than a minute to assemble in the construction bay. Inside the baguette it's warm, snug and saucy. It's filled with wee charcoal grilled pork patties, pickled carrots, radish, fresh slices of cucumber, some chopped spring onion, fresh coriander and a dash of hot sauce. I've yet to install the sniffablog plug in on this blog, but when I do, you'll receive beams of steamy hot sweet, meat soaked vapours direct to your desktop. It's seductively warm, a harlot of a hoagie. It has a confident aroma. The smell of a successful sarnie.

I hope the satellite imagery above will help you navigate the terrain. Shame you can't do a Google Earth and zoom in, crashland in amongst that arty sprawl of scoff, just wallow in it for a bit... Oh well. Technology - marvellous innit - has it's limits though. And so for now, you're just going to have take my word for it. This is the best sandwich I have ever had in Saigon. Thank you NoStar Where. I may be slow. But you were not wrong. More snaps.

Comments

[matt]

hmm, 2 mins from my office...i think ive found tonight's dinner. will let you know what i think

[Sticky]

Now that looks bloody fantastic, a damn sight better than the 12 buck New York number.
In Hanoi, the banh my purveyors are heavy on the pate-spam-mud-shit (don't really want to know what it is exactly - someone once suggested minced up rats!)
If I could find me a decent one up here, it would indeed be a good find!

[caly ngo]

now thats what i call a banh mi!

[pieman]

It really is a blinder. Haven't been this excited about a find in Saigon for many a month. But, Sticky, this isn't really a Hanoi thing... As usual... Just yer standard banh my pate up there. Not even a good one really. Oh dear.

[Matt]

not exactly 'street scene' but best banh my I've found in Hanoi is over the counter at the side of the vina restaurant in vincom shopping centre. Expensive, but affordable - 10,000VND. Sausage, salami, ham, pate, sald,herbs, tomatoes, chili sauce. Nice.

[Gia]

My mom used to make sandwiches like these and they were the "bloody" best. I linked my entire family to your post about the blood soup. ha ha

[Tu Cong Van]

Wow, delicious looking. I usually eat this too. cheap and great.

[ilovevietnamtravel]

seeing the contents of that sandwich makes me queasy in the stomach. a good banh mi should follow the less is more rule. instead of piling on the ingredients, they should stick to a few, high quality items instead.

[matt]

ok agree with every aspect of your review except for one.

They took FOREVER - took me almost 15 minutes to get a sandwich - and there was only one other person there.

It was really really good, called out to them for another - no customers at all this time - and still took them 10 mins.

Food was great though

[pieman]

15 mins... woah... I arrived at 5pm and contrary to NoStar Where's prediction it was open. Plus the sandwich arrived before I'd even sat down. I was taking photos though...

ilovevietnamtravel, looks are deceptive, this was perfectly packed, not overdone. Trust me..

And welcome to Gia's family :)

[Duy]

I think what u have here pieman is banh mi thit nuong not xiu mia. Xiu mia are steamed pork meatballs. I love them, but they taste very different from thit nuong which is what yours look like (grill pork is thit nuong). But great find. In Houston there are many good Vietnamese sandwich shop here and they are very popular. Good job on the photo too.

[Chubby Hubby]

That looks sensational. I love Vietnamese street-side sandwiches. My fave so far was from a stall outside the central market in Hoi An. They put pate and pork belly in it. I think I must have had at least 1 or 2 each day of my stay there.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us. As always, great blog.

[pieman]

Duy - you're absolutely right ;) Sorry about that. Will edit pronto. However - I WILL be back for the xiu mai. Asta. Chubby, will keep an eye out next time I'm in Hoi An - cheers.

[foodcrazee]

how i miss the simple cheap food in HCMC...

I love your posts, but you keep on spelling Banh Mi wrong. It's Banh Mi with the i and not y. Just you know FYI

[Mr. NoStarTravels]

Thank ya kindly Pieman.

That place is one of kind. Special sandwiches there. Still my fave, even beating out the wonderful Banh Mi's of the VN'ese restaurants in Oakland's Chinatown. As for NY-VN sarnies being $12, holy shnikey's. Really? In Oakland, $2.25.

-Mr. NoStarTravels, the blogger formerly known as Mr. NoStarWhere

[pieman]

Sometimes Banh my, sometimes Banh mi. No constancy as far as I can see, in Saigon at least. No? Bu, you're absolutely right, clearly says on the stall Banh mi.

Welcome back NoStar. Enjoy your travels.

[Phil]

Vietnamese sandwiches soundly kick the ass of anything over here in Cambodge. There is too much awful pate scum and I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Spam to poke a baguette at.

[mayamaya]

mmmmmmmm.....

[layered]

I intend to moto down to Dist. 1 and try what appears to be a great sandwich. Beyond the great sandwich, however, is the suberb quality of your blog posting. This entry is to my mind a classic pieman posting -- great enthusiasm and innovative use of language that I enjoy very much.
thanks,
-- Mel

[tuan]

If only you had written this BEFORE I went to Vietnam, I came back only last weekend!

[matt]

one thing to note, i dont think she works on Sunday.

Went back there tonight at about 6, not there, wandered around Zen Plaza and then Nguyen Trai til about 7.30, she still wasnt there when we left.

[genevieve]

great pictures! one of the best sandwiches ever conceived. if you could only buy off some of that special sauce from those street vendors...

[melissa_cookingdiva]

Oh! It looks so delicious :)

[disgustedcustomer]

Are you sure that she only works from 5pm onwards? She wasn't there at about 10:15am when I tried the first time, but I snagged a banh mi for lunch at 12ish. Best banh mi I've ever had. Probably the best street food as well. I decided later to pick up 2 more the same day for an early dinner -- at about 4pm.

You should check out the alley at 306 NTMK. Its a restaurant alley thats mega popular with the locals. Most of the stalls are closer to Vo Van Tan street. Great banh cuon.

[pieman]

Thanks disgustedcustomer, I'm going by three different experiences all of which vary slightly and now yours which varies... yet more.

I tell you what. Next time I go I will ask her to write down the exact times (if they exist) she sells her sarnies.

Thanks for the NTMK tip.

[Angela]

What I never can understand is this: Everywhere I go in VN (I've travelled from North to South except for the very deep South), there are waves and waves of people pushing food to waves and waves of other people. Yet these are the skinniest people I've ever seen. If I were surrounded by food like that, I'd weigh 300 lbs! I guess they must sweat it off or something ...

[Andrew Touchstone]

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[GreatApe]

That's a tasty sandwich, without a doubt. My only beef is the hours are too unpredictable.

If you have a hankering for a sandwich at lunch or other times of the day or just want to come in off the street, give Banh Mi Cali a try, on the corner of Hai Ba Trung and Tran Cao Van.

Hot and Cold sandwiches from 8,000d to 15,000d. Not bad for a buck and they are open consistently when you want one...

[Mike]

I went back tonight. Same woman, location has moved just a couple meters down the street. She has a couple of small plastic tables now. 10.000 for a sandwich. Delicious as ever. Absolutely ridiculous.

[gpaulski]

Perfect weblog!!!!!

The sauce in the last picture, what is it?

Would chicken liver paté with fish sauce and 5 spice powder work?

Is Maggi Sauce an integral part of banh mi's?

Where could I find the REAL AUTHENTIC recipes for all the ingredients in these beautiful sammies (the porks, patés, sauces, picklings, etc.)?

THANK YOU!