This isn’t all of the shops, but it’s a start. Comment to share your opinions on the best places and any that we’ve missed:
This isn’t all of the shops, but it’s a start. Comment to share your opinions on the best places and any that we’ve missed:
Banh Mi So #1 – Saigon Gourmet
4071 Grand Blvd
St. Louis, MO
(314) 353-0545
This restaurant run by a sweet Vietnamese couple has the best banh mi I’ve ever had outside of Vietnam. They really do serve the #1 banh mi, like it says in their name. After living in St. Louis for 4 years, I recently moved to Portland, OR. Since then I’ve been searching for good banh mi and have gone to all of the stores recommended by online discussion forums. They have all fallen woefully short of the delicious banh mi at Banh Mi So #1.
The bread (from La Bonne Bouche) is perfect–crispy on the outside and soft and airy in the crumb. The inside contains the perfect proportions of cilantro, jalepenos, daikon, carrots, tofu, mayo, and whatever else they put in to make it so tasty. I can’t really say what the non-vegetarian sandwiches are like, but I have taken friends here and gotten them hooked on their pork sandwich.
Service can be slow because there is only one person in the kitchen–the wife of the couple, who cooks while the husband waits tables. The wait it totally worth it; and while you wait you can chat with the husband, who was a teacher of French literature in Vietnam before immigrating to St. Louis.
Other dishes served at the restaurant are also excellent, especially the curry tofu rice. When eating lunch or dinner here, I would usually order one or two sandwiches to go for later.
The Vietnam Cafe
522 Campbell St.
Kansas City, MO 64106
Located in Kansas City’s Columbus Park, Vietnam Cafe anchors a corner in a tight-knit vietnamese community. Amazing mixed BÁNH MÌ with carrots, daikon, cilantro, pate and a coldcut I couldn’t place. Absolutely amazing. The roll was so fresh it was still steaming hot. It was dirt cheap, too, at about $5.
The rest of the restaurant’s dishes are great, too.