You've tempted me. I have been looking for a good and different sandwich place for some time and have never stopped into Joe's. Now I will.
The Cubano excites me. Nothing has been a real Cubano to me since that spanish food place on Grant near Guercio's closed a few years ago.
Good, Metropolis! I haven't tried the Cuban, it is one of my favorites but I'm going through a fanatical banh mi stage right now. Please, let me know how it is!
That"#1" you mention sounds tasty, but it can't possibly be Kosher. For Glatt Kosher Banh Mi fans, I suggest Ir Ving on Avenue B. Their pickled herring in cream sauce Banh Mi is to die for! And the napkins are fragrance-free!
I went back for another "The Body" last Thursday. I'm hooked. I ordered it with the homemade chicken soup, which had big chunks of grilled chicken and huge spiral noodles. Way too much food, but so good.
My previous comment (edit function please!) reads as more pedantic than I meant.
I'm glad there are people in the resto biz who think banh mis are good things that should be in Buffalo. I talked about it here, with Lagniappe's "muffaletta":
http://buffalobuffet.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/a-little-special-lagniappe/
But if you can't pull it off, call it a Whatever-style sandwich, or you're just getting people to order things that will disappoint many.
Christa, I hear your assertion that there is a wide array of banh mis and agree as far as the filling is concerned. But the bread's the thing, and more than one Asian resto person who I have lobbied to carry banh mis have said, and this includes Mr Nguyen from 99, that you can't get the right bread, even shipped in from Toronto. It's a crackly-crusted baguette that's made partly with rice flour.
So you go, Joe's. Give us more of that outside-the-box sammy goodness. Just clear up your menu description and we're all set.
Aw man, I'm so hungry for banh mi and it's not even 9:30 yet. And I'm in Buffalo. Gah.
Love this deli and the owners but this tastes nothing like a real banh mi. I had my hopes up on this one and was disappointed. I lived for years in nyc where a great bahn mi sandwich shop charged $2.75 for this unique sandwich. It's a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but that's a good sign, telling you they have really good food for sale. A Vietnamese sandwich is with fresh French bread that's slightly toasted, pork, and potted meat with carrots, cucumbers, and cilantro. There's a paste in there that brings all the flavors together, and I would tell you what it is but then I'd be betraying the Banh Mi's secret (Banh Mi, by the way, is Vietnamese for sandwich). You can order the House Special Pork Sandwich, but make sure you ask for the pork to be "medium-spicy." It's almost a foot-long sandwich, priced at $2.75. Viet-Nam Banh Mi So 1 369 Broome St. New York, NY, 10013 212/219-8341 Sorry Buffalo, we still have no Bahn Mi.
As for NYC Banh Mi....Banh Mi So 1 is good, but I'm partial to Banh Mi Saigon Bakery at 138 Mott St. (between Grand and Hester). The "# 1" ordered "extra spicy" (roasted pork Banh Mi) is an amazing sandwich, and an incredible bargain at $3.25. No offense, but the picture of what they serve at Joe's (which has a number of really good sandwiches) looks nothing like the Banh Mi I'm familiar with. Give 'em points for trying though!
SuzyQ,
That sounds delicious. I'll definitely check it out the next time I'm in the city.
I have had banh mi that incorporated sundry ingredients- pate, fried pork, fish, meatballs and even fried and scrambled eggs. I know that a Vietnamese girl I attended school with used a paste of egg yolk, butter, fish sauce and some sort of toasted rice powder as a spread in place of the spicy mayo Joe's uses.
One of the things I love about the banh mi you buy at the Asian produce markets from Vietnamese vendors and at Vietnamese delis elsewhere in our fine country is the remarkably low price. But Joe's paying the same price for his ham, cilantro and pork loin that every other restaurant in town does, so his price reflects that. I did miss the daikon.
When we were doing research for this piece, I realized that I had never thought twice about the use of French baguettes and pate. What I didn't realize was that the sandwich is a result of the French occupation of Indochina that lasted from the late 1800s into the 1950s. Apparently the baguette made in Vietnam has been altered slightly and uses rice flour resulting in a lighter product.
SuzyQ, would you pretty please share the banh mi secret with us so that we can make some up of our own!
Nicky's Vietnamese Sanwiches in the EV and on Atlantic in Brooklyn does hands down the best Bahn Mi in NYC. They have the original with pate or a chicken version but I am partial to the pork chop sandwich "light spicee" which means about half as many jalapenos. There is an expanding franchise of bahn mi shops based out of Hawaii. Who knows? Maybe someone will set up in Buffalo! Who knew that there was such a demand?
I go to Joe's for lunch on my day's off - this is the only place I go. I have a few sandwiches that I also get - including the Tuna Melt, Grilled Chicken and I just tried the Ruben which is delicious. Normally with a drink and soup or a salad, lunch run just under $10.
In fact during the shopping season, Joe's had other specials.
Christa - thanks for posting an article about my favorite lunch spot!
If that's a banh mi, I'm Ho Chi Minh. Why do restauranteurs pull the bait and switch? I too have worshipped at Banh Mi So 1 in NYC, and the suggestion I could find such a thing in Buffalo, followed by the plunge to reality, left me bereft.
How would we feel if we walked into a place in Des Moines bragging of "authentic Buffalo style chicken wings," only to find them breaded and served with French dressing?
That off my chest, it looks like they have some excellent sandwiches at Joe's, and I'll be stopping in for one on my next trip down Hertel.
Andrew,
Just a note- Joe's never claimed that this was a banh mi sandwich. The words "banh mi" or "Vietnamese" aren't anywhere on the menu. I was led to this sandwich by a chef in response to my complaint that Buffalo had no banh mi.
I agree with you that the bread is different than the version that incorporates rice flour typically found in a traditional Vietnamese deli. However, I have, on many occasions in the past, had banh mi in a Vietnamese market where a French-style baguette was used. No, it is not the same, but not every banh mi retailer is baking their own bread or has access to an Asian bakery. As mentioned in the post, I found the baguette at Joe's fantastic. It may have ruined me for much of the bread available at local markets. I've got to find out where he gets it from.
May I finally point out that there are a lot of bad, rubbery, over/under sauced chicken wings right here in our midst. In all likelihood, there is probably pathetic banh mi in Vietnam, soggy deep dish in Chicago and lame muffaletta in the heart of New Orleans.
When an area or region (as opposed to an establishment) is associated with a particular dish, it is still open to interpretation. There are so many factors when trying to replicate something. A good example would be that of people in the Midwest trying to make chicken wings with Tabasco. Or the gumbo very popular in the poorer areas of LA made with a margarine roux and Campbell's tomato soup base.
So, the question becomes, is the version that initially created the buzz (like Anchor Bar) the only good version? Or are there other versions out there that, thought they aren't exactly the same, are equally good? Take the wings at Doc Sullivan's, Duff's or Gabriel's Gate for instance.
Anyway, that's it. Sorry I went off on a little tangent there. Either way, please don't hold Joe's responsible for claiming that "The Body" is banh mi- that was my call.
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