Pho one

Finally!!! I got my banh mi fling on today!

I was so hungry & couldn't decide so I ordered 2 banh mis!

Well I was craving Vietnamese food big time...and had less than 15 min to figure where to eat lunch. At 11:58 am I called Pho One and placed my order over the phone. I ordered a banh mi chay (tofu) & banh mi ga (chicken).

The person that took my order spoke english and Vietnamese fluently. But, he still managed to mess up my order :( I wanted the banh mi ga (stir fried marinated chicken and yellow onions) I ended up with banh mi ga nuong (char-grilled chicken) I made it to Pho One and back to work about 10 minutes. My banh mi was still nice and warm. However, they were not wrapped in parchment paper and each stuffed in a white paper bag. Not a bad thing, just something I'm not use to.

Now on to the banh mi:Service: Friendly and Fast *accepts credit cards* Took about 3-4 min to pay & pick up my food.
Bread Quality: Freshly baked- not in store, purchased through a vendor.
Meat filling: Not too much, Not too little
Veggie filling: grated pickled carrots, no pickled daikon, a julienne slice of jalapeno, even though I don't eat cucumber, it was nicely cut lengthwise..not too thick, not too thin.
Spread: homemade butter (delicious, you can taste it!)
Presentation: Nicely presented, it was missing black/white pepper
Price: $4.00 Chay $4.50 Ga Nuong

Banh Mi Chay (tofu):
There were 3 thin rectangular fried tofus layered across the bread with butter beneath it.

I was surprised that the soy sauce was drizzled on the bread, normally its drizzled on the veggie or meat filling. I was afraid that I was going to taste a very salty soy sauce sandwich. Come to surprise the sandwich was perfect. Not sure if drizzling soy sauce on the bread evens out the flavor or the soy sauce they use was not that potent. It was still delicious to me. Each bite I took, my Vietnamese craving was satisfied. Its been so long since I ate a authentic banh mi. Ugh I can go for another one right now. Lets just say I ate the entire banh mi chay and only half of the chicken...for lunch

banh mi ga nuong (chargrilled chicken):
The chicken kinda reminded me of
Xa-Xiu
(chinese bbq pork)

I believe there were 3 slices of chicken just like the tofu arrangement. I wish they can give more for the jalapeno, it was just a julienne slice that was a equivalent of 2-3 slices of grated carrots. The banh mi ga nuong didn't satisfy my taste buds. The chicken was good & cooked to perfection. .It just wasn't what I wanted..I'm still sad I didn't get the stir fried chicken. I guess a excuse for me to come back :)
First, I ate half of the tofu and then half of the chicken, but came back and devour the other half of the tofu. I was so done after that. I wrapped the other half of my chicken with a paper towel and store it in the fridge. 3 hours later, it was time to go home for the day. I grabbed my sandwich and ate it on my way home. Not so bad eating a cold banh mi, kinda like cold pizza. The bread was kinda dry, but amazingly the butter was still nice in tact. Haha I think the butter of the banh mi is the most important ingredient to me. From this day, my sisters & I still can just eat a baguette with butter. Oh so bad, but so good.

Off the banh mi subject:

All Green: Green Tea, Pink: Strawberry, Brown: Chocolate, Green & Yellow: Cantaloupe

While waiting for my banh mi, I was debating to get sua da nanh (soy bean drink) until I spotted French Macaroons in their cooler. I got suckered into buying the first box I saw. I believe the flavors were Chocolate, Strawberry, Green tea, & 2 Cantaloupes? There was also Durian ..OMG I wanted to vomit when the owner told me. He joked with me and did agree its a powerful smell. Luckily, it was in a separate box. I don't know how fresh they are, but it was kept in the cooler so it was quite difficult to rate these cookies. The cookie was chewy, no crispy crust...due to the cooler. The flavors were out there. I think my favorite was the cantaloupe. The chocolate was ok, the Strawbery was very berry and the green tea, boy you can sure taste the matcha powder. I did leave it sitting out for 15 min. The texture was still chewy, but no crispy crust.

Next time, I will need to hit up bellaire for some banh mis...because my lunch today for 2 banh mi and 5 macaroon cookies came out to almost $18! Overall, I was satisfied, now I want some Pho! For a pho joint that can serve banh mi like a banh mi joint..kudos for them!
More info on Pho One Click Me

So it looks like the rain is back on...its quite windy and the sky will have nervous breakdown any minute now...Be safe everyone, stay dry & drive carefully!
Shall update my cook off adventure..soon :)

Later Gators,
bmg