Banh Mi Battel-Worcester MA#1

What:#7 Banh Mi
Where:
Vietnam Cafe
148 Chandler Street
Worcester MA 01609
How much: $3.00

Yes I know I have mixed Asian heritage references in the title.  Apologies to the folks over at Kaiju.

Banh Mi.  The words echo in my ears like the song of the Sirens.  They pull me to the ends of New England in a desperate bid to satiate my cravings.  Junkies got crack.  I got Banh Mi. There is no doubt in my mind that there exists a warlord in the Golden Triangle who invented these things, put some secret Uncle Ho's Magical Unicorn Sauce in it and got me hooked.  Some know my pain.  Pepe (of the north) and his Mrs. are hooked.  I showed him one of my dealers and now he can't even go cross town without getting his fix.  More on that one soon.  I am starting to worry about him.  In the culinary equivalent of a homemade meth lab, he found this to keep up his habit when he is hitting bottom.

K says its the best type of sandwich she has ever had (it was from Pho Viet-review to come later). Taters, as we say, not so much.

I had not had one in several weeks.  I was around to see Folk Star Peter, Rock Star Dave and Just Brian.  All I had to do is walk in and they knew the drill.  A quick phone call and Rock Star Dave was off on the chariot to pick up the goods.

I had two.  You can see them above. Yes, EVERY Banh Mi I have ever had is wrapped in the same way. The white deli wrap and an elastic to keep all the goodness intact.  I find it somehow oddly reassuring that there is a code for Banh Mi presentation. Is there a Banh Mi university that all Viet food shop owners go to?  I'll leave it to Banh Mi to go into more discussion of all things Banh Mi.

Was it good?  To quote Eric Cartman "Is the Pope Catholic...and making the world safe for pedophiles?"  The beef was tasty.  One piece was a bit fatty, but in a nicely textured way.  The bread was excellent. Decent amount of cilantro and carrots and other daikon/onion type things.  Only one bite of the two sandwiches achieved the hotness I crave.  That is the one problem with takeout.  No grabbing the bottle of Sriracha to perk it up.  Rock Star Dave was flirting with the help during the exchange, so maybe the composition/attention to detail was not up to usual standards.  Maybe it was their conversion to Windows 7.  It certainly screwed up their printer (I asked RSD to get a menu and that is the story I got upon his menuless return).  The first time we got take out at Vietnam Cafe and remembered to ask for "spicy",  it was.

I'd give it 4.5B/6.

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It is not the gold standard for New England Banh Mi, but it is a good reason to visit Worcester (especially if you combine it with a visit to Coney Island Lunch).

Expect many more Banh Mi posts as I can get to them.