Banh Mi Battel-Dorchester MA#5

What#2 Grilled Beef Sandwich

Where: Nhu Lan

1155 Dorchester Avenue
Dorchester MA 02125
How much: $3.00
Time of visit: a Thursday about 1:45PM

Dorchester is the capital of Banh Mi in the Boston area. This is the fifth review of a Banh Mi place there and I have at least one more that I am aware of. I hope to get into Boston proper soon.

(readers, cue Gary Clail On U Sound System - Beef) (clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return)

This day's travels took me through Quincy as I headed down the Expressway from Cambridge down to Milton. Yes, Quincy. I tried to go to Ba Le in Quincy as it was close by one of my stops I needed to make that day. When I got into the grocery and turned the corner to their stall, I saw that it had the grate pulled closed. Shut out. What was plan B? I still had a couple of options ten minutes away in Dorchester. Back into the Buttalimobile…

I’ve been in Dorchester often over the last two months. On one of those trips, I tried to visit a place called Ba Phu. It was closed. I tried calling the phone number from the sign outside, in case the closure was only temporary. No answer or message machine/voice mail when I called from the parking lot. I called the next day and a woman told me that a new owner was going to open at the end of January.

Nhu Lan is set back off the street a bit with some parking in the lot in front of the business. As you can see in the first photo, they have just opened recently.

My order was taken by a very nice young man. I asked for a printed menu and he pointed to one (see menu uploaded to Urbanspoon). I took the photo of the menu board anyway and he started asking polite questions. Did I work around there? What did I do? I’m not sure if he figured out that I blogged about food. I did not volunteer anything.

Banh Mi University graduate? Oh, yes! Golden Bag goodness! The bread was excellent! I noticed that Nhu Lan stored their bread in the usual paper bags, but took care to place plastic over the bags in an effort to keep them fresh. The crust was crisp and eggshell thin. The inside was light and airy with that slightly chewy texture. The beef was very tasty and appeared to be well seasoned with black pepper. It was very thinly cut into tender, rectangular shaped pieces. There was only two springs of cilantro, but no hint of darkness. The carrots were mixed with equally with daikon, generous, tasty, slightly pickled and yet still a bit crisp. The cucumber was fresh and thin, sliced all the way through as opposed to the usual spear. A few scallions were visible. The Banh Mi did drip a very little bit and had a pronounced fish sauce taste which was great! Mayo seemed to be absent. A few thin jalapeno slices were added on top, but were were very hot. The sandwich had a very good afterburn. I did ask for "spicy".

The parking lot was cramped, but within a few minutes a spot opened up. Street parking is usually not bad around here.

At $3.00, a very good deal. I want Nhu Lan to succeed. Their staff seemed to take a bit more interest in the customer here. I hope they can work out any kinks from their recent opening. I will be back to check on them soon. It is a great option to Ba Le down the road at 1052 Dot Ave.

I'd give the Banh Mi a 4.0B/6.

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Banh Mi Battel-Boston MA#1

What: Braised Shortrib and Asian Pear Banh Mi 

Where: Myers + Chang

1145 Washington Street

Boston MA 02118

How much: $9.00 

Time of visit: a Tuesday about 12:30PM

Banh Mi. Finally I venture into Boston proper to see what the city has to offer. I've been to Dorchester and Allston. Can the bar be raised?

(readers, cue The Jam - In The City) (clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return)

This day's travels took me into Boston proper. I've been around the South End of Boston often for work and less for pleasure. I was on my way to the Boston Food Bloggers Meetup at The Gallows back in January when I walked past Myers + Chang. I looked inside on that icy cold night and it looked great! Warm and inviting with a bit of Asian flair, I knew I had to check it out. I went inside and grabbed a takeout menu and saw that in addition to the gluten -free menu (wanna go Bakin' and Edzo?), they had Banh Mi. It seemed a bit, well upscale. Or maybe interpreted a bit beyond genuine article.

Their options:
◘Grilled Homemade 5 Spice Tofu
◘Crispy Pork Belly
◘Soy-Braised "Nirvana" Chicken
◘Panko-crusted Chicken Breast
◘Braised Shortrib and Asian Pear

All are dressed with carrot-daikon slaw and sriracha aioli and served with shrimp chips and Asian slaw.

So I was back in the area. I was hungry. It was close to lunch time. I didn't want to walk to Chinatown and didn't feel like driving to Dorchester. The time was now to try it. I had just had Banh Mi the day before in Providence at Pho Paradise. Why not two days in a row? 

Banh Mi University graduate? Oh yes! Summa Cum Laude. The valedictorian who did an independent study at some crazy liberal arts school! No white deli wrap and elastic as one would expect. It was wrapped up in foil like my favorite Burnt End Burrito at Blue Ribbon BBQ. The bread was excellent. Joanne Chang is chef/owner here as well as Flour Bakery. The crust was eggshell thin and flaky. The inside was light and airy with that slightly chewy texture. Overall loaf size was similar to others I have had recently. It was not served on a individual loaf as most are, it was a regular baguette loaf cut to size, so I didn't get heels on both ends (as my family knows, the heel is the best part). The bread is usually the make or break feature for me. The bread was definitely awesome, but did not dominate the sandwich in terms of taste, texture or size.  It formed a perfect backround for all of the other ingredients to stand out, when it usually dominates, like David Bowie singing backup vocals. I chose the shortrib to keep to the beef factor as a control in all my Banh Mi reviews, if possible. I was rewarded. The braised shortrib was shredded and was generous in quantity. It was very tender with a super beefy/smoky taste and moist. The cilantro was very fresh with no dark spots, but were leaves only (yeah, I like the stems). The carrots, mixed equally with daikon, generous, tasty, slightly pickled and yet still a bit crisp. The cucumber's place was filled in by Asian pear (in photo of opened Banh Mi, you can see the yellow skin peaking out from under the meat in the upper right corner).  It offered the textural component of the cuke, but added an exceptional sweet undertone to the smoky beef favor. Genius!  Scallions were not present. I'm not sure about the soy/fish sauce. The meat was dripping, so I don't know that it was added on the Banh Mi, but most likely was in the sauce that the shortribs were marinated/cooked with. The smear of sraracha aioli was very generous and added a nice spicy edge. It was strange when I opened up the foil because it looked like cheese oozing out. I did not ask for spicy as the menu said it was spicy. Jalapenos were on the sandwich, but were pickled like the carrots and daikon. The vinegar did tie the veggies together, but I'd like to try it with fresh. The first bite had good heat and continued at a decent level for the rest of the Banh Mi. The afterburn put a smile on my face for a while after I was done.

All in all, you could look at it like a pulled BBQ beef sandwich with cole slaw Asian style.  Banh Mi with borders on the Mason-Dixon Line and the 17th Parallel.

In addition to the Banh Mi, for my $9.00 I got Asian slaw and shrimp chips. The slaw portion was small, but very fresh, and with the carrots and daikon on the Banh Mi, just the something when you needed a bit of crunch in between bites of the sandwich. I did not get a fork or spoon in the bag however. The lunch also came with shrimp chips (the mysterious  sixth photo above). Five chips came in a nice little cellophane bag, were totally crisp, covered in some sort of hot pepper dust and looked made on premises. Up close, they looked like some sort of frozen foam. If I could get these easily, they would be my new favorite snack food.

But the Banh Mi was not the whole story here. Other details are worth knowing. Service was very fast for a sit down restaurant. The hostess/waitress was very friendly, despite a room full of sit down patrons. The bartender asked if I wanted a glass of water while I was waiting. The take out bag was more attractive and heavier duty than most. The hostess took the time to write "Thanks!" on the bag just before she gave it to me. Backround music was good and not too loud. These people care.

Parking is very tough in the South End, especially with all the snow that was still there on this visit. I parked  over on Tremont and walked over. Be patient and something will open up during the day.

At $9.00, it was a whole meal, not just a sandwich. One of the best I have tasted, even thought it was out of the Banh Mi box.

I'd give the Myers + Chang Banh Mi a 6.0B/6. Outstanding in execution. This is the first 6 I've given for Banh Mi. I kind of hesitate because it is so nontraditional, but excellence is excellence.

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Banh Mi Battel-Providence RI#1

What: Beef Banh Mi 

Where: Pho Paradise 

337 Broad Street
Providence RI 02906
How much: $4.00
Time of visit: a Monday about 12 Noon

Banh Mi. Not an easy find in Rhode Island. But the challenge to find one was on the list of things to do...

(readers, cue Green Day- Welcome To Paradise) (clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return)

This day's travels took me to the Providence RI area around midday. I had been in the area a month ago armed with some info about "Asian Bakery" on Broad Street. I found the place, but the door was locked and a sign in the window "Be back 30 minutes". I waited 45 in vain. Nothing. Several people had posted on a popular food website asking when it was open.  I got there on this second trip and it was closed again. I didn't even get out of the vehicle to look. I think they must be closed or despite the hours posted only open weekends.  In one post, the author noted that she went across the street to a Pho place and got a Banh Mi. I pulled into the parking lot for Pho Paradise and took a chance.

Pho Paradise is a sit down Viet restaurant in a nicer building set back from the street with an Asian grocery sharing the building.

I asked the hostess if they served Banh Mi and she said yes.  I took a seat and decided to eat in the restaurant instead of nella macchina.  I looked through the menu three times and couldn't find any mention of Banh Mi as a sandwich. There was a Banh Mi Chien Tom which translated to Shrimp Mousse Toast.  When she came over to take my order, I asked for a Vietnamese beef sandwich to make sure that she had not misunderstood me.  She took the order, no questions asked.

Out it came. My first Banh Mi in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations!

Banh Mi University graduate? Yeah, I guess. Note the white deli wrap, even though I ate there and did not take out. The bread was fair. The crust was crisp, but the inside was not quite chewy and a bit dry. The meat was tasty and not at all fatty, but by far the smallest portion I've been served. The beef was very thin with quarter-sized pieces. Cilantro were leaves only, no stems (I like the stems and think it adds a bit bolder taste). There was no hint of darkness on the few leaves that made it onto my sandwich. Carrots were a bit more generous, but not so with the daikon. The cucumber was fresh, but very thin. No scallions were visible. The Banh Mi did drip a very little bit, but not seem to have much fish/soy sauce on it. There was mayo and it seemed to be fairly sweet which added a nice overtone to the sandwich. Jalapeno slices were added on top and did seem mildly hot. The sandwich had a very slight afterburn. Size was a bit smaller than most. I did ask for "spicy".

When I paid for lunch, I asked if had missed the Banh Mi on the menu. She said that it was not on the menu, but they would make it if requested.

Parking can be tough on Broad street, but Pho Paradise has a big parking lot.

At $4.00 a bit more expensive than most and certainly not very generous with the ingredients, but if you are in the Ocean State you don't have to drive far to get the real thing.  I'll be back one more time to check on "Asian Bakery" to see if they ever open and if not, retry Pho Paradise to see if I caught them on a bad day. 

I'd give the Banh Mi a 3.0B/6. Quality was good, but it would have scored higher if the ingredients would have been a bit more generous.



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Banh Mi Battel-Hartford CT #1

What: #9 Grill Beef Grinder

Where: Mini Saigon

2014 Park Street
Hartford CT 06106
How much: $3.50
Time of visit: a Thursday about 12:30PM

Banh Mi. Connecticut. The mystery of these two co-existing in the same place was motivation to hit the road. So I hit two Banh Mi spots in one day.

(readers, cue Saigon - Get Busy) (clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return) ((This link is self-referential and thus the perfect musical name check on two levels. Please click on it.))

This day's travels took me to the greater Hartford Ct area via Central MA.  I got a hot tip from Leeanne at Fun With Carbs. I saw her comment to a post about Ba Le in Dorchester on another blog. She replied quickly to my e-mail inquiry about Banh Mi options in CT.

Mini Saigon is a sit down restaurant in Parkville section of Hartford CT. I was with The Datrman and Nonna Buttali, so we sat down and ate. When I ordered, the waitress took our order quickly. We all shared #2 Summer Rolls. Nona got #33 Chicken Sautee with Chinese Broccoli. It was served with white rice. Dartman had #11 Grill Pork Grinder.  This being Connecticut, I guess it is called a grinder (see menu photo I uploaded to Urbanspoon). I got the #9 Grill Beef Grinder. When the waitress brought out the food, she got my order wrong. I had ordered by number, not description and got a #10 Grill Chicken Grinder. As I opened up the sandwich up for pictures, I noticed the meat product seemed a bit pale. I called the waitress over and told her the issue. She said that I had ordered number #9 "Chicken" I had to open the menu to show her that #9 was in fact beef. She acknowledged the mistake and started to take it back to the kitchen. Dartman, sharing genetic material with my Grandmother and I, could not let it go to waste and offered to eat it.

Banh Mi University graduate? Graduate of the state school. Note the white deli wrap. The bread was fair in this use. It was very similar to Chau's (which I had eaten at later in the day). The crust was thin, but not flaky. The inside was light and airy with that slightly chewy texture. Loaf size was just much shorter and thinner than others I have had recently. This would be superb bread for an Italian cold cut sangwich, though.  I guess there isn't a Viet bakery nearby, so they need to make due with the bread sources in CT.  The beef was VERY generous in quantity and tender. There was absolutely no fat or ligament. The beef was cut into long and thin pieces. Cilantro was fresh with no dark spots. The carrots were tasty and slightly pickled. They were grated into smaller and thinner pieces than the usual matchstick size put onto many Banh Mi. There were a few pieces of daikon. There were thinnish spears of cucumber. A few scallions were present. There was no mayo, but there was soy/fish sauce. I asked the waitress for spicy. I got Thai chiles that were wonderfully hot.

I knew in the back of my mind that there were other places close by or on the way home to review, so I held back eating more.  Dartman and Nonna Buttali headed out right after lunch, so still being hungry, I decided to try more. I hit Chau's next.

Parking on Park Street might have been tough with the snow, but Mini Saigon has a parking lot (though it was very icy). The genuine article in Connecticut! Price was good for what and where it is. Dartman liked the chicken better than the pork. Sriracha was on every table.

Leeanne gave me two more leads, so more Hartford CT Battels in the coming months.

I'd give the Banh Mi a 3.0B/6.

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Battle: Los Angeles and Johann Johannsson

I am not the biggest movie fan. I prefer to focus my limited time and effort on  music as media goes (well, this blogging thing is eating up time too..)

But I was watching G4 TV back a couple of months ago and this trailer for Battle: Los Angeles came on. I was mesmerized. A movie advertisement featuring one of my most favorite composers, Johann Johannsson? For a kewl apocalyptic movie!?! Not that apocalyptic movies really do it for me.  I was downright disturbed by "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later". I was downright traumatized by "The Omega Man" as a child. "Mars Attacks!" was ok.

The song is "The Sun´s Gone Dim and the Sky´s Turned Black". The version shown in the background during the concert performance is here .(clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return). Sorry, the song for some reason ends two minutes early, but I like the visuals better than the other official version.

I've seen him perform twice. The first time around, I even got a chance to work the door and hang out with the ensemble and promoter.

The last couple of commercials for the film have not featured Johann. The track listing for the soundtrack does not seem to include Johann.  I hope he gets the recognition he deserves somehow.

It looks like release date is 3/11/11. Who wants to go? What apocalyptic movie was your favorite?

Banh Mi Battel-Manchester CT





What: Grilled Beef Banh Mi

Where: Chau's Restaurant

964 Main Street
Manchester CT 06040
How much: $5.95
Time of visit: a Thursday about 2PM


Banh Mi. Connecticut. The mystery of these two co-existing in the same place was motivation to hit the road.


(readers, cue The Smihs - How Soon Is Now? (Manchester Mix)) (clicking on link should open YouTube in a new browser tab so you can hear my selected audio track playing, but you will have to click back on this tab to return)

This day's travels took me to the greater Hartford Ct area via Central MA.  I got a hot tip from Leeanne at Fun With Carbs. I saw her comment to a post about Ba Le in Dorchester on another blog. She replied quickly to my e-mail inquiry about Banh Mi options in CT.

Chau's is a sit down restaurant in downtown Manchester CT. I got the Banh Mi for take out. When I ordered, the woman told me that it would be about 15 minutes and she immediately fired up the grill. It took maybe ten minutes.

Banh Mi University graduate? Graduate of the commuter school. Note the white deli wrap, but taped closed instead of elastic. The bread was fair in this use. It was very similar to Mini Saigon (which I will review soon and had eaten at earlier in the day.). The crust was thin, but not flaky. The inside was light and airy with that slightly chewy texture. Loaf size was just much shorter and thinner than others I have had recently. This would be superb bread for an Italian cold cut sangwich, though.  I guess there isn't a Viet bakery nearby, so they need to make due with the bread sources in CT.  The beef was VERY generous in quantity and tender. There was absolutely no fat or ligament. The cook reheated a very large piece of steak and cut it up into the very large, thin rectangles as shown in the last photo. Cilantro was fresh with no dark spots, but very sparse. The carrots were generous, tasty, slightly pickled and yet still a bit crisp. There was no daikon nor onion. The cucumber was represented by two fairly fat pieces that were peeled. A few scallions were present. There was no soy/fish sauce or mayo, thus the sandwich was a bit dry. I asked the counter person for spicy, which was accomplished with sriracha and not jalapenos or Thai chiles.

Parking on Main Street was great despite the snow. At $5.95, this is the price you need to pay for the genuine article in suburbia. You can get Banh Mi in Manchester CT, but not in Somerville or Cambridge MA. You don't have to go into Dorchester or Hartford.  Chau's was very clean and had the nicest atmosphere of any real Viet establishment so far in my Banh Mi search.

I'd give the Banh Mi a 2.5B/6.

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Gang of Four-Boston MA February 7, 2011

All photos by FreeEye2

Set List

You'll Never Pay For The Farm

Not Great Men

Ether

I Parade Myself

Paralysed

A Fruit Fly In The Beehive

Anthrax

What We All Want

I Party All the Time

Why Theory?

You Don't Have To Be Mad

We Live As We Dream, Alone

To Hell With Poverty!

Do As I Say

Encore 1

He'd Send In The Army

Natural's Not In It

Damaged Goods

Encore 2

Return The Gift

Another night out with FreeEye2, another great show. Links in set list go to YouTube postings of those songs from this show at The Paradise in Boston MA.

Picture 3 shows Jon King destroying their first pizza oven ever on stage during "He'd Send In the Army"

Picture 4 shows Hugo Burnham, ex-original drummer, who lives and teaches in the Boston area, sitting in with the band during "Natural's Not In It" and "Damaged Goods"

The night started out on a high note as we met at Pho Viet for Banh Mi. This was the first time FreeEye2 had ever had one.  He loved it (it is impossible not to).  It still rates as the standard in the Boston area for me. The 5.5B/6 rating still stands even though we ate about 6PM.  The bread was still perfect that late into the day.  I asked for hot and got plenty of jalapenos and a good squirt of sriracha.

I was first in line at the club and we got a great spot right in front of where Jon and Andy would end up playing on stage. The Paradise had put metal barriers up around the stage (are we in Cairo?), which were handy to push back against the crowd when the moshing got going.

Hollerado from Canada opened up. Nice guys with lots of familiar riffs, but everyone was there to see GoF.

Concert update: John Doe plays Passim in Cambridge MA on Sunday March 27, 2011. Jill Sobule is on also on the bill. Link here.