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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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.

Foodbloggers With Benefits

photos by Mario Buttali

(readers, cue New Order - Touched By The Hand of God) (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 finally works again)

I was invited to a free Boston Food Bloggers event back a bit ago. I had a great time and met some nice fellow food bloggers, especially Molly and Rich from Cheap Beets, Rachel from Fork it over, Boston! and Emily from A Plum By Any Other Name.

Everyone was very friendly, though it was a bit overwhelming with the amount of people.  I did get some suggestions that I hope will help me with the blog.

The oddest part of the evening had to do with us wearing name tags (in my case pseudonym) with our blog title on it.  I guess I had not completely thought through all of the consequences of authoring "There's god in that food!". It made sense to me and my family who heard my Grandmother say it time and time again. I explain the reason in the header of the blog and in my profile too. If readers looked around, the title makes sense for me to use. To most, this title leaves a lot open to conjecture. Everyone was sort of scoping out name tags before making eye contact.

I got a plenty of double takes at my badge. I don't think it was my "name" or the legibility of the tag. The one person brave enough to comment on the title quickly asked if I was very "ecumenical" and noted that we were near the largest church in New England.

Jesus Christ! I guess the easy assumption is that I am some kind of religious nut (apologies to religious nuts). I use lower case g in spelling god in my title, but that detail is easily lost. Or helps in the assumption that I am some illiterate religious zealot (skip the oxymoronic comment here-apologies again for the offensive stereotyping).

I don't think I was looking, well...chaste, spiritual or penitent...and certainly not having accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior (no W.W.J.D. bracklet).  I may, however, have sounded like I was speaking in tongues trying to politely converse after the third I.P.A.  Rich was quite observant. He caught a detail in something I wore that tied me to my vanilla life which helped continue a very nice conversation.

Do I need to explain the story of the title if people are curious enough to talk to me? And do I also bring up being an atheist (who are more distrusted than Muslims or homosexuals in the US)?

So to the few that commented, I went with the Grandmother story explanation. It is less controversial and leads to fewer awkward pauses. Yet, it does not quite capture the irony in the title. And it does not dissuade anyone from their initial assumption. Do I need start shopping at Landover Baptist for shirts to wear at blogger events? Do I need to give everyone my life's story when I tell them the title of my blog. Oh well kids, the lesson today is you can't judge a blog by its title. Next event (coming up soon), I'll buy the first Boston Food Blogger who approaches me to explain the origin of my title a drink of their choice. I hope someone is reading this far down...

Ok, to the food report...

The event was at The Gallows in the South End.

The staff was great...very attentive and friendly (though what would you expect if a horde of food bloggers were there). The space was very comfortable. Several foods were passed, including Buffalo fried chicken livers, crostini, poutine and flat patty beef burgers. All were excellent. Beer samples were passed (an Americain style). They had a cash bar which even offered Dogfish 60 Minute I.P.A. much to my enjoyment.

The culinary highlight of the night for me was the table in back serving ice cream from SoCo Creamery. I had both the Dirty Chocolate as well as the Espresso Cookie. I'm glad some anonymous blogger urged me to try it. It could be the best ice cream I've ever had.  And it went pretty well with the I.P.A. as you can see.

Great coverage here and here.

Thanks to those who organized, especially Christine Liu, Rachel Blumenthal and Urbanspoon, and those who donated prizes and goodies.

Concert Alert-Gang of Four

Sorry about the vintage video, but I figured you needed to get a bit of a history lesson...
And later...



I saw them for the first time with FreeEye2 (I didn't know J-Mar then and she has already said no to this show?!? "Gang of Who?") at what is now the House of Blues in Boston a couple of years back.  I believe it was their first reunion tour (drums still played by Hugo Burnham).  My most fond memory  of the show is them utterly destroying a  microwave oven with a wiffleball bat.  The show was one of my top ten ever.

This tour is supporting their new material (artwork above).  I heard a new track "Never Pay for the Farm" over at NPR's Son of the Day of all places and GoF sounds as great as ever.
Date is February 7, 2011
Venue is The Paradise in Boston.

Banh Mi Battel-Allston MA

What: Beef Banh Mi

Where: Pho Viet's (inside what was Super 88)

1095 Commonwealth Ave

Allston MA 02215

How Much: $3.50

Yeay, yeah, yeah...mixed Asian reference. Not a spelling mistake...

Banh Mi. The words glaze over the eyes of everyone in earshot of me...

(readers, cue PJ Harvey - Good Fortune) (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 days travels took me into Boston for work and for tickets to the Paradise for the John Doe/Exene show for lunch.  I should face the facts and my true motivation.  I've been waiting for just the right excuse to go back to the place that set the bar for me for Banh Mi.  I needed to bring a camera to take a picture.  I needed to have a beef Banh Mi to put it into perspective with all the others that i have tried recently.

Banh Mi University graduate? Oh yes! Summa Cum Laude. No usual deli wrap, but I got the GOLDEN BAG (great for catching all the bread crust crumbs until you are ready to eat). (Yes, that is my usual luncheon dining table in the picture) Bread was perfect. It was crusty on the outside as expected and had that slightly chewy inside that I prefer. The meat was there in quantity and VERY tasty. Meat did NOT have grilled/char marks. The size of the beef pieces was average as was quantity. Plant material was outstanding. Cilantro was crisp and not one hint of darkness on the leaves. Carrots and daikon/onion also very crisp and tasty. The cucumber was long and large and very fresh. One piece took up the whole length of the sandwich. No scallions. The smear of mayo was just right. I asked for some Sriracha.  The added it with gusto. Killer touch. The chili burn was full on by the time I finished. Sandwich size was comparable to most. Good value for the money. A bit more expensive than most places, but still a cheap meal.

Free parking in the (what was Super 88) parking lot.

I'd give it 5.5B/6.

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A near perfect score!  If I had not been to Ba Le (see Banh Mi Battel-Quincy), this would be the standard.  Although I was told last week by Kim at Kim's Gifts up in Portland ME (see review last month) that I need to go into Dorchester MA to get even better ones.

 

Yes, Pepe (of the North) was with me at Kim's.  No, we did not partake our fixes underneath a bridge.  Yes, he did leave the Mrs. and Cheddar at home.  It clouds his mind just as much as it does mine.  Next thing you know, he may embrace the Catholic Church.